UCL FANTASY MATCHDAY 15

Champions League football continues this week which means UCL Fantasy does too!

In our UCL Fantasy newsletter you will find lots of our essential articles in the lead up to the deadline.

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Before we take a look at some of our fantastic articles for Matchday 15, international fantasy football whizz @FPLReaction reveals HOW TO GAIN RANK this week!

Hey everyone, I’m getting straight to the point this week. Gaining rank is very difficult at this point of the competition. So, instead of leaving you in the lurch, I’m going to give you ways boost your rank.

Arsenal v PSG

Arsenal and PSG play tonight which means we get their line-ups before the game. This is quite handy to clear up any doubt around who is starting up front for Arsenal, if Merino is fit, and whether Doue or Barcola or both start.

This is going to be a game where Saka, Dembele, Mendes, Hakimi, Dembele, Saliba and Raya are heavily owned, so you won’t gain much rank with any of these combinations. This tells us a few things. One of them is that if you want to gain from an Arsenal or PSG clean sheet, you’ll have to own 3+ defenders.

The above also shows that bagging a return from an attacker that isn’t called Dembele or Saka could bring you success!

With that in mind, who could you back? Well the shortage of forwards immediately makes Doue a decent option if starting. I’m less convinced by Doue even if he starts because he’s facing Arsenal.

There are some great differentials you could opt for, If Merino is fit and starts he could be a great option. I think there is a chance he plays in midfield though with Trossard central, or switching with Saka during the game. Trossard and Martinelli are viable picks. I also like Declan Rice, who takes set pieces and has picked up at least one attacking return in his previous five starts.

You could even go super aggressive with Arsenal attackers, going for a triple up. After all, they are at home and up against a poor PSG defence.

On PSG, I’m not sure they get much luck this week. Whilst Doue is fine, and maybe Kvaratskhelia and Barcola, you could even delve into central midfield with someone like Vitinha. Vitinha produced two double digit hauls in the league phase due to back-to-back goals and player of the match awards, so you can never write him off.

On captaincy, most will give Saka the armband. This means that captaining anyone (apart from Dembele) is majorly differential. I don’t mind Trossard and Martinelli, but for high upside I think I’d take a punt on Mendes or Hakimi.

Barcelona v Inter

This is a very interesting game for gaining rank. I’m quite unsure on how the Tuesday game is going to go. Where-as with this one, I’m quite confident we are going to see goals for both sides.

Most managers will own Raphinha, Yamal and 1-2 defenders from Barcelona. You can also include captain Raphinha in that. So if you want to gain rank, you will need more than names I have mentioned.

I don’t think Barcelona are going to keep a clean sheet, but they have one of the best clean sheet odds heading into the new round. So, if you want to back a clean sheet, then going 3-4 defenders could be a very aggressive play to gain rank.

The injury to Robert Lewandowski makes owning Raphinha and Yamal even more useless, maybe even damaging. If you go into the round with just those two covering the Barcelona attack then you probably won’t want Barcelona scoring. YOU NEED ANOTHER BARCELONA ATTACKER! Please makes sure you get one!

Ferran Torres is a good option, he’ll start up front, out of position, covering for Lewandowski. Most will go for him though. Dani Olmo will be a differential, even among top managers. People won’t like the fact he got subbed early last time or the fact he got injured early. Players playing in the number 10 role usually benefit and Olmo has scored in each of his last two matches from that position.

A really aggressive approach would be to own all four of Raphinha, Yamal, Olmo and Torres. I really like that idea and would go for it if I could. Not many will be keen on going without Saka or Dembele though.

Backing Inter won’t be differential. Most will be forced to buy their forwards considering their the only options likely to start. Most will already have Inter defence in place too (2-3). So how can you go different with Inter? Probably penalty taker Calhanoglu in midfield or captaining Lautaro.

Of all the moves above, I prefer going for the four Barcelona midfielders and captaining Ferran or Olmo. I don’t mind the idea of going for Rice or Trossard, maybe even Hakimi captain on the first day.

Remember, gaining rank is hard, so if you think you have gone different enough then you probably haven’t. Owning just one differential, or one stack of a teams defence just won’t be enough.

So, whatever you choose this week, good luck!

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We brought in some experts to reveal their teams ahead of the new round:

Check out our predicted line-ups for Matchday 15:

We take a look at the best captains:

As well as being able to track the stats of every player, you can also check out the clean sheet and scoring odds of each side:

Check out the top picks in every position for Matchday 15: