Here’s our Euro 2020 Fantasy tips article where Rob Reid reviews his Matchday 1 score and shows his team for Matchday 2
Euro 2020 Fantasy Tips – Rob Reid’s Team For Matchday 2
We’ll be doing a load of articles for the Euro 2020 fantasy here. Here’s the link to the site
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Also see my article on the rules
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Matchday 1 review
Here’s the points:
Total points – 69 points; OR 105k
An ok start to the game. A fair chunk of my points came in the Italy v Turkey game and my decision to punt on Spinazzola with the armband was rewarded with 18 points (more on Captaincy later).
I was a little unlucky with Cancelo’s positive Covid test – sounds like he’s fine with no symptoms and will miss the tournament, but that’s 6 points missed. I also had Christian Eriksen for MD1. His cardiac arrest was very distressing for everyone to see and a reminder that Fantasy Football and indeed football in general is quite irrelevant in the grand scheme of all things.
As a short aside, I’m sure I echo everyone else’s feelings in that it was a hugely worrying time before we had news that he was stable and it’s great to hear he’s been doing ok since. My thoughts are with his family, friends and teammates as they all come to terms with the incident and huge credit must go to the medical staff, the players and referee Anthony Taylor; all of who’s quick responses no doubt saved Christian’s life.
Strategy for Matchday 2
I’ve decided to use the Limitless chip this week so I have no budget constraints and I will be primarily targeting the following fixtures:
Italy v Switzerland – Italy looked slick against Turkey. Their defence looks solid and they offer real threat in attack. Switzerland have a little bit more firepower than the Turks, but Italy are rated highly in the bookies odds for a clean sheet and I’m keen to back a defensive double-up again as well as covering their attack.
England v Scotland – England were very efficient against Croatia in a composed display. They gave Croatia very little and made some good chances going forward. Scotland were wasteful against the Czechs and also coughed up several decent chances. I’ll be targeting the England defence and certainly their attack here. Harry Kane vs Grant Hanley – enough said!
Ukraine v North Macedonia – Ukraine were outclassed by The Netherlands for most of the game, but when they did get the opportunity, they looked good going forward. North Macedonia were resolute for about an hour against Austria, but ultimately caved at the back. I fancy Ukraine to do well in this one and see options in defence and attack.
France v Hungary – France produced an impressive display to win away to Germany and will be heavy favourites in this one. Both attack and defence are options here.
Matchday 2 limitless Chip Team
I’ve got Donnarumma again as my primary choice in goals and I’ve gone for Olsen of Sweden as a back-up. He plays on a different day just in case Italy concede to give me another punt at a keeper clean sheet. The downside with Donnarumma is that his ceiling is slightly lower – he’s probably a 2 or a 6 pointer, Olsen of Sweden probably has the higher ceiling but clean sheet odds are lower.
If I was looking for another keeper punt this week I think Ward of Wales or Hradecky of Finland are both good budget options with a good ceiling on save points. Neither are options for my team for MD2 though as they play on the same day as Donnarumma.
Spinazzola is in my defence once more for MD2; he was practically a winger in the Turkey game! I’ve gone double France defence with Hernandez and Varane, hopefully France won’t be tempted to rotate at all against what are on paper the weakest team in their group. I would have gone with Pavard, but he’s an injury doubt after apparently being knocked out in the Germany game. Although he played on, he’s got to be a risk under concussion protocols.
Stones is my England cover – he could be good for an attacking return against Scotland’s soft central defence and has good clean sheet odds. His club team mate Zinchenko is my other defender, he’s an out of position player so again hopefully some attack threat here.
I did consider an England full-back – if I knew Trippier was nailed for example I think he would be a good option. Alba of Spain also looked good coming forward, though Spain were let down by their finishing so they’ll need to sort this out versus Poland.
Meunier is also a great attacking defender, though I can see Denmark playing it fairly tight again Belgium without their star player so perhaps his attacking ceiling is reduced, still a good clean sheet chance though. I also think Russian defenders are an option this week with their clean sheet odds good for this Matchday – Mario Fernandes would be my pick if I was going for someone here.
Midfielders next and Insigne was my first pick, he looked the best from the Italian prospects. Berardi looked good too, though did come off with a knock so I’ve gone with Insigne. I’ve got Phil Foden in next. There’s a bit of doubt on his gametime security with Mount probably the most secure of the more attacking midfielders and I’m also seeing Sterling in a lot of drafts. My thinking though is that Foden gives you the highest ceiling and he’ll be up against Scotland’s weaker right-hand side – I can see him having a field day versus Stephen O’Donnell.
Wijnaldum is in next, he really impressed me versus Ukraine and demonstrated his far more advanced role for his country versus what he played for Liverpool at club level. I’ve then got double Ukraine with Yarmolenko and Malinonvskyi, though I may still change one of these with options from Russia and Sweden on my mind. I was also very impressed with Pogba against Germany so there’s still a part of me that is tempted to lose a France defender and go with him.
For strikers, Kane versus Scotland will be popular this week for reasons mentioned above. I’ve also retained Lukaku who looked really sharp versus Russia. Finally I’ve gone with Griezmann. It’s a toss-up between him, Mbappe and Benzema, but I think Hungary will sit in so the game probably suits Mbappe slightly less. This coupled with the fact that Griezmann is on penalties makes my decision here.
A word on Captains
One thing I didn’t really go into detail on in my previous articles was Captain strategy, so I’ll mention this briefly. First up, my Captains across this Matchday will be:
Wednesday – Spinazzola
Thursday – Lukaku
Friday – Kane
Saturday – Griezmann
Remember to consider how you set your team up to make sure you try and cover an option each day within the Matchday. For the rest of my strategy, I try and gamble on a differential Captain for the first day, then revert back to more standard options if he doesn’t return.
There was a lot of debate after the Italy debate (from myself as well) as to at what points threshold you consider switching one Captain to another. I generally set myself a rule of 2 returns for the first 2 games (or more), then 1 return for the last 2 games. Spinazzola returned twice for me in MD1 on the first day so hence I stuck with that. I hope that helps!
I’ll try and post my final MD2 line-up on Twitter at some point tomorrow if I get the chance. Good luck folks, I hope you enjoy the games.
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