Fantasy Champions League: Wednesday Cheat Sheet

MATCHES (EDT)

2:45 p.m: Arsenal v. Ludogorets
2:45 p.m: Barcelona v. Manchester City
2:45 p.m: Bayern Munich v. PSV Eindhoven
2:45 p.m: Celtic v. Borussia Monchengladbach
2:45 p.m: Dynamo Kyiv v. Benfica
2:45 p.m: FC Rostov v. Atletico Madrid
2:45 p.m: Napoli v. Besiktas
2:45 p.m: Paris Saint-Germain v. FC Basel

ODDS REPORT

EXPECTED CORNER TAKERS

Arsenal: Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil
Ludogorets: Wanderson
Barcelona: Neymar, Ivan Rakitic
Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva
Bayern Munich: Thiago Alcantara, Arjen Robben
PSV Eindhoven: Davy Propper, Andres Guardado
Celtic: Tomas Rogic, Scott Sinclair
Borussia Monchengladbach: Ibrahima Traore, Thorgan Hazard
Dynamo Kyiv: Andriy Yarmolenko
Benfica: Pizzi, Alejandro Grimaldo
FC Rostov: Timofei Kalachev
Atletico Madrid: Koke, Gabi, Yannick Carrasco, Nicolas Gaitan
Napoli: Jose Callejon, Faouzi Ghoulam
Besiktas: Caner Erkin, Ricardo Quaresma
Paris Saint-Germain: Angel Di Maria, Lucas Moura
FC Basel: Luca Zuffi, Matias Delgado

PLAYER RECOMMENDATIONS

GOALKEEPER

Jan Oblak, ATL at ROS: If you're looking to pay up at the goalkeeper position, it's hard to argue against Oblak and the Atletico Madrid defense. After a near Leicester-esque takedown of the Russian Premier League last season, it's been a tougher go this time around for Rostov, losing or drawing half their matches. Madrid have won four consecutive games, with three clean sheets, including a 7-1 victory over Granada this past weekend. In fact, Oblak has already kept seven clean sheets this term (including a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in their last UCL match). It's worth noting Oblak is a slight injury concern, but he should be ready to go Wednesday.

Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, DYN vs. BEN: This match has the lowest projected total goals on the slate, with a 0-0 result certainly well within the reason. Not a game to target from an offensive perspective, but the home defense and goalkeeper will be in a good position to keep a clean sheet against a Benfica side that takes plenty of shots from outside the box, which have a much higher chance of being saved, should they find the target at all.

DEFENDER

Faouzi Ghoulam, NAP vs. BES: The Algerian has four assists in Serie A and UCL play this season, and he is averaging over nine crosses per game, with his share of corners playing a major role. Napoli have lost consecutive matches domestically, but they will be looking to stay undefeated in UCL play and all but guarantee their spot in the knockout stages.

Alejandro Grimaldo, BEN at DYN: You wouldn't know it from the UCL game logs, but Grimaldo is a fairly prolific crosser because he shares corner duties with Pizzi. Domestically, Grimaldo is averaging 5.2 crosses per 90 minutes, and the 21-year-old Spaniard has also picked up a goal and two assists.

Layvin Kurzawa, PSG vs. BAS: Kurzawa has taken a major step back in the crossing department this season, but I'd expect that number to rebound near the four-plus he averaged per game in past seasons. What makes Kurzawa so valuable is his ability to contribute to goals, as he has two goals and an assist in 406 minutes this year. In 14 appearances for PSG in Ligue 1 last season, he contributed three goals and five assists, and he's scored as many as five goals in a season.

MIDFIELDER

Angel Di Maria, PSG vs. BAS: Averaging 8.1 crosses per game in Champions League play and 9.1 in Ligue 1, Di Maria is yet to score a goal on the season, though he has assisted four of them. With a prime matchup against a much lesser FC Basel, Di Maria has a great opportunity to work towards his 13 goals (in UCL and Ligue 1) from last season. Teammate Lucas Moura is a little cheaper and is cut from a similar cloth, splitting corners, and he's also taken up a larger scoring load, already tallying five goals in Ligue 1 play.

Yannick Carrasco, ATL at ROS: After exploding for three goals and two assists Saturday against Granada, it'd be naïve to overlook the Belgian international in what is an even more favorable matchup Wednesday. The 23-year-old had been held without either a goal or an assist up to that point in La Liga, but he does have a goal in 97 minutes of UCL action this season and will look to carry the momentum from this weekend's performance.

Joshua Kimmich, MUN vs. PSV: It doesn't seem sustainable, but Kimmich now has six goals in 519 minutes (the equivalent of about 5.75 games). He also averaged 5.6 crosses per 90 minutes during his first two Champions League matches this season, though it's worth noting that he averages just 0.5 per 90 minutes in Bundesliga play despite playing the same position.

FORWARD

Robert Lewandowski, BAY vs. PSV: Given odds of 1/4 by Paddy Power to score (roughly 73 percent), the Polish international is rated as the most probable goal scorer on the day. In his two World Cup qualifiers for Poland during the recent international break, Lewandowski scored four goals on 13 shots and racked up a total of 65 fantasy points.

Edinson Cavani, PSG vs. BAS: Cavani now has 12 goals in nine UCL and Ligue 1 appearances this season. Taking over the primary goal-scoring roll from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cavani is picking up right where the Swedish superstar left off (Zlatan netted 43 times in Ligue 1 and UCL last season).

Moussa Dembele, CEL vs. BOR: Shocking Manchester City with a 3-3 draw in their last UCL bout, Celtic are now undefeated in 10 matches at home this season. Dembele has played in nine and has scored 13 goals. Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will look to pull a minor upset against a Borussia Monchengladbach side that are winless in their last three matches.