Welcome back to another Fantasy Football Community newsletter. Here we put all of our focus into UCL Fantasy Matchday 9.

We highlight everything you need to get ready for the brand new round ahead. We take a look back at some of our best UCL Fantasy articles published this week.

We also bring in UCL Fantasy expert @FPLReaction for our EXLUSIVE to share some of his thoughts around how to gain rank.

Hey Everyone!

I’m super excited for the new round of UCL Fantasy this week. Here I’m going to discuss and highlight some ways you can gain rank this week.

Firstly, I think it’s going to be much easier to gain rank than people think. A lot of people still believe certain rhetoric going into the new round. ‘Bayern are much better than Arsenal and always have been’, ‘Atletico are such a strong defensive force’ and Manchester City are miles better than Real Madrid’. These are all wrong for me, in fact, Bayern are miles off their usual performances, Atletico are struggling to keep clean sheets and Manchester City are really struggling defensively too.

My point in all of this is that, a lot of UCL Fantasy managers, even some of the most experienced, are probably going to back those old rhetoric’s, and backing against them could be differential enough to gain rank.

For clued up managers like yourselves, I have come up with some great singular differentials who I think can gain you rank going into Matchday 9.

One of the differentials I think could do well is Bernardo Silva (€8.3m).

Manchester City may not be what they were defensively but they still have massive threat going forward, make no mistake of that. They tend to average three goals scored per game which is something we simply cannot ignore.

Now a lot of managers are going to go for Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, who are all great options by the way. They are also going to pick two maybe three of them in bulk, which although they may think that’s differential, it probably won’t be.

So, with the above in mind, Silva has to be considered. Yes he isn’t exactly the most consistent attackers but this guy is special, which means he has the potential for a massive performance in any given game.

Some may remember his two goals against Real Madrid in the latter stages of last campaign, I certainly did, probably because I owned him when nobody else did and gained massively from it.

The Third Forward Slot

What do I mean the third forward slot? Well Kylian Mbappe helps out with captaincy on the Wednesday and Erling Haaland is Erling Haaland, so who are you filling the third striker slot with?

Yes Harry Kane, is popular but he faces the best defensive unit in England whilst playing for an inconsistent team. Vinicius Junior is also a very good option, but without penalties and playing more on the wing, his potential sometimes can be very questionable. So who could you opt for?

Kai Havertz is a very good option in my opinion. Firstly, look at that horrid defence. Defence is a major issue this week and UCL Fantasy managers will find it next to impossible to fit in the expensive attackers and have decent defenders. Havertz’ €7m price-tag gives owners €3m extra to make upgrades around the squad.

Arsenal double attack could be an interesting prospect this week, especially when taking into account they have averaged more than three goals scored in their last 10 matches. Now, no-one really wants to break up their midfield template which makes Havertz, as a forward, a good option.

The German has been exceptional for Arsenal recently, scoring five goals and creating three assists in his last seven league matches. He also faces a German side which could hold some magic to him, providing him with additional motivation.

Budget Differential

There are a lot of expensive options to fit in this week. It may even be that we have maxed out our defender slots in terms of ‘cheapness’ and we need an attacking enabler, well this man right here offers exactly that.

Fermin Lopez (€4.6m) seems to be becoming a favourite for Barcelona, starting all three of their last matches. Lopez hasn’t just started the latest Champions League match but he also featured in six of his sides eight games.

Lopez hasn’t just featured, but in Matchday 3 he accumulated a mammoth 15-point haul for his goal, assist and player of the match award. He also scored in his latest CL game against Napoli. If that wasn’t enough he also netted in his recent match against Atletico.

Lopez isn’t just a cheap player with attacking potential, he also enables an additional premium player, or you can simply use the money to upgrade that torrid backline.

Differential Combinations

Singular differentials are fine, sometimes amazing. But, differential combinations can be massive for gaining rank.

Below is a list of combinations that if successful, could help shoot you right up the rankings:

• Quadruple Manchester City attack

• Double Real Madrid defence

• Double Real Madrid attack

• Double Arsenal attack

• Triple Arsenal defence

• Double Barcelona attack

• Double Barcelona attack

• Two Atletico players (attack or defence or a mix)