DraftKings Daily Fantasy Soccer Helper for UCL 10/21/2020

Matchday 1 continues in the UEFA Champions League with six more games on the main slate. Some of the world’s best teams and favorites to win the competition, so it should be an exciting round of matches. Let’s look at the odds, brought to us by EPL odds:

Forwards to Target

Robert Lewandowski ($11,400): Last season's UEFA Men's Player of the Year and Champions League Forward of the Season had an incredible run on the way to winning it all with Bayern Munich. He scored in every game until the final, and his lowest fantasy output was 24.7 DraftKings points. He hasn't slowed down to start this season at all, scoring seven goals in just four Bundesliga matches. He'll face a tougher opponent in Atlético Madrid in this match, but it's nothing he won't be able to handle. Lewandowski is -210 to score at any time in this game and given his performance last season and the start of this year, can be played even at this expensive salary.

Romelu Lukaku ($8,100): Another striker that has been in great form since the start of last season is Romelu Lukaku. Since joining Inter, Lukaku has scored a great goal scoring record, scoring 36 goals in 48 games. To start this Serie A campaign, Lukaku has been averaging over four shots per 90 minutes, giving him a nice floor. Inter will take on a Borussia Mönchengladbach team that has only one win in their opening four Bundesliga matches. Lukaku has good goal-scoring odds of -130 for a player at his salary. He has a sneaky good floor with how much he has been shooting, and has as much goal upside as anyone on the slate.

Roberto Firmino ($6,200): It's strange what's happened to Roberto Firmino's goal scoring over the last year or so. He only scored nine league goals while playing every match for the title winners in Liverpool. He had hit double digits in every season since joining Liverpool, and had peaked with 27 goals in all competitions in 2017-18. He has yet to score this season, which is why his salary has dropped all the way down to $6,200. He is still odds-on to score in this match against Ajax and Liverpool are favored, so this makes his salary a bargain. He can contribute in other ways as well, as he got eight assists in the league last season.

Midfielders to Target

Riyad Mahrez ($9,000): Mahrez was the primary corner kick taker for Manchester City on Saturday's match against Arsenal, and even though he didn't have a great game, he still racked up 14.3 DraftKings points. With Kevin De Bruyne likely to be out again, Mahrez would be the one to pull the strings for City. They are the biggest favorites on this slate, facing a Porto side that have conceded five goals in their last two matches in the Portuguese league. Mahrez has one of the best floors on the slate, and playing for the biggest favorites who feature a higher powered attack, certainly has upside for a goal or an assist as well.

Alejandro Gómez ($7,500): Atalanta were one of the bright spots of last season's Champions League, making the quarterfinals in their first-ever appearance in the competition. To start this year's group stage, they'll take on Danish club FC Midtjylland, who are newcomers to the competition in their own right. Atalanta have been playing the style of soccer that we've become accustomed to from them over the past few seasons, scoring 14 goals in the first four Serie A matches this season. And Alejandro Gómez has been at the heart of it, leading the team with four goals. Gómez is more known in the fantasy community for his playmaking and chance creation, and with Ruslan Malinovskyi out for this match, Gómez could have a near-monopoly of corner kicks. For just $7,500, Gómez makes sense in all lineup builds.

Ivan Perišić ($6,000): Ivan Perišić returned from his loan to Bayern Munich back to Inter, and he's playing like we have come to expect from him. He has been known for being one of the most consistent crossers in European soccer, and has 7.27 crosses per 90 minutes to start this season. With Lukaku at center forward, Perišić has a good target to aim his crosses towards, and playing them together in GPP lineups hoping for the goal and assist would go a long way for your lineups. Perišić is a great value for his salary given we know that he will get his crosses in, whether he has corner kicks or not.

Ryan Gravenberch ($3,600): Gravenberch is a punt play at midfield. He took all of Ajax's corner kicks in their last Eredivisie match. It's a tough matchup against Liverpool, but they will be without Virgil Van Dijk and Joël Matip on their back end. If Gravenberch gets a few corner kicks and some other peripheral stats, he'll easily pay off this salary.

Defenders to Target

Andrew Robertson ($5,700): Robertson has somewhat usurped Trent Alexander-Arnold as the player to roster among Liverpool's full backs. Robertson leads the entire Premier League in crosses by 14, and has taken more corner kicks than TAA. Robertson also had the third most-assists in the league last season with 12, so him being relevant in fantasy isn't out of nowhere. When you add in the fact that Robertson also comes with a $900 discount off Alexander-Arnold, it makes Robertson the clear play.

Benjamin Pavard ($4,000): Pavard likely will be playing right back for Bayern Munich in this match, and has a fairly low salary if that's the case. Pavard sometimes plays as a center back, so his numbers aren't as impressive as most attacking full backs. However, playing for a possession-dominant team like Bayern will allow Pavard to push up the pitch and be involved in the attack. Getting a piece of this Bayern team that we know can put up a bunch of goals in any game for just $4,000 is enticing. That makes Pavard worth rostering in this match.

Goalkeepers to Target

Manuel Neuer ($5,600): Neuer had 21 clean sheets in 44 appearances for Bayern last season. Now, he'll face an Atlético Madrid team that only scored 51 goals in the league last season. Bayern are good-sized favorites and shouldn't allow many chances for Atlético.

Steve Mandanda ($4,500): Olympique de Marseille are underdogs in their match against Olympiakos, but they have been a solid defensive team in Ligue 1 and also have a win over Paris Saint-Germain. They aren't overmatched despite being underdogs and Mandanda is an experienced goalkeeper that won't be overwhelmed by the stage. Marseille should at least have a chance to win this match, and unlikely to be blown away by the Greek side in this game.

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.