RADIO
Hello, RotoBallers! I'm happy to be back with you for some mid-week soccer. The busy European soccer schedule stays busy this week with another round of UCL games. This breakdown will focus on the main UCL slate on FanDuel for Tuesday. Keep reading this breakdown for my DFS soccer picks on RotoBaller and see how to have success on Tuesday's slate.
The large majority of my DFS content will be EPL or UCL-related, however, there is always more soccer DFS to cover. If you want to chop it up with myself and other RotoBaller writers about non-EPL/UCL leagues or other sports, consider becoming a premium member and joining our ever-growing community of DFS and fantasy sports enthusiasts! We have had some great conversations in the Premium Slack chat about the past few UCL slates.
You can also get access to my brain for questions and edits to lineups for Tuesday. In this article, I will be providing you with my UEFA Champions League daily fantasy soccer lineup picks for FanDuel on 11/3/20 for the slate that locks at 3:00 pm ET. Be sure to also check out our other DFS lineup picks for other active sports. You can always find me on Twitter @vdray5 if you have any questions. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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UCL DFS Lineup Picks - Overview
Atalanta vs Liverpool (+110), o/u3.5
Midtjylland vs Ajax (-110), o/u3,3.5
Porto (-125) vs Marseille, o/u2,2.5
RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich (-300), o/u4.0
Manchester City (-550) vs Olympiacos, o/u3.5
Real Madrid (-120) vs Inter Milan, o/u3.0
FanDuel DFS Forwards / Midfielders
Let's just start this UCL breakdown with the chalk and get it over with. Manchester City are massive two-goal favorites at home against Olympiacos on Tuesday. They have scored three goals in each of their last two UCL matches this year, and they have similar potential again in this game. Kevin de Bruyne ($22) is an elite fantasy option and a great way to start your lineup on Tuesday. He has a strong floor and an upside as high as anyone. Raheem Sterling ($20) is a nice play with his anytime scoring odds at -138, but his goals are sporadic and difficult to get right. However, KDB comes with a safer floor and goal odds that are still very nice at -125. We have not seen enough fantasy value from Riyad Mahrez ($17) this season for me to recommend him, so I will jump right down to Ferran Torres ($16) who has done well replacing City's injured strikers. Torres has two goals in UCL play already in addition to several productive EPL/Carabao Cup games.
Another popular team on Tuesday will be Ajax, but with 11 of their players getting ruled out due to a COVID-19 strike, we have carefully check their starting lineup prior to the game. They face Midtjylland on Tuesday. Sure, Midtjylland got drawn into one of the more difficult groups, but they are allowing 3.0 goals per game in UCL play right now. They also just conceded four to Nordsjaelland this past weekend. Antony ($14) is one Ajax attacker who will be among the starters for this one. The young Brazilian has made seven starts for Ajax this season and has four goals and two assists to his name. He's a great mid-tier play with plenty of upside. Possibly one of the best value plays on the entire slate is Lassina Traore ($7). He is criminally underpriced. Traore was featured in my article last week and scored a goal on his way to a 28.2 point game. Traore remains at $7 even with six goals and three assists in UCL/Eredivisie play. Quincy Promes ($15) can be used here as well.
Robert Lewandowski ($23) is a good GPP play on Tuesday. He has been quieter this season but has the potential for multiple goals in any game. Salzburg's free style of play leads to many high-scoring games as you can see by their past two UCL games (2-2 and 3-2). This should benefit Lewandowski, and you could get him at lower ownership with game log watchers fading him. A matchup with Salzburg will also be great for Joshua Kimmich ($16) who remains far, far too cheap. He has been filling the stat box with everything from goals to interceptions, and an open game environment like this one is where he can do some serious damage. Serge Gnabry ($19) can pop off at any time too, and his anytime scoring odds look really nice at -143.
I want to go over a few other less obvious players that I have in my player pool on Tuesday. First is Sergio Oliveira ($14). He's got four goals in all competitions so far this season, and he is creating a decent amount of chances too. Oliveira has a nice home matchup against Marseille too. Second is Eden Hazard ($5). FanDuel was clearly lazy this week and failed to appropriately put a price tag on him. He played 20 minutes in Real Madrid's UCL game and then 60 minutes in their game this weekend. A guy as talented as him for minimum price, does not need a full 90 minutes to hit value. He's a great way to allow yourself some extra cash for a defender.
