UCL Fantasy Best Differentials for Matchday 1

In this article we take a look through some of the UCL Fantasy best differentials for Matchday 1. To help us do that we have brought in expert manager and regular contributor @FplRossoneri who is one of the best in the community at finding them.

Differentials are players with low ownership within the game. They help to gain rank or an edge over your mini-league rivals. Because of this it can be absolutely vital to know who the UCL Fantasy best differentials for Matchday 1 are.

Introduction

Welcome to my UCL Fantasy best differentials for Matchday 1 article. For each round moving forward I go through the best differentials UCL Fantasy managers can target to surge up the overall ranks and be a step ahead of the competition.

All players mentioned here will have less than 10% ownership. I also want to take the opportunity to thank the wonderful team at @FFCommunity for giving me this platform to continue talking about UCL Fantasy. This is a game I absolutely love and have been playing for over 5+ years now.

Lastly, before I get into the meat of it, I am also super thankful to everyone who has supported my articles by giving them a read. I have loved each and every feedback. The support is one of the major reasons I am back again this year, so thank you, my lovely readers.

Mauro Icardi – Galatasaray – €9m – TSB: 3%

It is safe to say Mauro Icardi has resurrected his career after his move from PSG to Galatasaray. He is setting the Turkish league on fire, to say the least. Icardi last season also scored 22 goals in 21 starts along with seven assists. This massively helped Galatasaray in winning the Turkish domestic league.

He has become their talisman and given his great start in the new season, five goals in three starts, he looks set to continue his rich vein of form in the Champions League as well. Galatasaray have a very good MD1 game vs. FC Copenhagen at home. At just 3% ownership he could be a great differential going into the first MD of the new UCL Fantasy season.

Leroy Sane – Bayern Munich – €9m – TSB: 8%

He is known as Mr. Group Stage in UCL Fantasy among the community for his exploits specifically in the group stages of UCL in the last few years. Sane has gotten better in terms of output every passing year. In my opinion, he can also easily replicate his form in MD1 and beyond.

For context, Sane has 10 goals and seven assists in 16 UCL games in the last two years. In the German Bundesliga Sane had 15 goal contributions last year in 20 starts and has become a vital cog in how Bayern play their football. He has again started well this year scoring three goals in four games already and I expect him to do the same in UCL Fantasy.

Bayern play Manchester United in MD1 and that is probably why he is only owned by 8% of UCL Fantasy managers. However, given how bad Man United have been of late I feel it is a great fixture to have someone like Sane in your team as a differential player in MD1.

Denzel Dumfries – Inter Milan – €5.5M – TSB: 9%

Dumfries has been a household name when it comes to fantasy. He is one of the most attack-minded fullbacks in the world both for Inter Milan and Netherlands. Dumfries is consistently always in the box and likes a goal or assist to his name.

Inter so far this season have looked like one of the most form teams in Europe and investing in a differential player from their backline could reap benefits when it comes to UCL Fantasy. Dumfries this season has one goal and two assists in just four starts and looks on it every game I see him play.

Inter Milan start their UCL campaign away to Real Sociedad and I expect him to get good UCL Fantasy points. At the time of writing this article he is only owned by 9% of managers and he also gets a shoutout as one of my go-to Differentials.

Diogo Costa – FC Porto – €5.5m – TSB: 6%

Costa’s name will go down in UCL Fantasy folklore after the campaign he had last year. He saved three penalties in three consecutive MDs and even got an assist to rack up 58 UCL Fantasy points in eight games. Costa and Porto have started slow this new season only keeping one clean sheet but I expect them to do better moving forward.

Porto start their new UCL campaign away to Shakhtar Donetsk. This could provide a relatively easy clean sheet for Diogo Costa’s owners. Costa is currently only owned by 6% of managers probably cause of his increased price of 5.5M. That may be the case but I would still recommend him as a good differential GK to own given what he did last year. He is an easy addition into my UCL Fantasy Best Differentials for Matchday 1.

Ikoma Lois Openda – RB Leipzig – €7.5m – TSB: 1%

In Lois Openda, Leipzig have found a young, fast, and lethal get-in-behind striker who will provide goals week in and week out. That is exactly what he is doing in this new season with his new team. Openda already has three goals and one assist in four starts in the German Bundesliga and has looked nothing like a player who has just started playing in a completely new league.

Last year was his breakout year in which he scored 21 goals in just 29 starts for RC Lens and helped them achieve Champions League football for the first time. In my opinion, Openda is a great differential for MD1 as he is just owned by 1% of UCL Fantasy managers. Given how he has settled into this Leipzig team, I expect a great showing from him when Leipzig takes on Young Boys in their first UCL fixture.

Marcus Thuram – Inter Milan – €6.5m – TSB: 5%

We always look out for that one player who is classified as a midfielder but in reality, plays as a striker and this year in UCL Fantasy Marcus Thuram fits that criteria to the tee. Thuram got his anticipated move to Inter Milan this summer. He has started all four games in Serie A as Lautaro Martinez’s strike partner up top in Inter’s well-documented 352 formation.

Thuram is already showing why Inzaghi was happy to sign him. In fact, he has two goals and two assists in just four starts. At just a 6.5M price and a low ownership of 5%, he could be a real differential bargain
in MD1 and beyond.

Benjamin Henrichs – RB Leipzig- €4.5m – TSB: 1%

Another Leipzig player I would like to recommend is Benjamin Henrichs. He is their starting RB who has a goal in him from time to time. Henrichs already has one goal and one assist in four starts this season and he looks set to continue the good start to the season when Leipzig play Young Boys in MD1.

He is currently owned by just 1% of UCL Fantasy managers. At just 4.5M he could be an Uber differential in your team. David Raum is another similar player who could fit the bill. However he is also one to monitor as he picked up a small injury in Leipzig’s latest match.

Angel Di Maria – Benfica – €8m – TSB: 5%

Di Maria is one player that I have always admired for his trickery and the poise with which he dribbles past players. This summer he finally got a free transfer to one of his old clubs Benfica where he initially made his name in his career. I think it is a perfect move for someone like him at this late stage of his footballing career.

In just five starts Di Maria already has four goals and one assist this season and it also looks like he has taken the penalty duties from Joao Mario who was a great option in UCL Fantasy last season. Even though I would have loved to see him classified as a midfielder in the game, he still is a great differential forward option owned just by 5% of UCL Fantasy managers especially in MD when Benfica plays Salzburg at home where they usually tend to do really well.

Notable Mentions

Here I would like just mention a few other names according to their position, price and ownership respectively who caught my attention and can be considered as good differential options as well:

GK – F Muslera (€5m) – 1%, J Blaswich (€4.5m) – 4%, T Wellenreuther( €4.5m) – 0%
DEF – N Otamendi (€5m) – 7%, Angelino (€5.5m) – 1%, R Gosens (€5m) – 1%, Q Hartman (€4.5m) – 0%
MID – P Foden (€8m) – 5%, Kerem Akturkoglu (€6m) – 0%, Calvin Stengs (€6m) – 1%, Luka Ivanusec (€4.5m) – 0%
FWD – L Martinez (€9m) -7%, T Kubo (€5m) – 4%, Alvaro Morata (€7.5m) – 2%, Rafa Silva (€8.5m) – 2%

That’s it from me for Matchday 1. If you like my work, please do follow me on Twitter @FplRossoneri for more updates and Differential blogs for MD2 and beyond. Also don’t forget to follow @ffcommunity for all the latest articles regarding #UCLFantasy.

Last but not least, don’t miss the deadline next week, and good luck picking your UCL Fantasy
Team for MD1.