Fantasy Football Matchday 1 lessons: Defenders

UEFA.com runs the rule over the defenders to find out who performed well on matchday one, and wonders what #UCLfantasy managers might want to consider for future team selections.

PLAY UCL FANTASY

After an exhilarating matchday one, it is predominantly defenders who lead the way in the #UCLfantasy scoring charts as five of the top ten overall point scorers come from the back line. More specifically, it is full-backs who offered the best value for money at the back last week, with four of those five – Nicolás Tagliafico (€5.0m), Marin Leovac (€4.5m), Thomas Meunier (€5.5m) and Juan Bernat (€5.5m) – operating at either left-back or right-back for their clubs.

The value of owning full-backs lies in their attacking potential; in addition to each of these players keeping a clean sheet, they also combined to register three goals and four assists. These numbers illustrate the benefit of owning an attacking full-back over defenders who operate more centrally, as they carry a greater threat of scoring #UCLfantasy points at both ends of the field.

There is also a relative lack of expensive defenders at the top, with Kalidou Koulibaly (€6.0m) the only defender at his price tag or greater inside the top 15 defenders for matchday one. There are, however, 11 players who cost €5.0m or less inside the top 15, highlighting the value to be found in budget defenders over their more premium counterparts.

MAKE YOUR MATCHDAY TWO TRANSFERS