#UCLfantasy: What the numbers say
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Article summary
Ahead of matchday seven, UEFA.com crunches the numbers to find out which players are projected for big points hauls.
Article top media content

Article body
Predicting which Fantasy players are going to perform on a given matchday is a difficult task. Through crunching the numbers, a projected points total for each player has been calculated based on the player's historical performance in the UEFA Champions League. Goals, assists, clean sheets and the likelihood of playing are the major parameters used in our projections.
The top projected players for each position for matchday seven are given below. As ever, check team news before making your final selections...
GOALKEEPERS
Player | Price | Club | Opponents | Home/Away | Gameday | Projected |
Ederson | 5.5 | Man City | Schalke | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 6.2 |
Wojciech Szczęsny | 5.7 | Juventus | Atlético | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 6.2 |
Roman Bürki | 5.7 | Dortmund | Tottenham | A | Wednesday 13 Feb | 6.1 |
Robin Olsen | 4.2 | Roma | Porto | H | Tuesday 12 Feb | 3.5 |
Alisson | 5.5 | Liverpool | Bayern | H | Tuesday 19 Feb | 3.4 |
The top projected goalkeeper for matchday six is Manchester City No1 Ederson, whose side face Schalke. With only six goals in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage, the German club are the lowest scoring team left in the competition.
Wojciech Szczęsny of Juventus and Dortmund's Roman Bürki are second and third on the list respectively. The current top two scoring keepers in #UCLfantasy have already kept eight clean sheets and saved 31 shots between them.
Rounding out the top five are Roma's budget-friendly Robin Olsen and Liverpool No1 Alisson. With Roma up against free-scoring Porto, and Liverpool welcoming Bayern to Anfield, the two keepers can expect a busy night. While both may not be projected to keep a clean sheet, they could still reward #UCLfantasy owners with points through their save potential.
DEFENDERS
Player | Price | Club | Opponents | Home/Away | Gameday | Projected |
Achraf Hakimi | 4.7 | Dortmund | Tottenham | A | Wednesday 13 Feb | 8.0 |
Aymeric Laporte | 5.8 | Man City | Schalke | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 6.7 |
Leonardo Bonucci | 6.1 | Juventus | Atlético | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 6.5 |
Kyle Walker | 5.4 | Man City | Schalke | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 6.0 |
Alex Sandro | 6.0 | Juventus | Atlético | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 6.0 |
Dortmund's Achraf Hakimi is the highest projected defender for matchday seven, whose team visit a Tottenham side missing Harry Kane and Dele Alli through injury. Having already kept two clean sheets in their three UEFA Champions League away games this season, Dortmund and Hakimi will be eyeing another shut-out.
Both Manchester City and Juventus are also projected to keep a clean sheet on matchday seven and therefore two defenders from each side are featured in the top five. Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker feature for Manchester City whereas Leonardo Bonucci (assuming he overcomes an injury) and Alex Sandro represent Juventus. Laporte is projected to outscore the other defenders due to his two gropu stage goals, and is also a more likely starter than Walker.
MIDFIELDERS
Player | Price | Club | Opponents | Home/Away | Gameday | Projected |
Paul Pogba | 9.0 | Man Utd | Paris | H | Tuesday 12 Feb | 6.0 |
Jadon Sancho | 5.0 | Dortmund | Tottenham | A | Wednesday 13 Feb | 5.8 |
David Silva | 9.2 | Man City | Schalke | A | Wednesday 20 Feb | 5.3 |
Ivan Rakitić | 7.1 | Barcelona | Lyon | A | Tuesday 19 Feb | 5.0 |
Philippe Coutinho | 8.5 | Barcelona | Lyon | A | Tuesday 19 Feb | 5.0 |
The top projected midfielder for matchday seven is Manchester United's Paul Pogba. The midfielder has enjoyed a solid start to this season's UEFA Champions League, registering two goals and an assist in his six appearances, but has really hit a purple patch domestically since the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
Dortmund's English midfielder Jadon Sancho is the second top projected midfielder and is extremely budget friendly, costing just €5.0m. Tottenham conceded five goals in their three home group stage matches. Third on the list is Manchester City's David Silva. City have scored seven times on the road already in this season's competition and the Spaniard has been responsible for two of them.
Barcelona duo Ivan Rakitić and Philippe Coutinho take the final two spots. The pair have each scored once and assisted twice so far in this season's competition and travel to Lyon for the first leg; the French team failed to keep a clean sheet in the group stage and conceded two goals in all three home matches.
FORWARDS
Player | Price | Club | Opponents | Home/Away | Gameday | Projected |
Cristiano Ronaldo | 11.9 | Juventus | Atletico | A | Wed, 20 Feb | 7.0 |
Lionel Messi | 11.6 | Barcelona | Lyon | A | Tue, 19 Feb | 6.7 |
Robert Lewandowski | 11.2 | Bayern | Liverpool | A | Tue, 19 Feb | 5.8 |
Kylian Mbappé | 10 | Paris | Man Utd | A | Tue, 19 Feb | 5 |
Dušan Tadić | 7.1 | Ajax | Real Madrid | H | Wed, 13 Feb | 4.9 |
A mixture of Tuesday and Wednesday gamedays are represented in the projected top forwards for matchday seven, meaning Fantasy managers can make the most of the ability to substitute players between fixtures. Top of the pile is the top all-time UEFA Champions League goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, who made a slow start to UEFA Champions League life at Juventus but has scored or assisted in each of the his last three games in the competition.
The current top two goalscorers for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League season – Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski – both feature prominently; Messi has six goals and one assist in just 297 minutes of UEFA Champions League action this season while Lewandowski already has eight goals to his name and recorded double-digit point hauls in each of his last three matches.
Kylian Mbappé's Paris travel to Manchester United but the French champions have found the net in their last 11 away matches in the competition. Dušan Tadić rounds out the top five as an excellent budget option with five goals and two assists in this season's competition.