Fantasy Football Matchday 1 lessons: Midfielders
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Article summary
Midfielders who played in more advanced roles proved to be valuable assets in the first round of fixtures.
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UEFA.com crunches the numbers for the midfielders following the first round of matches to see who's worth monitoring, and which general trends might prove beneficial.
There was a clear advantage to owning one of the several midfielders that played out of position on matchday one. The likes of Mislav Oršić (€6.0m), Ángel Di María (€8.5m), Riyad Mahrez (€8.5m), Mathieu Valbuena (€6.0m) and Quincy Promes (€7.0m) scored well and all operated in either the No10 role or on the left or right of a front three.
What was also apparent was that the introduction of ball recoveries to the point-scoring system will play a significant role as we saw several players gain multiple points. Two budget midfielders who caught the eye were Benjamin André (€5.0m) of LOSC, who scored an extra four points through his 12 ball recoveries, and Lyon's Lucas Tousart (€4.5m) who added three points to his total on account of his 11 ball recoveries.
The top two-scoring midfielders for matchday one – Oršić and Di María, who brought in 19 and 14 points respectively – also highlight the benefit of owning midfielders who enjoy a shot from distance, with each securing an additional #UCLfantasy point for registering a goal from outside the box. No midfielders costing greater than €8.5m, or less than €6.0m, scored more than eight points on matchday one, demonstrating the value of the mid-priced midfielder in #UCLfantasy over premium and budget options. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue throughout the group stage, but it would be wise to consider players in this bracket for the time being.
