Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 17 Expert Picks and Team Reveal

With a new round ahead, we take a look at Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 17 expert picks and team reveal. @FPLGunnersaurus joins us to give his top picks for the Matchday ahead whilst also sharing his squad going into the new round with his general thoughts.

Twitter is full of the most experienced fantasy football players around. Those managers can be some of the best people to look to when trying to gain clarity when making decisions within our teams. Checking out the Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 17 expert picks and team reveal can help hugely for the round ahead.

Top Picks – Defenders – Alphonso Davies (16.5m / 20% TSB / FCB)

With back to back home games to kick off the Bundesliga restart, and with a favourable schedule ahead, Phonzie may well find himself coming back into many fantasy teams after an extended absence. Bayern play three of their next four games at home which see them host Hoffenheim, Bremen and Gladbach (with an away trip to Augsburg before that Gladbach tie).

If there’s a time to load up on Bayern players it’s surely now. The roadrunner hasn’t been at his attacking best this season. In fact he has managed only three assists with no attacking returns since MD2. On MD17 he showed how defensively resolute he can be picking up 17 points. That included eight points for won duels. However if you’re paying 16.4m for a defender you also want some attacking returns. With upcoming games against ‘weaker’ teams perhaps those attacking returns come across the next month.

Benjamin Henrichs (11.8m ON-SALE / 32% TSB / RBL)

Leipzig face a tough task heading back into action following the winter break. They face three of the top eight consecutively in Frankfurt (H) on MD17, league leaders Leverkusen (H) on MD18 and high-flying Stuttgart (A) on MD19. I currently own two Leipzig defenders, including Henrichs. But, I may look to offload one ahead of this run.

If I do offload anyone it would be Raum and not Henrichs as he is on sale this week. That in itself is an attractive enough reason to bring him in for MD17 if you don’t currently own him. You can pick him up and sell him ahead of MD18 and pick up a profit of anywhere between 0.9m – 1.7m. MD17 opponents Frankfurt have been shaky on the road lately too losing their last two away fixtures. Leipzig are favourites for the tie and with Henrichs on sale he’s a solid pick this matchday.

Kiliann Sildillia (5.1m / 5% TSB / SCF)

Teammate Makengo who is on-sale at 2.2m would have got this spot if he was a guaranteed starter. However after being benched against Heidenheim and with Günter close to a return the left-back position is uncertain. Therefore, we move over to the other side of the pitch and look at Sildillia. Prior to the 3-2 defeat away at Heidenheim Freiburg had kept three clean sheets in a row. In those games Sildillia picked up respectable scores of 10 points, 13 points (which included an assist) and six points.

Like Bayern Freiburg also kick off the restart with two home games with visits from Union Berlin and then Hoffenheim. They’re also away to Bremen in MD19 so Freiburg assets such as Sildillia look like good short term holds. With Streich’s side showing a new defensive steel the Freiburg defence are suddenly looking attractive.

Midfielders – Jamal Musiala (16.5m / 20% TSB / FCB)

It’s Bambi who is my premium midfield pick for MD17. Musiala has been stop-start all season due to injuries but now free of those niggles he should settle into Tuchel’s main eleven. We all know what the young German international talent can do when he’s at his best and simply put his best isn’t where he has been so far.

The Rückrunde (second half of the season) can be a fresh start for him though. He’ll look to return to his 22-23 season form which saw him score 12 goals and return 10 assists. It’s Hoffenheim at home for the Bavarian giants and with Musiala a midfielder for the 23-24 season prospective owners may be rewarded with a monster Musiala haul.

Kevin Stöger (10.9m / 17% TSB / BOC)

An essential pick this matchday comes in the form of one of the surprise packages of the season. The Austrian midfielder by far has been Bochum’s best player this season and that is also translating in fantasy terms too. Stöger has returned six double-digits scores in seven home games which is where Bochum are on MD17.

