Here’s our World Cup fantasy football semi finals article for Monday 9 July which is based on our FFGeek team updates for the McDonalds FIFA format, Sun Dream Team and Telegraph Fantasy Football World Cup. There’s also the probable lineups, team news and injuries for the semi final games of France v Belgium and England v Croatia
World Cup fantasy football semi finals – the FFGeek team changes
Days and times in UK time for the quarter finals:
7.00 PM Tuesday, July 10 France v Belgium
7.00 PM Wednesday, July 11 England v Croatia
At the risk of stating the obvious the final will be between the winners and the 3rd/4th place playoff between the losers.
McDonalds
Total points 256. Overall rank 23k. No Wildcard or Maximum captain used
A good day saw a 13k improvement in rank.
Everything went well apart from my captain choice. My maximum captain chip would have gone down very well.
Knockout phase changes
You need to make your captain changes and substitutions before the first kick off of 7pm UK time Tuesday 10 July
Make sure you make the changes in the semi final tab. It defaults to the final so it’s easy to make them in the wrong area especially on the desk top version
At the moment, unbelievably, I’m thinking I won’t use my wildcard I’ll use it for the final and 3/4 play off. That game could involve multiple team changes. However I’m not so sure about that and may change my mind. Not using the Wildcard when you play your maximum captain seems a bad idea.
I lost 8 players in the quarters plus Meunier who is suspended which means 4 are players eliminated. I can therefore only just get a full team out but with no subs
The changes are:
Neymar out Lukaku in
Coutinho out Lingard in
Cheryshev out De Bruyne in
Granqvist out Trippier in
Miranda out Hernandez in
Captains will be either Lukaku/Hazard/Griezmann and Kane although I will probably use the maximum captain chip
I won’t be doing these changes until the France v Belgium lineups are announced. I may still use my wildcard.
I will, at least, tweet these changes around 6pm on Tuesday when those lineups are out. Here’s the team with the substitutions unconfirmed and no captain changes made.
If you’re looking for stats on potential players for their clubs for today here are my key articles. Remember though they were done prior to the tournament so you need to see at least how much they played in the Group stages and the knockout phases before you pick anyone and also look at the probable lineups below
Sun Dream Team
Total points 299 Overall Rank 37k transfers used 17 out of 20
A nothing day saw a 2k improvement in rank. Pickford and Modric got 18 points between them but Sterling and Kane got zero which was the disappointment.
If you’re looking for stats on potential players for today here are my key articles with stats mainly for their clubs. Remember though they were done prior to the tournament so you need to see at the very least how much they played in the Group stages and the round of 16 and appear in the probable lineups below
Transfers
So I will be using my last 3 transfers and I will be going to spread risk rather than trying to back 2 teams. There is a 3rd and 4th place play offs but they could see heavy rotation
Here’s what I think the transfers will be:
Neymar out for Lukaku
Coutinho out for Pogba
Carvajal out for Varane
These are all first match transfers so I will at least tweet any transfers about 6pm UK time on Tuesday when the lineups are out
Here’s the team as of today prior to any transfers with Saturdays points showing.
Telegraph fantasy football
The standard team: Total points 342 Overall Rank 15.4k transfers used 7 out of 20 in for the remainder of the tournament
The Def Block team: Total points 379 Overall Rank 5.1k transfers used 8 out of 20 in for the remainder of the tournament
the standard team
So a small improvement in rank of 2k to an OR of 15.4k
So at the moment I’m just replacing players as they go out of the tournament. There’s only the suspended Meunier who looks like he won’t play so to spread risk I’m replacing him with Vertonghen. However only 1 transfer would give me no French attacking players so I’m replacing Mandzukic with Griezmann as my 2nd transfer
I will at least tweet any transfers probably around 6pm UK time on Tuesday.
Here’s how the team looks with the transfer of Mandzukic to Griezmann and Meunier to Vertonghen unconfirmed
the defensive block team
So the England block proved successful and the team now has an OR of 5.1k
The block was an experiment which has gone well although I’ve had some stick when people have seen it carried through in isolation of 1 match. However the rank speaks for itself.
I’m going to make 3 transfers to those players who have been eliminated. These are:
Neymar out Griezmann in
Coutinho out Lingard in
Cheryshev out Lukaku in
I will at least tweet the Griezmann transfer on 6pm Tuesday and the others on Wednesday
Here’s the team with the 3 transfers unconfirmed
If you’re looking for stats on potential players for today here are my key articles which have stats mainly for their clubs. Remember though they were done prior to the tournament so you need to see at the very least that they played in the Group stages and appear in the probable lineups below
Stephen Troop strategy article
Probable lineups
Here’s the probable lineups and team news from whoscored for the semi final games
France
Djibril Sidibe is a doubt for France, but he is their only injury concern here.
Blaise Matuidi returns from suspension and could replace Corentin Tolisso on the left flank.
All in all, Didier Deschamps is unlikely to make sweeping changes.
Belgium
Thomas Meunier is suspended for Belgium after he received his second yellow of the World Cup in the 2-1 win over Brazil, which will hinder the Red Devils.
Roberto Martinez could bring Yannick Carrasco back into the fold as a result with Nacer Chadli operating from the right.
Other than that, Martinez could look to use a similar system to the one seen against Brazil, with Romelu Lukaku operating from the right and Kevin De Bruyne used through the centre.
Croatia
Andrej Kramarić was surprisingly picked to start ahead of Marcelo Brozović against Russia on Saturday night but the latter could return to the starting XI here. This would enable Luka Modric to play further forward.
Sime Vrsaljko limped off against Russia but Croatia will hope the Atletico Madrid defender will be fine to play on Wednesday night.
England
Kyle Walker, Dele Alli and Ashely Young recovered from minor injuries to start against Sweden on Saturday but Jamie Vardy remains a doubt.
Gareth Southgate may consider Eric Dier or Fabian Delph to ease the pressure on Jordan Henderson but may feel no reason to make any changes against Croatia.
That’s it good luck for the semis
Geek World Cup Leagues
It’s too late to join the telegraph league btw. I’m not sure what the rules are in joining the other leagues now but here’s the details anyway
McDonalds FIFA Official
or League code:
ZKD1IBZR
Sun Dream Team
Fantasy Football Geek
League PIN: WCW6UFM9
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