Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 18 Expert Picks and Team Reveal

With a new round ahead, we take a look at Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 18 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 18 expert picks and team reveal can help hugely for the round ahead.

Note: Total Selected By (TSB) % accurate as of 17/01/2024

Defenders – Alphonso Davies (16.9m / 24% TSB / FCB)

Most fantasy managers, including yours truly, fell into the trap of selecting Raphael Guerriero over Alphonso Davies last Friday given that that he was playing as a central midfielder. In classic fantasy football fashion it was the Canadian left-back though who was the Bayern defender to own.

Given that Phonzie is the only premium defender (excluding Rapha) with a great fixture this coming matchday he should be a shoe-in in most teams despite his 16.9m price-tag. Davies now has 41 points across his last three games and the worrying thing is for non-owners is that this comes without any attacking returns. The roadrunner is getting into the right areas however to add another attacking return having made four key passes and registering a shot on goal in their 3-0 home win last time out over Hoffenheim.

Bayern host Werder Bremen on Sunday afternoon who still haven’t won an away game yet this season. Davies should be a banker for a decent fantasy score on MD18.

Niels Nkounkou (9.2m / 1% TSB / SGE)

Who needs Nkunku when you’ve got Nkoukou? Die Adler picked up their first ever win in Leipzig and The Eagles’ flying Frenchman was largely responsible for that. Nkounkou picked up 20 points on MD17 and it could’ve been more if it wasn’t for a glaring Götze miss preventing him from registering a second assist. In his last four starts he has picked up 39 points but if you break down how he has scored those points you’ll see he’s a real all-rounder.

He has been picking up points for assists, goal attempts, won duels and passes to a shot – the only extra returns he could do with is some more clean sheets. With MD18 opponents Darmstadt having conceded the most league goals by a comfortable eight goal margin an attacker, which Nkounkou basically is playing out on the wing, from Frankfurt just makes sense this matchday.

Ian Maatsen (10m / 0% TSB / BVB)

The Dutch U21 international was thrown straight into the fold on MD17 against Darmstadt. He wasn’t added to the fantasy game in time for that fixture however going by the eye test he did fare well. Followers of Maatsen will know he likes to get forward too, as seen in his season in the English Championship where he scored four times and assisted six times in 39 appearances for Burnley.

Maatsen comes in at a reasonable price too of 10m and with a favourable fixture run ahead (Köln away, Bochum at home and Heidenheim away) he could be someone you look to as cover for the likes of Frimpong, Davies and Grimaldo if they don’t perform to their expected high standards.

Midfielders – Julian Brandt (18.2m / 34% / BVB)

Two absolute must have players coming up here and we start first with Dortmund’s talismanic Julian Brandt. Juli, after a period in which both he and club struggled, has come back into form again and is arguably Die Schwarzgelben’s stand-out player. The German international has registered two goals and two assists in his last four games and has picked up 49 points in the fantasy game along the way.

Dortmund follow up their away win against Darmstadt with an away trip to another relegation candidate in FC Köln. The second half of the season has recently been when Dortmund have put on the afterburners and started to string results together. With some favourable games coming up after this Brandt should be an essential part of your fantasy squad.

Jamal Musiala (16.9m / 30% TSB / FCB)

A low scoring Bundesliga matchday may have been as a result of clubs returning from their warm weather training camps overseas back to the frigid temperatures of Germany. One man who didn’t get that memo was Bayern’s Musiala who picked up the highest fantasy score of the weekend with 26 points, thanks to a brace of goals.

One of the reasons why I was able to secure a 20% rank jump last matchday was because I placed the midfield star on Bambi instead of the more favoured Wirtz at Leverkusen. I’ve already mentioned that Bremen are winless on the road this season and I can’t see that changing at the Allianz Arena. The saying ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ firmly applies here so the star remains on Musiala for a second consecutive game and I suggest other managers follow suit too.

