Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 31 expert picks and team

With a new round ahead, we look at the latest edition of Bundesliga Fantasy Matchday 31 expert picks and team. @FPLGunnersaurus (Jay) joins us to give his top picks for the Matchday ahead. In addition, he also shares 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 their own decisions within their teams. Checking out the Matchday 31 expert picks and team can help for the round ahead.

Top Targets – Ludovic Ajorque (FOR – 10.3m – 8% owned – 1. FSV Mainz 05)

The obvious choice here would be Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby (14.8m ON SALE – 18% owned) with a home game on Friday night against Köln. However, for a differential pick why not have a look at 8% owned Mainz striker Ludovic Ajorque? With six goals since his January transfer from French side Strasbourg, fans of the Carnival Club will tell you he has been a certified hit.

Since his debut for the club in MD18, Ajorque has returned double-digit fantasy scores on 7/13 occasions. That includes a high of 18 points on MD26 in a 3-0 away win over Leipzig. Mainz are undefeated at home in seven games and the goals tend to fly in as well at The MEWA ARENA, with Die Nullfünfer scoring 19 times across those games. They host Schalke on Friday night. Schalke find themselves firmly rooted in a battle for survival. Schalke have lost their last two games on the road conceding six goals. On paper this should be a routine win for Mainz in their continued effort to push for European football next season.

Joshua Kimmich (MID – 19.6m – 34% owned – FC Bayern München)

No differential pick here. It is Bayern Munich acting captain Joshua Kimmich who I am targeting for MD31. Caveat this with that I am assuming Gravenberch will start alongside him instead of Musiala. This will allow him to get forward a bit more. Bayern travel to Werder Bremen in the Saturday evening kick-off, and after his MD30 display he is someone I am 100% locked on bringing in.

Kimmich picked up two assists and also made a whopping 11 key passes, which in fantasy terms equated to a huge 22 points haul. Despite doing nothing spectacular, Kimmich is the fifth highest scoring midfielder in the game. This just goes to show you how consistent he has been throughout the season. Whilst Bremen look fine in terms of Bundesliga survival, their home form has gone off the kilter lately. That can be reflected in their three consecutive home losses. They are also fifth worst in terms of home xGA (1.52xGA) whilst Bayern top the charts for xG away (2.12xG). A visit from the record champions does not bode well and we may well see Kimmich pull the strings again in another dominant Bayern victory.

Ramy Bensebaini (DEF – 12.5m – 6% owned – Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Another differential and probably my most maverick pick of the season considering Gladbach’s complete drop-off. The Algerian missed the Foal’s defeat to Stuttgart in MD30. However, he is set to resume his role at left-back against struggling Bochum on Saturday afternoon (but keep an eye on the Gladbach press conference just in case). Like his club, Bensebaini was roaring at the start of the season, with six double-digit fantasy returns in his first eight games.

Gladbach are a much better side at home (eight wins versus one win away). Interestingly, Bochum are one of the worst away sides, picking up only two away wins all season. Bochum are third worst for xGA away from home (1.97xGA) and despite being down their star striker Marcus Thuram I would think this is a game Gladbach should win. If they do, expect Bensebaini to get attacking returns one way or another bombing up and down the left-wing. He is probably the best defender to target too in terms of the Saturday afternoon games for star man flexibility. For the reasons above. Bensebaini makes my Matchday 31 expert picks.

Mark Flekken (GK – 12.3m – 15% owned – Sport-Club Freiburg)

If you’re looking for a goalkeeper who’s going to get you some save points for the rest of the season, look no further than Freiburg’s Dutch shot stopper Flekken. A mammoth 132 points of his 198 points total, topping the GK charts might I add, are for saves alone. He is also one of the main reasons why the Black Forest club are in contention to qualify for the UCL next season.

Last week alone Flekken racked up 12 points for shots saved in a season high MD score for him of 18 points. If Freiburg are going to qualify for the UCL, Flekken will have to be at his imperial best for the remainder of the season with tough fixtures against Leipzig (H), Union Berlin (A), Wolfsburg (H) and Frankfurt (A). Whilst I would not look towards any other Freiburg player for the rest of the season, I would suggest taking a look at Flekken if you are after someone who should score a decent amount of points for keeping the ball out of the back of his net.

Team reveal (subject to change)

Notes

Transfers out: Riemann, Günter, Grifo, Kolo Muani and Sané.
Transfers in: Hrádecký, Bensebaini, Kimmich, Diaby and Gnabry.
Goalkeepers – Hrádecký (new -11.2m – B04) and Blaswich (3.1m – RBL).
Defenders – Frimpong (14.6m – B04), Mazraoui (10.3m – FCB), Guerreiro (14.5m – BVB), Cancelo (14.4m – FCB) and Bensebaini (new -12.5m – BMG) MID – Wirtz (14.1m – B04), Kimmich (new -19.6m – FCB), Hofmann (17.1m – BMG), Brandt (15.7m – BVB) and Nkunku (17.3m – RBL).
Forwards – Diaby (new – 14.8m ON SALE – B04), Gnabry (new – 17.2m – FCB) and Malen (13.8m – BVB).
4.2m in the bank.

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