UCL Fantasy Football Matchday 5: What the numbers say

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 5 are given below. As usual, check the latest team news before finalising your squad.

GOALKEEPERS

Manchester City boast the joint-best defensive record in the UEFA Champions League this year with just one goal conceded over their four games and that means Ederson is the top projected goalkeeper for Matchday 5, while Juventus No1 Wojciech Szczęsny is not far behind with the Pole aiming to keep Dynamo Kyiv at bay for the second time in the group stage. Marc-André ter Stegen, Alisson Becker and Pierluigi Gollini, who kept a clean sheet on his first appearance in the competition this season on Matchday 4 after recovering from injury, make up the rest of the top five.

DEFENDERS

Cristian Romero is turning into something of a Fantasy hero, with the Atalanta centre-back boasting the highest ball recovery stats in this season's UEFA Champions League despite featuring in only three of the four group stage games. Having also kept two clean sheets and provided an assist, Romero will feature on the shopping lists of many #UCLfantasy managers searching for defensive value.

Elsewhere, the versatile João Cancelo has been heavily involved for Manchester City this season and is tipped to perform well on Matchday 5, while Dortmund trio Thomas Meunier, Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels are also projected to bring in points for their owners.

Creeping back into the top ten is Leipzig's Angeliño. Those who brought in the Spaniard early will have fond memories of his 19-point haul against İstanbul Başakşehir on the opening matchday and, while he hasn’t hit those heights since then, he will face off against those same opponents on Matchday 5 with owners crossing their fingers for a repeat performance.

MIDFIELDERS

The algorithm came up trumps on Matchday 4 with its selection of Bruno Fernandes, and the Manchester United midfielder is now top of the projected points list following his double against İstanbul Başakşehir. The Red Devils face a tough match against Paris but Fernandes' consistency of attacking returns makes him a viable #UCLfantasy option nonetheless.

Bayern's Kingsley Coman recorded his second double-digit score of the season with a goal and assist against Salzburg last time out but his best performance of the UEFA Champions League to date was his 16-point showing against Atlético on Matchday 1. Coman could have an opportunity to torment the Spanish side once again on Matchday 5, but owners and potential investors should beware the threat of rotation as Bayern have already secured their passage to the round of 16.

Juan Cuadrado has been quietly racking up the #UCLfantasy points for Juventus and is now tied with Kevin De Bruyne on a competition-leading four assists this season. Featuring in just 5% of #UCLfantasy teams and having a recorded a double-digit return on Matchday 5, Cuadrado represents an affordable and reliable differential.

FORWARDS

Rotation could once again sting #UCLfantasy managers looking to target the big-hitters but the projections are still favouring the relentless Erling Braut Haaland, who continues to make a mockery of the art of goalscoring. Lionel Messi owners were caught out on Matchday 4 with the Argentinian being rested but they will be hoping he returns to the fold for Barcelona’s trip to Hungary to face Ferencváros, while Cristiano Ronaldo – with a projected score of 8.2 – could be heavily captained with Juventus hosting Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday.

A new entry this time around is the lethal Ciro Immobile, who is one of the highest-scoring #UCLfantasy forwards despite only featuring in two matches so far. Lazio face a daunting trip to Dortmund but Immobile scored and provided an assist in the reverse fixture on Matchday 1 and could prove to be an excellent differential choice when factoring in his meagre 2% ownership.