UCL Fantasy Matchday 4 Best Budget Gems

The fourth round of the 2024/25 Champions League season is edging closer. With this in mind we continue our coverage by picking out the UCL Fantasy Matchday 4 best budget gems. To do this we consider several factors including fixture difficulty and form.

Budget players can be vital for UCL Fantasy managers. Cheap assets allow more budget for premium picks who can be some of the most consistent in the game. Finding cheap assets is essential but finding cheap assets who do well can contribute to both rank and mini-league position.

GNK Dinamo

GNK Dinamo came into the tournament as massive underdogs, with many expecting them to lose most if not all of their matches. But, with one, win one loss and one draw, their may be some fight in the Croatian side.

This week they come up against Slovan Bratislava who have lost every single one of their games this season. During that time they also scored just one goal and conceded a mammoth 11. This could give the away side plenty of potential going into the fixture.

Whilst investing in the GNK Dinamo defence seems sketchy, flying full-back Stefan Ristovski (€3.9m) helped them keep their first clean sheet of the competition in the previous round. In the same game he also conjured up two assists, which eventually gifted him the player of the match award.

They also offer up interesting options in attack. Two goals scored in each of their European matches so far suggests GNK Dinamo have been a constant goal threat. One player who has been impressing recently is penalty taker Sandro Kulenovic (€5.9m). As well as scoring against Salzburg in Matchday 3 he also netted a brace in his latest league match.

Aston Villa

What Unai Emery has done whilst managing Aston Villa is nothing short of brilliant. If raising them from a lower league position and cementing Champions League football wasn’t enough the fact they have won all three of their European matches on the bounce and sit top of the League amongst 36 teams should be.

Aston Villa haven’t just won all three of their matches, the English side have racked up six goals scored and three clean sheets. Club Brugge are their next challengers, and after losing two of three matches, scoring just twice and conceding six goals, they go into a home game as underdogs.

In defence UCL Fantasy managers could opt for centre-back Diego Carlos (£4.5m) after returning in both of his last two European matches. Meanwhile, full-back Lucas Digne (€4.6m) has more attacking threat, as evident in his four assists in all competitions this season.

Aston Villa also have a good selection of attackers to choose from. The cheapest and most reliable could well be Morgan Rogers (€5m). Rogers seems to be gaining momentum recently – having produced an attacking return in all three of his recent matches. Jacob Ramsey (€5.1m) could also be a consideration. Although short of domestic goals Ramsey netted in his Matchday 1 opener against Young Boys.

Other Great Budget Picks

After a barnstorming 4-0 win against arch rivals Real Madrid confidence will be high for the Catalans this week. The win also meant they banked a clean sheet, and taking into account the fact they face Crvena Zvezda next up, they could well repeat their performance.

With the above in mind it could be worth investing in their backline. For those seeking out a cheap goalkeeper then look no further than Iñaki Peña (€4.5m). Defenders with clean sheet potential appear to be scarce this week but centre-back Pau Cubarsí (€4.5m) offers another cheap route into the Barcelona defence.

Bologna have managed back-to-back wins and clean sheets in their last two domestic league matches. They face Monaco at home this week which could be a good opportunity to continue that form. Łukasz Skorupski (€4.6m) remains one of the highest scoring goalkeepers in the game with 16 points. Ahead of him in attack, and scoring in his last two games is penalty taker Riccardo Orsolini (€5.5m). Both players could do well this week.

Losing all of their matches so far, Salzburg appear to be a team to target. To do that UCL Fantasy managers could select captain and midfielder Quinten Timber (€5.6m) who has assisted, earned a penalty and picked up a player of the match award already this campaign.

Stuttgart’s El Bilal Toure also comes in at an eye-watering (€4.9m). As well as starting most of his sides matches recently the forward has amassed two goals and an assist in his previous three games in all competitions.