Finally, I want to touch on some Atalanta attackers. They have been one of the highest scoring teams in Europe over the last 12 months, so getting some exposure against Liverpool's iffy defense is a good GPP strategy. Atalanta are averaging 3.0 goals per game in the UCL this year and 2.83 in Serie A. Alejandro Gomez ($20), Duvan Zapata ($17), and Luis Muriel ($13) all have five goals this season and all have odds +200 - or better - to score on Tuesday. Now they get a home matchup against a quietly bad Liverpool defense that is allowing 2.14 goals per game (2nd worst in the Premier League). Obviously, Muriel is the value play here, but both Gomez and Zapata are good options on Tuesday. Romo Freuler ($12) is a nice value option too, but he has less goal upside.
FanDuel DFS Defenders
Marcelo ($14) is essentially back to full fitness now, and that firmly places him back into my player pool. He has been one of the best attacking wingbacks in the world over the last decade or so, and he continues to have plenty of upside with attacking stats. He likely will not be as high owned as some of the other top-tier defenders either.
Benjamin Pavard ($11) is a very affordable way to get a top-tier attacking defender in an open game environment. He provided an assist last week, and he's always a threat to do that. In this game, he should be able to collect plenty of defensive stats too which will boost both his floor and his upside Tuesday.
Joao Cancelo ($9) is way too cheap here. If this was an EPL slate, he would easily be much closer to $12-13. However, FanDuel doesn't have the best stats for him in UCL. Regardless, he has plenty of attacking upside especially in this game where City are large favorites at home. He, and other City defenders, look likely to get a clean sheet bonus as well.
Jerome Boateng ($6) has now played two straight full 90's on Bayern's backline, so he should be locked into another full game here. Like I have mentioned a few times, this game will likely open up early which should mean a lot of peripheral stats and scoring. Boateng is a very cheap way to get some exposure to that. The veteran center back doesn't need much to hit value.
Nathaniel Phillips ($5) is a great value play on this slate. With Liverpool's many injuries on their backline, Phillips entered the starting lineup last Saturday against West Ham. He scored 17.3 fantasy points in a pretty average matchup. Now Phillips gets a better matchup against a high-powered Atalanta attack. He should feast on clearances again, and he's in a great position to free up some salary for an attacking stud.
FanDuel DFS Goalkeepers
Pierluigi Gollini ($5) could be back in the net for Atalanta, and he would make for a prime GPP play on Tuesday if he is. Atalanta's defense is not great, however, he's at home facing a Liverpool attacking unit that has not been blowing teams out of the water this year. They have only three goals in their two UCL games this year, and one of those was an Ajax own goal and another was a last-minute PK. He should see plenty of shots on Tuesday which boosts his floor. Additionally, Atalanta can win this game and get him a win bonus. If they can keep Liverpool out of the net while doing that, Gollini will have a massive fantasy game.
Kjell Scherpen ($5) is another GK expected to start for minimum price. This is due to the other two Ajax keepers ahead of him on the depth chart getting COVID-19. He'll face a Midtjylland side that has not scored in UCL play this year, and who's only scoring 1.57 goals per game against their competition in the Danish Super League. Ajax should win this game and he should make a few saves which gives him a safe floor. A clean sheet should put him well into the 20's on Tuesday.
If you're looking for someone with better chances to get both bonuses, Ederson ($14) is your guy. City are significant home favorites, and their defense is coming into form. They should dominate the ball possession in this game which likely won't allow Ederson many saves points. But, those 17 bonus points coming in at the end always helps.
Augustin Marchesin ($11) is a nice mid-tier option on this slate who should be very low-owned. He'll be playing at home on Tuesday as a favored GK. Marchesin and Porto have kept two straight clean sheets at home and face a Marseille side that has not scored in UCL yet and only average 1.38 goals per game in France.
Thanks for reading my EPL DFS lineup picks breakdown on RotoBaller and good luck!
