Daily Fantasy Soccer Picks for UEFA Champions League - DraftKings 2/23/16

Editor's note: Welcome Rob Banner who'll be covering Soccer (Football to all you Non-Americans) for us. Really excited to have him on board and you can give him a Twitter follow @RobBanner_

There’s UEFA Champions League action taking place in midweek as the favorites to win the competition, Barcelona travel to England to face Arsenal and last year’s finalists, Juventus host Bayern Munich on Tuesday. 24 hours later Dynamo Kyiv will play Manchester City at the NSK Olimpiyskiy Stadium and Atletico Madrid travel to Holland to face top of the Eredvisie, PSV.

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Goalkeeper

Jan Oblak – DK 3,900
Opponent - PSV
Unlike any other position, goalkeepers receive points if their side wins and that’s partially why Jan Oblak is at the top of my list. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper faces PSV who are one of the poorest sides left in the competition, therefore it’d be no surprise to see Atletico come away from Holland with a victory. Furthermore goalkeepers receive five points for a clean sheet and are deducted two each time they concede. In the group stages, Oblak kept four clean sheets in the six games he played and Atletico Madrid boast the best defensive record in La Liga by some margin.

Joe Hart – DK 4,000
Opponent – Dynamo Kyiv
First of all, Manchester City are the better of the two sides and are more than capable of beating Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday, thus potentially earning Joe Hart five points for winning the match. Secondly, Man City are a very sound side defensively even if their Champions League results to date don’t tell that story. In the Premier League this season, they’ve conceded fewer shots than any other side and that’s significant because shots are a product of goals and are more predictive of future performances than goals are. It should also be noted that the Manchester City captain, Vincent Kompany has returned to action after a lengthy spell on the side-lines and he immediately decreases the likelihood of Joe Hart conceding.

 

Forward

Luis Suarez – DK 9,400
Opponent – Arsenal
At $10,400 Lionel Messi was too pricey for my liking, but his strike partner Luis Suarez is fairly priced given his goalscorer exploits so far this season. He’s scored an astonishing 41 goals in 37 appearances this campaign and that includes 5 goals in 5 Champions League appearances. Furthermore Suarez has assisted 12 goals and unsurprisingly has averaged 20.3 points per game in the Champions League this season. Finally it should be noted that Suarez comes into this fixture in the form of his life, he’s scored 15 goals in his last ten matches and has recorded eight assists in that same period of time.

Paulo Dybala – DK 4,900
Opponent – Bayern Munich
Admittedly, Paulo Dybala is facing tough opposition in the form of Bayern Munich but at $4,900 he offers excellent value. The young Argentine has been compared to Lionel Messi by many after an excellent season thus far. He’s scored 13 goals in 25 League appearances for Juventus and has also assisted eight goals for his teammates which indicates he’s got the potential to be a big point’s scorer. In the four Champions League matches that Dybala has started this campaign he’s averaged 12.5 points per game which is very impressive given he didn’t score or assist in any of those four matches.

 

Midfielder

Arjen Robben – DK 7,000
Opponent – Juventus
Arjen Robben has only played 68 minutes of Champions League football this season due to injuries, but he’s now started three consecutive League matches for Bayern Munich therefore we can expect Robben to play 90 minutes on Tuesday evening. The Dutchman is the highest priced midfielder this slate and rightly so. Since joining Bayern Munich in 2009, he’s scored 98 goals and 18 of those have come in the Champions League. Even if Robben does fail to score, he’ll inevitably still be a high point scorer because he averages over 3.5 shots per game in the Champions League. Finally it should be noted that Robben also assists his fair share of goals, last season he recorded seven assists in just 21 Bundesliga appearances.

Saul Niguez – DK 3,500
Opponent – PSV
Saul Niguez has become a regular in the Atletico Madrid starting eleven this season and the 21 year old is a good addition to my DraftKing line up at just $3,500. Admittedly he’s not the most attacking midfielder, but despite this he still averaged 9.7 points per game in the six Champions’ League group matches he featured in. The Spaniard is far from a prolific goalscorer but he’s averaged over 1.5 shots a game this season and scored four goals and two of those came in the group stages.

 

Defender

Dani Alves – DK 4,300
Opponent – Arsenal
At $4,300, despite being one of the more expensive defenders, Dani Alves offers excellent value in this slate. The Brazilian international is very much a modern day fullback who likes to get forward which is advantageous for scoring valuable points. In his last three Champions League outings, he’s averaged 11.83 points per game and this has been down to his willingness to attack. Assists are big point scorers for defenders and Alves assists more than most full backs. Since moving to Barcelona, Alves has played in seven Champions League campaigns and has assisted an impressive 14 goals.

Joshua Brenet – DK 2,600
Opponent – Atletico Madrid
With only $50,000 to spend on eleven players, if you want the big names, you’ve got to accept some budget options and Joshua Brenet is good buy at $2,600. He played in all six of PSV’s group matches and averaged a respectable 6.3 points per game. The 21 year old is a full back and this is beneficial because they tend to score more points than central defenders due to the nature of DraftKings scoring system. Should PSV keep a clean sheet then Brenet will receive three points and whilst Atletico are very good defensively, they’re not the most prolific side. In the League this campaign, the Spanish side have scored just 35 goals in 24 matches in comparison with Real Madrid who have scored 70.

 

Utility

Filipe Luis – DK 3,600
Opponent – PSV
Full backs are usually very reliable, consistent and cheap point scorers, therefore Filipe Luis is a great utility option. He’s an attacking full back whose averaged 10.66 points per game in the Champions League this campaign and should have plenty of opportunities to get forward against PSV who are poor in comparison with many sides left in the competition. There’s also a good chance the Brazilian defender will get 3 points for keeping a clean sheet because Atletico Madrid are so strong defensively. In the Champions’ League group stages, Atletico Madrid kept four clean sheets in their six matches and have the best defensive record in La Liga by some distance.

Moraes – DK 4,100
Opponent – Manchester City
Dynamo Kyiv’s striker Moraes is a great value play at just $4,100 in my opinion. Above I alluded to how Manchester City are a good side defensively, but they still concede their fair share of goals. In their six Champions League games this season they’ve conceded eight goals which indicates that Moraes will get a couple of opportunities. The Brazilian does score his fair share of goals for Kyiv, he’s scored 5 times in 12 starts in the League this campaign and at just $4,100 when playing at home, he’s worth adding to your DraftKings line up.

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