UCL Fantasy Matchday 8 Best Budget Players

The second leg of the Champions League round of 16 is approaching. Here we take a look through the UCL Fantasy Matchday 8 best budget players. We do that with the help of fixture difficulty, team and player form, gametime and other significant factors.

Checking out the UCL Fantasy Matchday 8 best budget players could be hugely beneficial for managers. It can be difficult to squeeze in the players we want in our teams at this point so budget gems can be really helpful when trying to fit in the more expensive options.

Nathan Ake

Manchester City looks like the place to be this week in terms of investment. The English side have a very favourable fixture this week at home, where they are strongest defensively. Talking of the backline, Manchester City may have frustrated fans this season but they have been maintaining some of the best defensive data in the Premier League. They also managed three clean sheets in their last four matches.

Buying into the Manchester City defence could be rewarding this week based on the above. There has been some rotation at the back but one player who can be trusted is Nathan Ake (€4.4m). The Dutchman has started eight of the last nine Manchester City matches in all competitions which backs up the previous point. Ake has also shown some goal threat this season, scoring two goals and registering two assists.

PSG

PSG battled their way through the ‘Group of Death’ to earn their place in the round of 16. Now, many within the community were unimpressed with their Group Stage performances, but that was expected considering the quality of the opposition they faced.

It was a much more convincing display by PSG in the first leg in comparison to the Group Stage. The French side were the only team so far to ease their way past a tough Real Sociedad team. Although impressive in their first six matches Sociedad’ good run has come to an end recently. In fact, they have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions.

The fact that Sociedad have failed to score in five of their last eight matches makes the PSG defence look more appealing. We also have to take into account that PSG won the first leg comfortably and kept a clean sheet so they will also likely progress into the next round. With that in mind budget gem Lucas Beraldo (€4.5m) could be the cheapest route into the backline. The Brazilian has started seven of the last eight matches for his side. Although lacking in goal threat, at his price it doesn’t really matter. But, Beraldo did manage eight ball recoveries in the first leg which helped him to an eight-point return.

A once well oiled Sociedad defence has been making errors, conceding at least a goal in each of their last five matches. Because of that 17-year-old Warren Zaïre-Emery (€5.4m). PSG go into the game averaging more than two goals scored per game and their youngster banked a goal, two assists and two player of the match awards in the Group Stage matches.

Matteo Darmian

Inter are a team to watch out for in the Champions League. Some may snigger at that but we have to remember that they advanced all of the way to the final last season. There they limited a relentless Manchester City to a 1-0 lead.

It looks inevitable that Inter will claim the Serie A title this season as they sit a massive 12 points clear of second place Juventus. That’s the best indication of how good they have been this campaign. Defensively Inter have conceded just 12 goals and kept a mammoth 17 clean sheets from their first 26 league matches. They also kept a clean sheet in the first leg of the last 16 against Atletico.

Taking the above into account investing in the Inter defence this week could be hugely beneficial. This is especially because they play with a back-three system which allows their wing-backs into some very advanced positions. One of those wing-backs is the cheap Matteo Darmian (€4.3m). Darmian seems to be starting all of the big games recently and he even scored in one of his latest matches. At €4.3m Darmian plays for one of the best defences in Europe and has attacking threat which makes him one of the UCL Fantasy Matchday 8 best budget players.