UCL Fantasy Football Matchday 8: 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 main parameters used in our projections.

The top projected players for each position for Matchday 8 are given below. As usual, check predicted line-ups before making your final selection.

GOALKEEPERS

Two Premier League goalkeepers top the projected goalkeepers list for Matchday 8 with Ederson and Edouard Mendy having registered ten clean sheets between them in this season's UEFA Champions League. Both Manchester City and Chelsea will be defending aggregate leads in the second legs and, given the defensive form shown by these two sides in the competition, owners of either Ederson or Mendy will be feeling confident of more #UCLfantasy points.

Wojciech Szczęsny represents a tempting option with Juventus boasting a superb defensive record at home in recent weeks, while Thibaut Courtois will be aiming to help Real Madrid keep a third successive clean sheet in the competition.

A shut-out at Juve would guarantee Porto’s passage to the quarter-finals and that's a real possibility given the Portuguese side have recorded five clean sheets so far in the competition. Marchesín has been present for four of those, with his 31 #UCLfantasy points only bettered by Ederson and Mendy.

DEFENDERS

Ball-recovery king Cristian Romero's five-point return on Matchday 7 against Real Madrid was his lowest Fantasy score of the season, which only further illustrates what a valuable asset he is to #UCLfantasy managers. Given his consistency of returns, Romero once again tops the list of projected defenders, while not too far behind him is Atalanta team-mate Robin Gosens, who has been finding the net regularly in Serie A lately and boasts useful attacking potential.

Manchester City's João Cancelo combined a clean sheet with an assist for 11 Fantasy points on Matchday 7, meaning the versatile full-back has now accumulated 37 points over the course of his last four UEFA Champions League appearances. Despite the threat of rotation, Cancelo is worth the risk given those numbers, while team-mate Rúben Dias appears to be one of the first names on Josep Guardiola's team sheet given his commanding presence at the back.

Ferland Mendy's 14-point return was the joint-most of any player in #UCLfantasy on Matchday 7 and the popularity of the Real Madrid man has risen as a result. His performance did not go unnoticed by the algorithm either, with the French left-back highly touted in the projections. The ever-reliable César Azpilicueta is also a new face on the list in light of Chelsea's defensive improvement since the appointment of Thomas Tuchel, while Juventus' Alex Sandro could be an astute differential asset.

MIDFIELDERS

An electric performance from Leroy Sané in Bayern's first-leg victory away to Lazio takes the flying winger to the top of the projections and he is bound to attract plenty of interest from #UCLfantasy managers ahead of Matchday 8. The Bayern winger on the opposite flank, Kingsley Coman, should also be considered given that he has registered three goals and three assists in the UEFA Champions League this season, while Joaquín Correa is a tempting option in the same fixture. The Argentinian has five attacking returns to his name in Europe this season and scored Lazio's only goal in the first leg.

Juventus' Juan Cuadrado could make his return on Matchday 8 after his absence last time out and he is heavily favoured to perform by the algorithm. The wide man contributed heavily in his five group stage appearances and his five assists are more than any other #UCLfantasy player this season. With Juventus facing Porto on the opening night of Matchday 8, it is worth monitoring the line-ups to see if the Colombian starts.

Liverpool have been struggling in the Premier League lately but it was business as usual in their first-leg win over Leipzig with familiar pair Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané grabbing the goals for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League winners. The duo remain enticing #UCLfantasy selections and are projected to score well once more.

FORWARDS

Young stars Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé stole the show last time out with their goalscoring exploits resulting in them being the only two forwards to have hit double figures in terms of #UCLfantasy points on Matchday 7. They are closely followed in the projections by experienced trio Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – the three highest scoring players in UEFA Champions League history.

Trying to pick three from that five is a serious headache for #UCLfantasy managers, and to compound the dilemma, the options don’t end there as Ciro Immobile, Gabriel Jesus and Luis Suárez have the potential to produce significant returns and could be worthy of investment for those looking to make up ground in their mini-leagues.

The final two options on the list carry an element of risk given the fact they are working their way back from injury. Real Madrid's Karim Benzema scored four goals in his five group stage appearances and his pedigree in the competition is undeniable, while Brazilian star Neymar scored six goals in Paris' final three games of the group stage and is a tantalising #UCLfantasy option should he line up against former club Barcelona on Matchday 8.