UCL Fantasy Best Differentials for Matchday 9

We take a look at some of the UCL Fantasy best differentials for Matchday 9. Our differential expert @FplRossoneri picks out some of the best players for us to buy with the lowest ownership for the round ahead.

Taking a look at the UCL Fantasy best differentials for Matchday 9 can be hugely beneficial for managers. As the campaign progresses it is getting tougher and tougher to gain rank so catching up with our expert can give us an edge over the competition.

Introduction

Welcome back to yet another edition of my top differential picks for the business end of the Champions League this year. I am super excited about what is in store for UCL Fantasy. If you still need to learn about my article, each Matchday, I go through the best differentials UCL Fantasy managers can target to increase their overall ranks and be a step ahead of their rivals.

All players mentioned here will have less than 10% ownership. As always, I want to take the opportunity to thank the wonderful team @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 again super thankful to everyone who has supported my articles by giving them a read. The amount of love the group stage articles have got means the world to me. I have loved every feedback and your support is one of the major reasons I keep going, so thank you, my lovely readers.

ANTOINE GRIEZMANN, FWD – ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 10.7M, TSB: 6%

Griezmann has to be right up there as one of the most versatile players to watch over the years and with each passing he gets even better. In the Champions League this season Griezmann has been a vital cog in Atléti getting this far, scoring six goals and getting POTM awards too in eight matches.

In La Liga, Griezmann has contributed 11 goals and six goals as well in just 24 starts. Per 90 mins he has xG+xA of 0,64 which shows that when he is playing he is always involved one way or another. He is also Atlético’s penalty taker which again boosts his chances for UCL Fantasy points in MD9.

Overall, if you want to go different away from the premium forwards then Griezmann should be the first player to consider.

ANDRIY LUNIN, GK – REAL MADRID, 4.7M, TSB: 7%

It’s not often that you can say that you can own a budget GK costing just 4.7M who plays for Real Madrid in UCL fantasy. That is exactly what Lunin is. Given the unfortunate injuries to Courtois and Kepa being out of form, Lunin has been a steady and reliable GK for Real Madrid so far.

In 18 starts, Lunin has kept nine clean sheets and per 90 minutes he averages 2.17 saves. Lunin is a great option if you want to save some budget in the GK spot and use it to bolster your attacking options further.

GABRIEL MAGALHÃES, DEF – ARSENAL, 6M, TSB: 8%

Gabriel has finally made the starting CB position at Arsenal his own after an up-and-down start to the season where Arteta was benching him constantly. It took one of the goals of the season so far from Galeno to snatch the win for Porto in MD7 but Arsenal came back in the second leg, kept a clean sheet, and won 1-0 to progress to the last eight of UCL in a very long time.

Gabriel has started most of the recent matches so his xMins are quite secure. It’s not very often you will say Arsenal are favourites in a matchup vs Bayern Munich who have always tormented the London side in UCL. Bayern have looked out of sorts recently losing to Heidenheim in their recent Bundesliga game.

BERNARDO SILVA, MID – MANCHESTER CITY, 8.3M, TSB: 7%

From a pure footballing perspective, there aren’t many modern-day footballers who can move between intricate spaces, set up chances, and score goals like Bernardo Silva does for Man City. Some would say he is the quintessential Pep Guardiola player who does whatever is asked of him, especially in big games in the Champions League.

This season Bernardo has six goals and four assists in 23 starts in the Premier League and per 90 minutes averages 2,31 chances created and 89% pass accuracy. Even though Man City have a tough fixture vs Real Madrid I do expect Bernardo to work his magic and help City win. At the moment, he is still only owned by 7% of UCL Fantasy managers and thus he can be a great differential option for MD9 and beyond. Silva is an exciting addition into my UCL Fantasy best differentials for Matchday 9.

NICLAS FÜLLKRUG, FWD, BORUSSIA DORTMUND, 7.5M, TSB: 1%

Füllkrug is a bit of a late bloomer in essence that he’s only come into prominence in the last 2-3 years in the German top-flight football, especially after his move from Werder Bremen to Dortmund.

This season so far, Füllkrug has 11 goals and eight assists in 26 starts which are great numbers for a forward. Per 90 mins, he boasts an xG+xA of 0,81 with 2,24 shots which tells you that even though he does not get many shots at goal he is lethal when he does.

Borussia Dortmund will be playing Atlético De Madrid in the last eight of the Champions League and I do feel Füllkrug has to come good if they want to stand a chance to progress to the next stage. He’s also only owned by 1% of UCL Fantasy managers and in terms of price, he is only 7.5M.

NOTABLE MENTIONS

Here I would like to 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 for
MD9 as well:

GK – Jan Oblak (6M) – 7%, David Raya (5M) – 7%
DEF – Lucas Hernandez (5M) – 7%, Nahuel Molina (6.1M) – 5%, Josko Gvardiol (5.5M) – 5%
MID – Zaire Emery (5.6M) – 9%, Lamine Yamal (7.4M) – 5%, Serge Gnabry (8.7M) – 1%
FWD – Kai Havertz (7M) – 2%, O Dembéle (7.9M) – 2%, Donyell Malen (7.3M) – 1%

That’s it from me for Matchday 9. If you like my work, please do follow me on Twitter @FplRossoneri for more updates and Differential blogs for MD10 and beyond. Also, don’t forget to follow @ffcommunity for all the latest articles regarding UCL Fantasy. Last, but not least, make sure to make the Tuesday deadline, and good luck picking your UCL Fantasy Team for MD9.