Two tough rounds of UCL Fantasy are now behind us. And now we have time to prepare for UEFA Champions League Fantasy Matchday 3.
Here are our UCL Fantasy tips regarding the best captain, best picks with good fixtures, balls recovered, and our own scout team selection.
Hopefully, our tips will help you to make a good decision about your fantasy squad before the first kick-off of the MD3 of the Champions League.
Let’s dive in.
Do you want to get better at UCL Fantasy? Read our article about Essential Tips for UCL Fantasy Success.
1. Tips & Strategy for Matchday 3 of the UEFA Fantasy Champions League
- Do not chase past points, focus on what is ahead, not behind
- focus on teams with nice fixture run
- Make sure you have 2 great captaincy options, one for each day
- Make sure your goalkeepers play on different days so you can use subs on them
- Have around 8 players for Tuesday and around 7 players for Wednesday to use subs efficiently
- As usual, do not overlook players good at balls recovered and MOTM awards
- Do not forget how some teams rotate in playing days – it could be useful when picking your goalkeepers
2. Transfer Targets and key players to own in Matchday 3
Key players to own
- Haaland/Salah – your backup Matchday 3 captain
- Yamal – the most owned player in the game, so big risk in not owning him despite tough fixture against Bayern
- Arsenal defending coverage – Raya/Gabriel/Saliba
- Wirtz – amazing form
- Frimpong/Grimaldo or even both – Leverkusen wingbacks could be an amazing source of points, they showed it in MD1
- Gyokeres – he is a keep for us, for one more fixture
Transfer targets
- Sommer/Dimarco – Inter defensive coverage
- Man. City defending coverage – Ederson/Rico Lewis/Gvardiol – although it is very hard to predict who of their defenders will start
- Watkins/Rogers – not bad fixtures in the next 2
- Salah
- Havertz
- Arsenal defender
- Ben Seghir – we will know whether he starts before the deadline
- Monaco defender with nice next 3 fixtures
- Vlahovič as differential
- Juventus defender – we like Gatti due to his balls-recovered potential, although some predicted lineups do not have him starting in MD3
- Zakaria, Florentino – midfielders amazing at balls recovered
- Gimenez – balls recovered magnet, a good fixture for Atletico
- Lookman, Rategui – Atalanta with nice fixture run in the next 3, Retegui is in excellent form lately in Serie A and he is pretty cheap in UCL Fantasy
- Zappacosta/Kolašinac – as differentials
- Pulišič – nice form for AC Milan
- Theo Hernandez – 2G + 2A in Seria A this season, solid for a defender
- Celtic players – Celtic have a good fixture run up to MD8
- Foden – did not play in the PL this week, but could be unleashed again in the Champions League just as in MD2
3. Fixtures to target in UCL Fantasy Matchday 3
Now let’s use our Odds to probability calculator to find out which fixtures we should target in Matchday 3 according to bookies odds.
Tuesday fixtures
- Arsenal vs. Š. Doneck: Arsenal 91 % to win, 64 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Girona vs. Slovan Bratislava: Girona 82 % to win, 55 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Monaco vs. CZ Beograd: Monaco 70 % to win, 43 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Sturm Graz vs. Sporting: Sporting 70 % to win, 42 % to score 2.5+ goals
Wednesday fixtures
- Man. City vs. Sparta: Citizens 91 % to win, 65 % to score 2.5+ goals
- YB Bern vs. Inter Milan: Inter 69 % to win, 40 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Atletico vs. Lille: Atletico 67 % to win, 31 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Atalanta vs. Celtic: Atalanta 66 % to win, 40 % to score 2.5+ goals
Find 2.5+ goals odds for all teams in our article: Champions League Over 2.5 Goals Odds.
4. Best captain for Fantasy Champions League Matchday 3
Let’s look at who do we consider to be the best captain for UCL Fantasy Matchday 3.
Tuesday captain pick: Gyokeres (SGR (A))
For Tuesday, the most appealing fixtures for captaincy are Sturm Graz vs. Sporting, Arsenal vs. Sachtar Doneck and Girona vs. Slovan Bratislava.
Other captain picks for Tuesday: Saka (if fit), Havertz, Theo Hernandez
Wednesday captain pick: Haaland (SPP (H))
The standout fixtures for the captaincy on Wednesday are Manchester City vs. Sparta Praha, YB Bern vs. Inter, Leipzig vs. Lvierpool.
A lot of players from those games could do very well.
We picked Haaland from them as our captain for Wednesday. He is a proven UCL fantasy asset, a talisman for Manchester City, despite he did not score in last 2 Premier League games.
It is a boring captain pick, but we do not try to shoot for the moon with our captaincy picks – that strategy does not work. We like the stability Haaland offers as our backup captain if Gyokeres fails to deliver.
Other captain picks for Wednesday: Foden, Salah.
When should you change your captain? Read our system for switching the captaincy here.
5. Players great at recovering balls
After two matchdays we have a better picture about players that are good at balls recovered. Players who can consistently do the job and score extra 2-3 points for you matchday after matchday.
Most balls recovered after first 2 matchdays:
- 23 – Florentino
- 21 – Gimenez
- 19 – Pacho
- 18 – Zakaria, Salisu
Most MOTM before Matchday 3
There are two players that got the MOTM award (and an extra 3 fantasy points) in each of the first two matchdays and those are:
- Wirtz,
- Sima
6. Bookies odds
As usual, we looked at what bookies think about the Matchday 3 of UCL Fantasy. We checked the clean sheet odds to determine which teams are most likely to keep a clean sheet in the MD3 and goalscoring odds to determine which players are most likely to score a goal in MD3.
It can be very helpful when selecting the defense of your UCL Fantasy team or choosing your captain. We used our Odds to probability calculator for converting bookies’ odds into probabilities.
Clean sheet odds for MD3
Bookies favor Manchester City (67 %) and Arsenal (591 %) to most likely keep a clean sheet. Basically, you need at least one defender from each of these two teams for MD3.
Girona and Atletico Madrid follow.
Bookies expect 8.71 clean sheets in Matchday 3. You can find the full Champions League clean sheet odds table here.
Goalscoring odds for MD3
Nothing new here, Haaland, as usual, leads the goalscoring odds.
Check more any-time goalscorer odds in our article Champions League Goalscoring Odds.
7. UCL Fantasy Team Selection Matchday 3
Let’s finish our preview for the Matchday 3 of UCL Fantasy with our scout picks. This is a good inspiration for managers on their wildcard (regular one). If you plan to use your limitless wildcard in MD3, check our limitless squad here.
8. Fantasy Champions League Tips
Find more tips, strategies, and picks for UCL Fantasy in these articles:
- Beginner? Read our guide: How to play UCL Fantasy?
- Confused about the rules? Read the Official guidelines of the game
- Do you want to get better at UCL Fantasy? Read our article about Essential Tips for UCL Fantasy Success.
Feel free to JOIN our UCL fantasy mini-league for the 2024/25 season.
Good luck in UCL Fantasy Matchday 3.
