UCL Fantasy AC Milan Preview and Top Picks

The Champions League is on pause due to the international break. But, it won’t be long until it returns so we take a look the UCL Fantasy AC Milan preview and top picks for their run ahead. To do this we bring in Serie A and Champions League expert @FPL_Crisk to take us through it.

Our AC Milan preview and top picks could be hugely enlightening for UCL Fantasy managers. The Italian side have a significant fixture swing ahead, making them one of the most appealing sides in the competition.

Preview

Milan have started the new season very inconsistently. Domestically they sit seventh in Serie A, which is a good example of this.

In the Champions League, their fixture run was by far the most polarized of the competition. Milan have in fact already encountered all of their Pot 1 and Pot 2 opponents in the first four Matchdays. They now look ahead to easier opposition, including Bratislava, Crvena Zvezda, Girona and Dinamo Zagreb.

As of now, Milan are in a very sweet spot for fantasy managers. The fixtures are very good and they have just have six points. This isn’t bad considering they have played the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Leverkusen. But, it also means that the Italian side cannot let up, and should play their best XI moving forward.

Offensively, AC Milan rely on several quality players like: Leao, Morata and Pulisic. Leao’s threat also makes it easier for the players around him on the left (Theo Hernandez and Reijnders) to push high up the pitch while he carries away the defenders.

Defensively, they are yet to find their best line-up, with the centre-backs often rotated. Thiaw and Gabbia have showed more reliability, but they’ve never played together. Milan also tend to concede goals: It is easy to exploit their right side, where Emerson Royal defends. There they concede a lot of crosses. This scenario describes about 50% of their goals conceded.

With all of the above in mind, let’s take a look at their top picks.

Christian Pulisic (€7.5m – Midfielder – 4% Ownership)

The former Chelsea and Dortmund winger leads the way for both goals and assists this season. So far the American has produced seven goals and four assists across both Serie A and the Champions League. At his price, he’s also very easy to access since most other viable midfielders come at around 7-7.5m.

During the last few weeks, Fonseca has experimented a little bit, shifting Pulisic from RW to CAM, allowing him to have more freedom and to find the net more easily. In my opinion, he’s the most important fantasy player from the team. This is also because the other main candidate, Rafael Leao, is listed as a forward. In addition, €9m is way too expensive for his output compared to other premium strikers.

Theo Hernandez (€5.5m – Defender – 8% Ownership)

Milan’s defence has seen better days. But, Theo Hernandez isn’t usually picked for the clean sheet points anyway. The French LB loves to push high up the pitch, thanks to a great partnership with Rafael Leao who loves to find him in the channels. In Serie A, Theo’s xG value per 90 even equals the one produced by Alvaro Morata despite playing much further from the goal.

The Frenchman amassed an impressive five goals and four assists in 32 Serie A matches last season – proving how dangerous he can be. This campaign, with two goals and two assists already. Hernandez seems to have continued his attacking form.

Tijani Reijnders (€5.6m – Midfielder – 2% Ownership)

The quality of the Dutch midfielder isn’t new to AC Milan fans who had the pleasure of watching him last season. But, after the EURO’s Reijnders has really stepped up his game. We’re just over a quarter into the season, and he’s already matched his output from the previous one. He isn’t as reliable as Pulisic, but extremely cheap for a midfielder who can score, assist and is always a candidate for the POTM award.

Reijnders also seems to be in the middle of a purple patch. Since his red card against Udinese in Serie A, he has managed at least an attacking return in every games. The Dutchman has also produced three goals and a player of the match award in his last two Champions League matches.