Robin Hack (7.4m / 0% TSB / BMG)

We’ll call him ‘DoppelHack’ from now on! Before MD17 Hack hadn’t scored a top-flight goal in six years so naturally he goes and scores twice against Stuttgart! To accommodate some of those heavy hitters elsewhere in your squad you’re going to need an enabler somewhere.

At 0% ownership Hack could represent the ultimate differential you need to propel you up the rankings. The German midfielder has been sensational at home as of late with two goals and two assists in his last two games and it’s at Borussia-Park he’ll play again when Gladbach host Augsburg. In such great form could Hack be entering a purple patch?

Forwards Note: I personally don’t like any forwards this weekend not named Kane or Sané so I’m leaning towards playing just the two strikers for only the second time this season. That said here are some of the options I do like this weekend…

Forwards – Jadon Sancho (15m / 4% TSB / BVB)

Sancho in his own words returned home after securing his loan move away from Manchester United. This pick has a massive caveat attached in that it’s possible he may not start. Having not played professional football since August 2023 Sancho was only able to feature from the bench on MD17 against Darmstadt but he did pick up an assist.

If you’re keen on Sancho as a pick keep an eye on the usual Bundesliga sources for predicted team line-ups. It’s also a risky pick because Bundesliga Fantasy HQ have added Sancho back to the game as a forward when he was a midfielder last time around. That said it’s not harmed Sané’s returns over the last few years who plays in a similar position to Sancho. Now I’m in no way saying Sancho is on the level of the German winger but lest we forget in his previous spell Sancho scored 50 times and returned 57 assists in 137 matches for Dortmund. Keep your eyes peeled for team news but if Sancho is widely predicted to start against Köln he could be a differential option in your forward line.

Kingsley Coman (13m ON-SALE / 2% TSB / FCB)

Coman is another forward for a top club who may or may not get a starting birth in his next fixture. Bayern will need to rotate over the coming games as due to the rearranged Union Berlin fixture, which is wedged in-between MD18 and MD19, the Bavarian giants will play three times in seven days. One player who could drop out of the forward line is club legend Thomas Müller which would make room for Coman to come in against Bremen.

Coman comes in on-sale this matchday with a 1.4m discount so whenever you then look to sell him you’ll make a pretty profit. Despite his limited appearances this season Coman still ranks as the 13th best forward in the fantasy game. His best return came on MD7 with two goals and 23 points in the fantasy game in a 3-0 home win over Freiburg, so there’s no doubt there that he can be explosive on his day. With most managers already owning two other Bayern forwards one should not be put off by the potential treble up, given they face a Bremen side toothless away from home.

Saša Kalajdžić (11m / 0% TSB / SGE)

It’s a second pick from The Eagles and a third pick new to the Bundesliga (this transfer window at least) in the Austrian big man. As noted I don’t particularly like the forward options this matchday but given that Frankfurt face Darmstadt and given he has a proven goalscoring pedigree in the Bundesliga Kalajdžić could make an impact this forthcoming matchday.

Kalajdžić scored 20 Bundesliga goals across 51 appearances in his previous spell in the league for Stuttgart so he’s no spring chicken when it comes to finding the back of the net in Germany.

Matchday 18 Team Reveal (subject to change)

Notes

Transfers OUT – Henrichs, Makengo, Wirtz and Schick.
Transfers IN – Davies, Nkounkou, Hack and Coman.
Formation: 4-4-2.
Goalkeeper – Zetterer (1.2m – SVW).
Defenders – Davies (16.9m – FCB), Grimaldo (14.8m – B04), Frimpong (18.7m– B04) and Guerreiro (14.3m – FCB).
Midfielders – Musiala (16.9m – FCB), Simons (17.6m – RBL), Hack (7.4m – BMG) and Brandt (18.2m – BVB).
Forwards – Kane (19.8m – FCB) and Sané (18.9m – FCB).
BENCH – Nicolas (1.3m – BMG), Nkounkou (9.2m – SGE), Stöger (10.1m ON-SALE – BOC) amd Coman (13m ON-SALE – FCB).
3.8m in the bank.