DraftKings Champions League Daily Fantasy Soccer Helper: Tuesday 10/22/19
The UEFA Champions League is back, and there are six games for us to sink our teeth into for Tuesday's slate. EPL odds tells us that Juventus are the biggest favorites of the day, -550 at home. Then we have Manchester City hosting Atalanta at -500. That's followed by struggling Tottenham at -360 against Red Star Belgrade.
There are these teams and others that have interesting players that we can look at, so who should target on this slate?
Forwards to Target
Cristiano Ronaldo ($10,300): Ronaldo's Juventus host Lokomotiv Moscow after a win and a draw in their first two games in the group. Juventus will want to push for the win in this game and on the next Matchday in the reverse fixture given that Lokomotiv are probably the weakest team in the group. When Juventus are motivated to win and score lots of goals, Ronaldo is the player we want to roster. He is up to his typical shooting ways this season, averaging six shots per game in Serie A this campaign, per WhoScored.com. Goal scoring odds list Ronaldo as -270 to score at anytime, or about 73%. His odds for scoring a hat trick are just +700, so it isn't too unlikely that happens on Tuesday.
James Rodríguez ($7,700): Real Madrid travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray after suffering a shocking defeat to Mallorca in La Liga on Saturday. In that game, James had 11 crosses and took all of Madrid's corner kicks. He has been playing in a wide role that we haven't really seen from him recently, but it helps him to get in more crosses than before. James' spot in the starting XI will almost certainly continue as Gareth Bale was not in the squad that traveled for this match, according to reports. The Spanish side is -155 favorites to win this game, and James is a way to get exposure to them. He is more reasonably priced than some of the forwards above him, and he has a better floor than his teammates with the set-piece role that he has.
Mauro Icardi ($6,300): Icardi was one of Serie A's top goal scorers during his time at Inter Milan, scoring 111 league goals in six seasons at the club. After his long transfer saga played out, he ended up at Paris Saint-Germain. He's only played in five matches so far with his new club but has scored three times.The French side make the short journey over to Belgium to take on Club Brugge, where they are -175 favorites. Icardi is the most likely player to score in this game at -160. The $6,300 price tag does not reflect either the goal scoring odds or the talented finisher that Icardi has proven to be. Icardi is the type of player, however, who will not do much for your lineups if he doesn't score a goal.
Midfielders to Target
Kevin De Bruyne ($9,800): While we may not know exactly who is going to score the goals for Manchester City, we do know who is likely to rack up fantasy points through crosses and assists. De Bruyne already has eight assists in the Premier League this season, with the next closest player having four. He has the third most crosses in the league, as well. City's opponents, Atalanta, tend to play an open style of soccer. There have been 34 goals scored in their eight Serie A matches, an average of over four per game. This style backfired in their first group stage game, losing 4-0 on the road to Dinamo Zagreb. If this is an open affair, De Bruyne's upside for assists and goals increases dramatically to go with his very high floor from set pieces.
Philippe Coutinho ($8,200): Having joined Bayern Munich from Barcelona in the summer, Coutinho has fit in nicely thus far. He has two goals and three assists in seven domestic league appearances. A reason to roster Coutinho on DraftKings is his love for shooting. In the two Champions League matches this season, he has taken six and four shots. Adding in a split of corner kicks, Coutinho has a high floor without needing to score. Bayern are favorites at Olympiakos, so Coutinho should have plenty of opportunities to do his thing in this match.
Marko Marin ($5,200): With how disjointed Tottenham have been, using Marko Marin in this game still has some merit. He had a fantastic game on Matchday 2, getting two assists and seven shot assists against Olympiakos. He is the one makes things go for Red Star, taking all eight corner kicks in that match. Tottenham have dropped points at home against inferior sides such as Watford and Newcastle this season, so it's possible they do it here, as well. Marin is likely to create the chances if things were to go similarly for Spurs as those poor home matches did.
Defenders to Target
Benjamin Mendy ($5,300): Mendy is Man City's most attacking full back and the one who likes to cross the most. If this game goes like we think and is very attacking, he could get in a decent amount of those crosses. In the last group stage game, he was able to amass 13 of them. He is very involved in the attack and could contribute to a goal if City really get rolling. The $5,300 salary is a fair price for him, but when he was in form last season, his price was over $7,000 at one point.
Thomas Meunier ($4,600): Meunier is another attack minded full back who is capable of putting up big games. Long time DFS soccer players will remember his three-goal, three-assist performance playing for Belgium in 2017. While that's probably not in his range of outcomes for this game, he still makes for a good play. He already has one goal in the Champions League this season, and he has seven chances created in his last three Ligue 1 games, per Rotowire. He could get a clean sheet bonus, as well, given that PSG have not conceded a goal in the two Champions League matches this season.
Goalkeepers to Target
Wojciech Szczęsny ($5,800): Szczesny is probably the safest goalkeeper to pay up for on this slate. Juventus are the biggest favorite and are generally considered one of the best defensive teams in Europe. Using FanDuel Sportsbook odds, Juventus are -170 to keep a clean sheet. The keeper more expensive than Szczęsny, Manchester City's Ederson, is only +120 to do the same.
Milan Borjan ($3,700): Borjan is the salary saver option at the goalkeeper position. It is risky as his Red Star squad are big underdogs, but Tottenham have rarely scored a lot of goals in a match this season. In the away clash against Bayern Munich earlier in the group stage, Borjan conceded three goals but made six saves, giving you six points. Something like that is what you should hope for when paying so little for the highest variance position in daily fantasy soccer.
Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
