UCL Fantasy Football: The Scout squad

Liverpool and Atalanta both provide the maximum three players in The Scout's squad for Matchday 2, while Bayern and Dortmund are also well represented.

Goalkeepers

The Scout is not normally in favour of spending too heavily on goalkeepers, but the return from injury of Alisson Becker (€6.0m) and a home fixture against debutants Midtjylland means the Liverpool No1 is included this time round. Should the Brazilian fail to keep a clean sheet, there is the option of switching to Edouard Mendy (€5.0m), who has shut out the opposition in his last three appearances for new club Chelsea, including at home to UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla at Stamford Bridge on Matchday 1, ahead of the trip to Russia to face group stage newcomers Krasnodar.

Defenders

Having picked up 11 points on Matchday 1 – four for a clean sheet and five from ball recoveries – Liverpool's Joe Gomez (€5.5m) is an obvious choice for the visit of Midtjylland, while Diego Carlos (€5.0m) is another who scored highly for ball recoveries in the first round and could do so again as his Sevilla side host Rennes. The weekend injury to Alphonso Davies will likely result in Lucas Hernández (€5.0m) starting for Bayern at Lokomotiv Moskva, while another German-Russian fixture, Borussia Dortmund's home game with Zenit, warrants a place for the home team's attacking full-back Thomas Meunier (€5.0m). The five defenders are completed by Atalanta's Cristian Romero (€4.5m), whose 12-point Matchday 1 haul was the second highest among defenders.

Midfielders

With plenty of funds invested up front, the midfield is necessarily composed mainly of budget picks, although there is room for one premium asset – Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (€11.5m), who has a formidable scoring record at Anfield. The remainder of the midfielders are made up of lower-priced options, with a particular focus on ball recoveries – Zenit's Wílmar Barrios (€4.5m) has proved a popular choice among #UCLfantasy managers while Tetê (€5.0m) brought in 13 points on Matchday 1, the joint-second highest midfield score. Atalanta's Aleksei Miranchuk (€5.0m) made a scoring cameo appearance in the first round, when Manchester United's Fred (€5.5m) collected three of his five points thanks to ball recoveries.

Forwards

Two of the Bundesliga's leading lights supply two-thirds of the strike force, and it's no surprise that Robert Lewandowski (€12.0m) and Erling Braut Haaland (€11.0m) are once again predicted to score heavily. The former's failure to find the net or provide an assist on Matchday 1 was a major surprise given his Bayern side plundered four goals and there's every chance Lewandowski will put that right at Lokomotiv Moskva this week; Haaland did score on Matchday 1 and has five goals in as many Bundesliga appearances this season. Atalanta's Duván Zapata (€9.5m) rounds off the front line, based on three goals in his last four games and a home fixture against Ajax.