EURO 2020 Fantasy Football semi-finals: What the numbers say

Predicting which Fantasy players are going to perform on any 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 6, UEFA.com breaks down the numbers to find out which players are predicted to perform well.

GOALKEEPERS

The stand-out goalkeeper by some distance is England No1 Jordan Pickford, who is yet to concede in his five appearances at EURO 2020. The algorithm is therefore backing another six-plus points return when Denmark are the visitors to Wembley.

Gianluigi Donnarumma remains the most selected goalkeeper in Fantasy circles, though, with the Italian's three consecutive clean sheets in the group stage largely responsible for his popularity. Meanwhile, those looking to go against the grain have a choice of Spain's Unai Simón or Denmark's Kasper Schmeichel, although neither is predicted to keep a clean sheet.

DEFENDERS

As one of the joint-highest Fantasy points scorers still in the competition, Luke Shaw naturally tops the bill when it comes to the projected scores among defenders. The left-back didn't feature on Matchday 1 but has since gone on to record clean sheets in all of his appearances since, as well as notching three assists across England's two knockout games so far. The ever-present John Stones also features in addition to fellow centre-back Harry Maguire, who was on the scoresheet in the quarter-final win over Ukraine.

Elsewhere, Jordi Alba was back in Luis Enrique's starting line-up for the quarter-finals and recorded his second assist of the tournament, but given that he played 120 minutes against Switzerland, investment in the Barcelona man should be held off until Spain's starting line-up is revealed.

There was yet another attacking return for Joakim Mæhle in Denmark's quarter-final defeat of the Czech Republic, the wing-back registering an assist to go with the goals he had scored in each of the previous two matchdays. Although he has received another price increase, he still represents excellent value.

MIDFIELDERS

Raheem Sterling's assist against Ukraine in the quarter-finals means that he has now made an attacking contribution in four of England's five EURO 2020 games to date, and he is comfortably the highest-scoring Fantasy midfielder with 33 points to his name. The winger features in almost half of all Fantasy squads, and he could well creep over the 50% mark by the time we reach the Matchday 6 deadline.

Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Chiesa are the two Italian players picked out by the algorithm. Insigne has struck twice for the Azzurri so far and appears to be a certain starter for Roberto Mancini, while Chiesa has worked his way into the starting line-up and will be looking to add to the goal he scored against Austria in the round of 16.

The situation is less clear for Spain. Pablo Sarabia faces a race against time to be fit for the semi-final against Italy so, with that in mind, Ferran Torres – who has made three attacking contributions at EURO 2020 – and Dani Olmo – who bagged a pair of assists against Croatia on Matchday 4 – are players to consider.

FORWARDS

There appears to be no stopping Harry Kane, with a further two goals against Ukraine helping him become the most-owned player in EURO 2020 Fantasy. After failing to score in any of England's three group stage games, the striker is now in the running to finish as competition top scorer, and he is surely the first name on many Fantasy team sheets for the semi-finals.

Despite having not scored since Matchday 2, Ciro Immobile remains a popular choice among Fantasy managers and the projections are tipping the Italian to rediscover his touch in the semi-finals, while Álvaro Morata owners will be hoping he fares better than his 54-minute stint against Switzerland, which yielded just one Fantasy point.

For those budget-conscious managers, Kasper Dolberg has been turning a few heads. Having worked his way into Denmark's starting XI, the forward has struck three times in the last two games and will hope to be the first man to breach the England rearguard. Alternatively, Gerard Moreno represents something of a punt but has provided two assists when he's been on the pitch, and will likely get minutes in some form against Italy.