Champions League Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 10/3/18

The Champions League, the best soccer competition on the planet, is back, and FanDuel is offering daily fantasy contests for the entirety of the campaign. Wednesday's main slate starts at 3 p.m. EST and will not include the two 12:55 p.m. matches.

Here's the full main slate.

We've got two big favorites on this slate, as both Dortmund and Atletico Madrid are 1.5-goal home favorites, with Dortmund's 2.25-goal implied total narrowly edging Atletico's 2.0-goal clip. Atletico's implied win odds of 76.3%, per Betfair, top the slate, with Dortmund (73.0%) not far behind. It's also worth mentioning Porto, who are the only other team listed as at least a 1.0-goal favorite.

The two headline matches of the day are Liverpool at Napoli and Barcelona at Tottenham. Both matches have been installed with a 3.0-goal over/under, and Barca and Liverpool -- the two road teams -- are 0.5-goal favorites.

For those who last played DFS during the 2017-18 UCL campaign, FanDuel has made some changes to their scoring system, so make sure you're up to date on how the new settings impact things.

Let's go through the four positions and look at some players to target at various price points.

Forwards to Target

Antoine Griezmann ($12,500) and Diego Costa ($10,000) -- Both Griezmann and Costa are in a great spot at home against Club Brugge. Atletico Madrid are tied with Dortmund as the slate's biggest favorite, and their 76.3% implied win odds are top of the heap. Atleti's attack has struggled early on in La Liga play, netting just eight goals through seven matches. Griezmann has been the squad's main man, scoring two goals while assisting three others. Costa has a mere one assist thus far and hasn't opened his goal account, but he's more than capable of a big day with Atleti boasting a 2.0-goal implied total.

Marco Reus ($10,500) -- Dortmund are flying high to start the season, scoring 19 goals while going unbeaten through six domestic league matches. A 1.5-goal favorite with a slate-best 2.25-goal implied total, you're going to need to get exposure to Dortmund for their home date with Monaco. Reus is in fine form, netting four goals with two assists. Given his form and the dope matchup, Reus is likely to be very popular, so pivoting to Maximilian Philipp ($8,500) -- or whomever Dortmund starts at striker -- in large-field tournaments isn't a terrible idea.

Harry Kane ($12,000) -- This Barca-Tottenham match is a tough one to get a read on as neither team -- especially Barca, who have taken just two points from their last three La Liga matches -- is playing very well. While oddsmakers have Barca as a 0.5-goal favorite, there's reason to be on Kane in this matchup. For one, Kane is just flat out good, and Tottenham's attack usually runs through him as he's played a part in 6 of their 14 goals (5 goals and 1 assist). Kane's DFS stock also gets a boost via his duties as chief penalty taker. On top of that, Barca will be sans star center-back Samuel Umtiti, who is banned after seeing red in Barcelona's first group stage match. In last season's UCL, Spurs showed they could hang with -- and beat -- Europe's elite, and after losing at Inter in their opening match, Spurs have every reason to go at an out-of-form Barca.

Roberto Firmino ($11,000) -- With so many good forward options and Liverpool facing a tough road match at Napoli, Firmino should fly under the radar a little bit. Napoli are certainly a stout side, but defense isn't their strong suit as they've allowed 10 goals across their first seven Serie A matches. Liverpool, meanwhile, have looked like one of Europe's top outfits, and they can score on anyone, netting 15 goals through seven Premier League contests. The Reds have a 1.75-goal implied total, and Firmino's all-around game -- he's got 2 goals and 2 assists in EPL play this year after putting up 15 goals and 7 assists a season ago -- gives him both a nice floor and huge ceiling.

Midfielders to Target

Philippe Coutinho ($11,000) -- Coutinho has taken on a lot of the creative duties in midfield in his first full season with Barcelona. He's got two goals and one assist in La Liga play this season, and he's averaging 56 passes per match. Clearly, Lionel Messi ($13,500) can go off in any match, but given Messi's likely high ownership, pivoting to Coutinho may be the best way to get exposure to Barca as you'll still get one of the team's key cogs while saving $2,500 and avoiding the likely chalk that comes with Messi.

