This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
MATCHES (ET)
- 3:00 pm: Celtic vs. Slovan Bratislava
- 3:00 pm: Club Brugge vs. Borussia Dortmund
- 3:00 pm: Manchester City vs. Inter Milan
- 3:00 pm: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Girona
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Wednesday Champions League Cheat Sheet
FORWARDS
It's tough to find solid floors at the forward position. Erling Haaland ($11,400) is expensive for -145 goalscoring odds and Savinho ($9,800) would split set pieces if he started, though he's an early sub risk. Ousmane Dembele ($10,600) and PSG are favored at home against Girona and they have the highest implied goal total. Dembele is a good option if Kang-In Lee ($8,700) doesn't start since he would have some set pieces. He's had a good open-play floor in Ligue 1, but his price is tough to get to, especially with some strong midfielders worth playing.
Kyogo Furuhashi (CEL vs. SLO, $5,800): Furuhashi looks like the best forward value overall. Celtic are the biggest favorites in a home matchup against Slovan Bratislava and their team implied goal total is the second best overall. Furuhashi's goalscoring odds only trail Haaland's and he's averaging four shots per game in domestic league play this season.
The second forward spot in cash games is a tough spot to fill. If you spend up for Dembele, you have to sacrifice a midfielder with a solid set-piece role and the mid-range options aren't that inspiring. Nicolas Kuhn ($7,200) of Celtic is affordable and he's averaging 2.4 shots, 2.2 shots assisted, and 1.4 crosses in league play. He unfortunately is a liability to be subbed at around the 65th minute. The same is true for PSG's Bradley Barcola ($6,900). You could spend down even further for Daizen Maeda ($4,900). He has a worse floor than Furuhashi, but it's not like you are paying much for him.
The Girona forwards are underdogs, but they are also cheap. Viktor Tsygankov ($6,100) should contribute some set pieces, while Tottenham Hotspur legend Bryan Gil ($4,600) has had a good start to his Girona career, averaging 9.5 floor points per start this season.
In tournaments, I'm intrigued by cheap forwards in the Brugge and Dortmund matchup. Karim Adeyemi is just $5,500, while Christos Tzolis ($5,600) has two goals on the season, averaging 3.4 shots per 90 minutes played. Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy ($9,400) isn't cheap, but he has brace upside and logged four shots in 71 minutes in his season debut over the weekend. I think he makes for an interesting contrarian GPP option.
MIDFIELDERS
Kevin De Bruyne (MCI vs. INT, $10,800): While De Bruyne is usually a must in most formats, he's priced high enough that I think it's viable to consider fading him in GPPs, and perhaps even cash games. Manchester City are favored at home against Inter Milan, but Inter play well defensively, so I don't think this will be an easy matchup. He'll likely split set pieces if Phil Foden ($10,000) or Savinho start. De Bruyne is always a good shout for 15 or more floor points on DraftKings, but that might not be good enough in larger GPPs, especially if expensive forwards do well.
Pascal Gross (BVB at BRU, $7,500): Gross has gotten off to a good start to his time at Dortmund, taking a monopoly of set pieces and averaging 12.8 floor points per game in 2024. This is a great role for cash games, but Gross can be frustrating if he plays as a defensive midfielder, making him more reliant on set pieces.
Arne Engels or Paulo Bernardo (CEL vs. SLO, $4,500/3,600): Depending on who starts, Engels or Bernardo will take at least half of Celtic's set pieces, if not a majority role. Both players are slight sub risks, but that is factored into their price, and they can do plenty of damage in 70 minutes in a good matchup. It's worth noting that Engels took a penalty in his first Celtic start, as well.
Finally, Kang-In Lee ($8,700) might start due to injuries in the PSG midfield and he normally takes a prominent role on set pieces when on the pitch.
DEFENDERS
Maxim De Cuyper (BRU vs. BVB, $3,600): Even though Brugge are underdogs at home to Dortmund, De Cuyper is still underpriced and probably one of the first names in for cash games. He'll take at least half of Brugge's set pieces and he's averaging over nine crosses per 90 minutes in domestic league play.
Achraf Hakimi (PSG vs. GIR, $6,400): I feel like I almost always highlight Hakimi in this column and he's off to a great start to the season, averaging 11.8 floor points through his first four games. He's additionally supplied two assists and a goal this season. His teammate Nuno Mendes ($5,100) has been solid, as well, assisting five shots in his two starts.
GOALKEEPER
Simon Mignolet (BRU vs. BVB, $4,400): It's always a reasonable strategy to target the cheapest home goalkeeper in cash games and Mignolet is affordable at $4,400. He has a significantly better chance to win than the other keepers priced below him. I don't mind taking shots at Paulo Gazzaniga ($3,700) on the road against PSG, either. While Girona lost some key players over the offseason, so did PSG, and I think Girona are capable of a road upset.
