This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
The Champions League is back with eight games Tuesday including a six-game FanDuel main slate. Manchester City and Barcelona are both massive favorites with implied goal totals well over 2.50, but you'll need to find value in other places to pay up for their players. The match of the slate is in Paris, as PSG host Borussia Dortmund.
MATCHES (ET)
- 3:00 pm: Barcelona vs. Royal Antwerp
- 3:00 pm: FC Shakhtar Donetsk vs. FC Porto
- 3:00 pm: Feyenoord vs. Celtic
- 3:00 pm: Lazio vs. Atlético Madrid
- 3:00 pm: Manchester City vs. Red Star Belgrade
- 3:00 pm: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Borussia Dortmund
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
Erling Haaland, MCI vs. CRV ($24): Haaland is the most expensive player on the slate, but for good reason as his -500 goalscoring odds are almost double the next closest player. It's an easy matchup at home and Haaland has a good a chance to score a hat trick in this matchup and is even favored to brace. It's hard to pay up for either Robert Lewandowski ($22) or Kylian Mbappe ($23) with Haaland just slightly more expensive. Man City tammate Julian Alvarez ($22) is an interesting pivot from Haaland in tournaments due to his role on set pieces and -110 goal odds combined with likely going overlooked in this salary range.
Joao Felix, BAR vs. AWP ($19): Felix made his first start for Barcelona at the weekend, scoring his first goal for the club in the process. Felix is slightly cheaper than the bigger names mentioned, but his +120 goal odds are the fifth highest on the slate. Combine that with the fact that Felix took corner kicks for Barca in his start before subbing out of the match and there's real upside for a multi-goal involvement effort in what should be a one-sided win. Of note, Ilkay Gundogan ($18) did not start in that match and has taken the majority of set pieces for Barcelona this season.
Calvin Stengs, FEY vs. CEL ($17): Stengs and Feyenoord are off the pace of the two favorites, but they have a favorable home matchup with an expected goal total just under two against Celtic. Stengs is the majority set-piece taker for Feyenoord in addition to playing as the central attacking midfielder. The question is if you prefer to play Stengs and his +225 goal odds or go the Manchester City onslaught route and look at the similarly priced Jeremy Doku ($17), Jack Grealish ($18) or Phil Foden ($20).
Heorhii Sudakov, SHK vs. POR ($12): It's going to be hard to pay up across the board, so Sudakov enters as a cheap option alongside teammate Oleksii Kashchuk ($13). Both midfielders seem to split set pieces with a boost being given if one is out and the other is in the starting XI. I prefer the minimal savings of Sudakov, but neither player is that inspiring in all honesty. Luis Alberto ($14) is an interesting option in this range in a home matchup against Atletico Madrid as Lazio's set-piece taker, while Rico Lewis ($11) is a potential cheap path to the Manchester City XI as he's classified as a midfielder. Of course, Pep Guardiola could rotate a few positions and there may be some cheaper paths to Man City pieces once the XIs come out.
DEFENDERS
Cesar Azpilicueta, ATL at LAZ ($8): Azpilicueta is an uninspiring option in attack with just three crosses in his three La Liga matches started this season. While he and this matchup lacks major upside, he's cheap, allowing you to pay up at forward and midfield and is playing in the matchup with the lowest-implied goal total. If Javi Galan ($6) draws a start, I would prefer him to any cheap defender as he took two corners after entering Atleti's most recent match as a substitute and is dirt cheap on this slate.
Julian Ryerson, BVB at PSG ($6): I want to be pretty cheap at defense with so much attacking talent, leading me to take a shot with a cheap Ryerson. It's not a great matchup away at PSG, but Ryerson has some attacking upside to go with a defensive floor that should have him pay off this miniscule salary based on being up against Kylian Mbappe.
GOALKEEPER
Jan Oblak, ATL at LAZ ($10): Oblak finds himself in the matchup with the lowest-implied goal total and while Lazio's Ivan Provedel ($9) is even cheaper and at home, I lean towards Oblak if you can find the extra dollar. The reason is simple, as Lazio are off to a horrible start in Serie A where they find themselves 15th place in the table with just four goals scored in their opening four matches.
