EURO 2020 Fantasy Football Matchday 2: 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. Goals, assists, clean sheets and the likelihood of playing are the main parameters used in our projections.

Ahead of Matchday 2, UEFA.com breaks down the numbers to find out which players are predicted to perform well. As ever, check the latest team news and predicted line-ups before making your final selection.

GOALKEEPERS

With the algorithm having correctly predicted clean sheets for both Italy and Belgium on Matchday 1, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Thibaut Courtois both retain their places in the top-five projected goalkeepers ahead of the second set of fixtures. They are joined by England's Jordan Pickford, fresh from keeping a clean sheet against Croatia, Hugo Lloris for a heavily fancied France outfit, and Dominik Livaković, whose Croatia side need to put points on the board against Czech Republic.

DEFENDERS

After starring roles on Matchday 1, Leonardo Spinazzola and Thomas Meunier naturally feature high up on the list. Owners of Italy's Spinazzola will have been pleased to see how attacking he was in the opening-day win over Turkey, while those who selected Meunier can feel somewhat fortunate after the Belgium full-back ended on 15 Fantasy points despite not featuring in the starting XI.

After a solid display against Croatia, England's central defensive pair John Stones and Tyrone Mings are tipped to score well once again. Stones' goal threat from set pieces is well documented while England have kept clean sheets in nine of Mings' 11 appearances in national colours.

Despite their high prices, France duo Lucas Hernández and Benjamin Pavard represent tempting propositions for Fantasy managers, particularly those activating the Limitless chip ahead of Matchday 2, while Portugal's Raphaël Guerreiro – despite a tricky fixture against Germany up ahead – boasts undeniable attacking potential.

MIDFIELDERS

Lorenzo Insigne and Georginio Wijnaldum featured in the projections prior to Matchday 1 and both duly delivered a goal for their respective ownership in wins for Italy and the Netherlands. The algorithm has confidence in repeat showings from the two midfielders ahead of Matchday 2, with fixtures against Switzerland and Austria respectively.

Despite defeat, Andriy Yarmolenko caught the eye with his strike from outside the box against the Netherlands, and with Ukraine taking on a North Macedonia side who conceded three times in their opening fixture, Yarmolenko could be set for more EURO Fantasy returns.

England coach Gareth Southgate's faith in Raheem Sterling was repaid against Croatia as the winger scored the only goal of the game, while Manchester City team-mate Phil Foden was centimetres away from registering himself, hitting the inside of the post early on. Both feature in the top-ten projected midfielders ahead of Matchday 2.

Fantasy managers should keep their ears close to the ground for news on Kevin De Bruyne's recovery from a facial injury. If he's declared fit ahead of Belgium's fixture against Denmark, he could easily be one of the top-scoring Fantasy assets in the second round of fixtures.

FORWARDS

Romelu Lukaku has established himself as an early frontrunner in the race to be the top scorer at EURO 2020 following his two goals against Russia, so it is no surprise to see him top the projected forwards list for the second matchday running. Italy's Ciro Immobile – who impressed with a goal and assist on Matchday 1 – is not far behind the Belgian, while Harry Kane remains heavily fancied despite blanking against Croatia.

Those activating the Limitless chip will no doubt flock towards Kylian Mbappé for France's Matchday 2 fixture against Hungary, but fellow forward Antoine Griezmann should also be considered given his recent strike rate for his country.

Familiar names Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski have tough tests ahead of them on Matchday 2, with Portugal and Poland facing Germany and Spain respectively, but such world-class strikers should never be underestimated – and it would be no surprise to see either of them reward the faith put in them by EURO Fantasy managers. The budget choice of the list, however, is Ukraine's Roman Yaremchuk, whose nine-point haul in the opening set of fixtures was bettered only among the forwards by Lukaku at the time of writing.