Champions League Fantasy Football: Midfielders

UEFA.com looks at the #UCLfantasy midfield landscape ahead of Matchday 3, highlighting a few standout options who could be set to bring home the points.

Liverpool's goalscoring prowess continued on Matchday 2 as the Reds backed up their 3-2 triumph over Milan with a 5-1 win at Porto. Central to that victory was Mohamed Salah (€10.5m), who found the net twice against the Portuguese side and was named Player of the Match to help him amass a #UCLfantasy score of 16 points. With three goals and 21 points to his name after two group games, Salah is also coming off the back of another star showing on the domestic front, registering an assist alongside a brilliant individual goal in a 2-2 home draw against Manchester City in the Premier League on 3 October.

Another midfielder who starred on Matchday 2 was Leroy Sané (€9.0m), who matched Salah’s score of 16 Fantasy points after picking up an assist, five ball recoveries, a goal scored from outside the box and the Player of the Match award as Bayern defeated Dynamo Kyiv 5-0 in Munich. It has been an excellent start to the competition for Sané, who is currently the second highest scorer among midfielders with 23 points.

Although Sané represents an enticing #UCLfantasy selection, so does his team-mate Serge Gnabry (€10.0m), who also found the net against Dynamo, adding to his assist on Matchday 1. Bayern visit Benfica on Matchday 3, but both Gnabry and Sané are still likely to get plenty of attacking opportunities given the German champions' style of play.

Club Brugge backed up their solid 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain on Matchday 1 with a fantastic 2-1 victory at Leipzig, leaving the Belgian champions well placed in Group A. Key to their success has been offensive midfielder Hans Vanaken (€7.1m), who has been directly involved in three of his side's four goals. Club Brugge will be looking for the 29-year-old to set the tone offensively against a Manchester City side who have conceded five goals across their two Group A fixtures so far.

City themselves boasts a number of formidable midfield assets from a #UCLfantasy perspective including Kevin De Bruyne (€11.0m) and Jack Grealish (€8.1m), while Phil Foden (€8.0m) – a star performer in the UEFA Champions League last season – has worked his way back up to full fitness and could be set for a start on Matchday 3

The leading #UCLfantasy points scorer not only among midfielders, but in all positions, also features in Group A. Despite Leipzig's two defeats so far, Christopher Nkunku (€7.7m) has shone in front of goal with four strikes to his name and if Jesse Marsch's side are to pick up a positive result on Matchday 3 against Paris then Nkunku will likely play a key role against the club where he made his senior debut. The Frenchman already has 29 #UCLfantasy points and it would be no surprise if he added to that.