They host a Werder Bremen side who haven’t won an away game all season. Not that I’ll be doing this personally but placing the star on him this matchday would not be that much of a crazy idea either. Expect Stöger to shine once more in front of his adoring fans.

Tim Skarke (5.4m / 10% TSB / SVD)

They may be the proverbial whipping boys of the Bundesliga but they showed in a 3-3 away draw to Hoffenheim last time out that they won’t be going anywhere without a fight. Skarke, playing as an out of position striker, starred for Darmstadt on MD16 scoring twice and hauling 22 points in #BLFantasy.

On MD17 they host Borussia Dortmund and one may ask the question why are you recommending someone from the underdog side? Simply put it’s because Dortmund are faltering. They head in to this game winless in their last four games and conceding in each of them. As a budget enabler, Skarke is a smart choice.

Forwards – Leroy Sané (18.6m / 37% TSB / FCB)

With a couple of the top Bundesliga strikers off to AFCON there’ll be a gap to fill in the frontline of many teams. The safest option to fill it with is Leroy Sané, especially considering that on MD17 Bayern are at home hosting Hoffenheim under the Friday night lights. Sané’s attacking returns speak for themselves as to why you should bring the German international forward into your squad – returning eight goals and eight assists to date.

Sane is on track to beat his highest Bundesliga Fantasy total and has already smashed the 200 points barrier ahead of the second half of the season. It’s the side with the best home xG versus the side with the fourth worst away xGA (2.28xG vs 1.88xGA). Don’t fall behind in the first game back and load up on the Bayern attack.

Patrik Schick (11.3m / 8% TSB / B04)

Schick happened on MD16. In his first Bundesliga start of the season, after having been plagued by injuries for the longest time, the Czechia international striker scored a first half hat-trick in Leverkusen’s 4-0 demolition of Bochum. He returned a whopping 23 points in #BLFantasy and looks to have found his feet just in the nick of time with Victor Boniface departing for AFCON action.

I expect Schick to be starting over fellow countryman Hložek. He’ll be looking to add to that hat trick in Leverkusen’s MD17 away trip to Augsburg. Augsburg haven’t lost in four though at the WWK Arena but are fourth worst for expected goals against at home with a 1.55xGA and have conceded in every game this season. This will be a test for Leverkusen but one they need to overcome if they’re ultimately going to lift the Meisterschale at the end of the season.

Gonçalo Paciência (6.3m / 0% TSB / BOC)

For anyone looking at a cheap forward enabler Bochum’s Paciência could be a good punt on MD17. Prior to the away battering at the hands of the league leaders Paciência had scored in back to back games. In their MD15 3-0 home win over Union Berlin the Portuguese striker returned 18 points in #BLFantasy with a goal and a heap of points for goal attempts.

Bochum are stronger at home (only the one loss) and it’s the Vonovia Ruhrstadion they find themselves at hosting Bremen on MD17. Perhaps surprisingly Bochum are expected to score twice per game at home. Paciência, on that basis, becomes an educated punt rather than just a wildcard option for MD17.

Team Reveal for Matchday 17 (subject to change)

Notes

Transfers OUT – Knoche, Hofmann, Führich, Boniface and Guirassy.
Transfers IN – Gulde, Musiala, Stöger, Sané and Openda.
Formation: 3-4-3.
Goalkeeper – Zetterer (1.4m – SVW).
Defenders – Raum (12.8m – RBL), Grimaldo (14.4m – B04) and Frimpong (16.5m ON-SALE – B04).
Midfielders – Musiala (16.5m – FCB), Simons (17.3m – RBL), Wirtz (18m – B04) and Brandt (18.2m – BVB).
Forwards – Kane (19.4m – FCB), Sané (18.6m – FCB) and Openda (17.4m – RBL).
BENCH – Nicolas (1.4m – BMG), Henrichs (11.8m ON-SALE – RBL), Gulde (1.7m – SCF) and Stöger (10.9m – BOC).
1.2m in the bank.