Champions League Fantasy Football: Defenders

UEFA.com highlights a number of top-performing defenders, with a special emphasis on those who may prove to be valuable #UCLfantasy assets for Matchday 8, presented by PlayStation.

Liverpool defenders dominated the #UCLfantasy scoring charts on Matchday 7 as the Reds secured a valuable 2-0 victory at Italian champions Inter, with Virgil van Dijk (€6.1m), Andy Robertson (€6.3m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (€6.6m) all among the top five highest point scorers. Centre-back Van Dijk topped the charts with 14 points, which included an assist and 21 ball recoveries, earning him the Player of the Match award – and another three points.

Liverpool have now kept clean sheets in five of their last six matches in all competitions and another on Matchday 8 in their second leg against Inter would ensure their safe passage to the quarter-finals. Van Dijk stands out as a significantly attractive #UCLfantasy option particularly but don't rule out Robertson or Alexander-Arnold either. The latter is a constant threat down the right-hand-side, while Robertson gained an assist on Matchday 7 and shares corner-kick duties with his fellow full-back.

Liverpool aren't the only Premier League club with #UCLfantasy assets worth highlighting. A fifth clean sheet of this season's UEFA Champions League campaign for European champions Chelsea helped them overcome LOSC Lille 2-0. Centre-backs Thiago Silva (€5.7m) and Andreas Christensen (€5.7m) both shone for the Blues, the former accruing ten Fantasy points – the joint second highest total on Matchday 7.

Christensen gained seven points, boosting his #UCLfantasy score to 46 overall. Providing both start the return leg, it would be no surprise to see each secure another significant points return.

The only defender among the #UCLfantasy player-base who has more points to his name than Christensen is João Cancelo (€6.5m) of Manchester City. The versatile full-back picked up eight points during his side's comprehensive 5-0 win at Sporting CP, taking him to 49 points for the season.

However, with City boasting such a significant aggregate lead heading into the second leg, #UCLfantasy managers must consider the risk of Cancelo being rested for Matchday 8.

Two Real Madrid players share the third highest #UCLfantasy score accumulated by a defender so far in 2021/22. Both David Alaba (€6.0m) and Éder Militão (€5.8m) have picked up 42 points, although each were denied a clean sheet on Matchday 7 after a late Kylian Mbappé goal gave Paris Saint-Germain a 1-0 win. Defensive stability will be crucial if the Spanish league leaders are to turn this tie around and with a healthy portion of Fantasy points on offer for a clean sheet, either Alaba or Militão are well worth considering.

After Bayern needed a late equaliser to force a 1-1 draw against Salzburg in Austria, a strong response is expected from Julian Nagelsmann's men in Munich. Although he comes at a premium price, Joshua Kimmich (€6.8m) has been a lucrative #UCLfantasy option for managers over a long period of time and offers multiple points avenues through clean sheets, ball recoveries or attacking returns.