DraftKings DFS Soccer: UCL Picks for Tuesday, March 14

The Champions League Round of 16 closes this week and Tuesday's slate is unsurprisingly Manchester City heavy. They shift home against RB Leipzig with a 1-1 score on aggregate. Porto will host Inter Milan down one goal on aggregate. Both games have the potential to be fun, but with an implied total of three goals and Man City favored at 71-percent, that is the best place to start.

MATCHES (ET)

• 4:00 pm: FC Porto vs. Inter Milan
• 4:00 pm: Manchester City vs. RB Leipzig

For detailed stats and odds, check out the

DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Tuesday UCL Cheat Sheet

FORWARDS

Erling Haaland, MCI vs. RBL ($9,000): For all the recent struggles of Haaland, he has scored in two of his last three appearances. He was up to five shots against Crystal Palace over the weekend, his most since a December matchup with Leeds. He has the best goalscoring odds on the slate at -200 and is actually not price prohibitive at $9,000. Riyad Mahrez ($9,100) is now priced higher than Haaland and makes for a solid play since he should at least get a share of set pieces with Kevin De Bruyne. 

Forward gets a bit tough after that and you will need to decide if you want to pay up for a second forward or take a cheap value play to open up the rest of your lineup. I have a tough time going to Inter forwards with them being up one goal on aggregate, but they make good GPP options if Porto can score early and open that game up a bit. I would lean to a hot Lautaro Martinez ($8,100) if choosing one. Mehdi Taremi ($8,600) has the second-best goalscoring odds on the slate and would be my preferred forward there. Emil Forsberg ($4,900) has been in good form in league play, scoring in his last five appearances and for value you can take a shot on him or teammate Timo Werner ($5,900). Before their last two games, Man City had not kept a clean sheet in league play since January.

Andre Franco, POR vs. INT ($3,800): With Otavio suspended, the door is open for some Porto set pieces. Franco had some of that role with Otavio in, so it only makes sense that he and Stephen Eustaquio will split here, assuming both start. Porto will be chasing in this one at home, so $3,800 at forward makes a ton of sense for a set-piece taker. 

MIDFIELDERS

Kevin De Bruyne, MCI vs. RBL ($9,300): De Bruyne is easily the best midfielder on the slate who will have the majority of set pieces for Man City. Before his illness, which forced him to miss the first leg, he was his normal self, pumping in shots and crosses at a strong clip. I don't see a reason that you can't fit him on this slate. Teammate Jack Grealish ($8,200) is a high price and makes for a GPP pivot for Man City, as he'll probably be the fourth-most popular play of the four attacking options. Of note, he actually has better goalscoring odds than De Bruyne. 

Midfield value isn't the best on this slate and I don't really want to pay into the mid-range for Dominik Szoboszlai ($6,600) when Leipzig will likely be playing on the counter most of the game and these guys won't have much of a floor. Eustaquio ($7,500) is viable without Otavio in the lineup, but I prefer Andre Franco ($3,800) who was mentioned above. Again, a lot of things will depend on Porto's starting XI, but Franco has started the last two league matches for them.

Hakan Calhanoglu, INT at POR ($7,700): Calhanoglu and Inter will try to protect their goal lead but know that they are far from safe traveling to Porto. He had 15 DraftKings points in the first leg without a goal or assist, showing a solid floor with set pieces. With the value at forward (Franco), I think you can pay up for him on this slate even with a Man City piece or two in your lineup. As mentioned above, if Porto scores early, Calhanoglu will have even more freedom and an increased floor. Henrikh Mkhitaryan ($4,500) and Nicolo Barella ($5,700) make for GPP pivots if you are high on Inter's prospects in this one. 

DEFENDERS

Federico Dimarco, INT at POR ($6,200): Defender is tough on this slate, which may mean you have to down for at least one spot to open up salary for higher priced attackers. Dimarco will likely get a share of sets with Calhanoglu and has shown a good floor, clearly the best of any defender on the slate. Teammate Denzel Dumfries ($5,400) has shown a decent floor, as well, and has upside in the right matchup. 

Outside of that, I'd rather just pay down and save salary at this position. You can certainly pair one of those punts with your goalkeeper in hopes of a clean sheet. Josko Gvardiol ($3,700) has scored in two of his last four, including against Manchester City in the first leg. Even if he doesn't score, he has shown a solid defensive floor. Francesco Acerbi ($3,200) and Pepe ($3,100) also make for decent punts, depending on which side of that match you like more. 

Ruben Dias, MCI vs. RBL ($3,900): Dias is likely the safest of the under $4,000 plays as he has consistently been between five and seven DraftKings points in recent starts and Manchester City have the best clean sheet odds by 15 percent more than Porto. You can also use this logic on Nathan Ake ($3,600) or Manuel Akanji ($3,400) if you want to pivot to another Man City defender.

GOALKEEPER

Ederson, MCI vs. RBL ($5,700): As mentioned, Man City have the best clean sheet and win odds on the slate, by quite a margin. If you have the salary, firing up Ederson at home in a matchup they start out tied on aggregate makes some sense. If you don't have the salary, I think Diogo Costa ($4,700) is viable at home, though he may see some strong counterattacks from Inter Milan if Porto start pushing extra hard. Andre Onana ($4,800) will have more save upside as they try to protect their one-goal aggregate lead and Janis Blaswich ($3,800) will have the most action, but Man City can be clinical at times.