Thomas Lemar ($7,500) -- If Lemar starts, which isn't a lock, he'll probably be one of the slate's highest-owned players given his cheap salary and Atletico Madrid being in such a great spot. The Frenchman has started in six of seven La Liga fixtures, but he was a substitute in Atleti's opening UCL match. He's hit the ground running in his first season at the club, scoring two goals with one assist in domestic league play. Pairing Lemar with Costa or Griezmann makes for a high-upside stack.

Christian Pulisic ($8,500) -- Dortmund's American star, Pulisic has missed some time this year with a knock, but he started at the weekend. He's got one goal and one assist in four Bundesliga matches, and he's a player Dortmund rely on to provide a dangerous threat on the wing. He's a great stacking partner with Reus or Dortmund's striker, which could be Philipp, depending on how they set up.

Yacine Brahimi ($6,500) -- Brahimi has been good this season for Porto, who are 1.0-goal home favorites versus Galatasaray. Brahimi has totaled two goals and is second on the team in shots per game (2.2). Porto forward Vincent Aboubakar ($9,000) has four goals and one assist through six Liga NOS matches, and he's a great option, as well. But Brahimi is grossly under-priced, and the cap relief is a welcome sight on a slate with so much star power.

Defenders to Target

Alex Telles ($5,500) -- Telles continues the theme of Porto's best players being too cheap. The stud left-back already has one goal and two assists in Liga NOS play, and he's a superb stacking partner with Brahimi or Aboubakar. With Porto a comfortable favorite, Telles should be free to bomb forward early and often, and Galatasaray's 0.75-goal implied total means he has a decent shot at the five-point bonus for a clean sheet.

Marcel Schmelzer ($5,500) -- Schmelzer is a cheap way to get exposure to Dortmund. He started at left-back in Matchweek 1 of the UCL and garnered Man of the Match honors in the 1-0 win at Brugge. While he should have to do a little more defensively against Monaco than he did at Brugge, he'll also get the chance to roam forward in a game in which Dortmund are big favorites. Schmelzer sent in seven crosses versus Brugge, making him an enticing stacking option, and Monaco's 0.75-goal implied total gives him solid clean-sheet odds.

Clement Lenglet ($4,500) and Nelson Semedo ($4,500) -- It should be Lenglet or Thomas Vermaelen ($5,000) starting in place of the suspended Umtiti. Neither of those two offer much upside, but both would be cheap ways to get a decent floor as Barca should have to spend a fair amount of time defending in their match at Wembley. Semedo is the probable starter at right-back with Sergi Roberto out injured. Semedo has blistering pace and should get forward some, but he hasn't yet turned it into any end product, failing to register a goal or assist in 28 starts in UCL and La Liga play in his year-plus at Barca. Still, Semedo would be a very cheap way to get access to the Blaugrana.

Goalies to Target

Jan Oblak ($5,500) and Roman Burki ($6,000) -- Oblak (Atleti) and Burki (Dortmund) are the goalies for the slate's two big favorites, giving them the best chance at a win as well as the top clean-sheet odds. Oblak is one of the world's top keepers, and he plays for a Diego Simeone side that has consistently been one of Europe's top defenses over the last few seasons. Even though Brugge carry a meager 0.5-goal implied total, there's risk with Oblak because he's unlikely to have to make many saves. But as long as he keeps a clean sheet, he'll be worth it. Burki should be called into action a decent amount, and Monaco's implied total is just 0.75.

Alisson ($5,500) -- In his first season at Liverpool, Alisson has lived up to his monstrous transfer fee, with the Reds allowing just three goals through seven matches. Alisson has patched up one of the few weak spots in this Liverpool side, and playing at Napoli, he should be fairly busy. Napoli have scored 13 goals in seven Serie A matches while attempting a whopping 18.6 shots per game. While Napoli's 1.25-goal implied total means a clean sheet isn't likely, expected save volume gives Alisson a solid floor, and if the Reds were able to defy the odds and keep Napoli off the board, Alisson could post a huge number.

Austan Kas is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austan Kas also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username akas247. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.