SOCCER

Champions League Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 2/13/19

Facing Ajax, Real Madrid are the slate's biggest favorite, putting Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos in a good spot. Who else should you build around on Wednesday?

The Champions League, the best soccer competition on the planet, resumes this week with Round-of-16 action, and FanDuel is offering daily fantasy contests for the entirety of the campaign. The Wednesday main slate starts at 3 p.m. EST and includes both of the day's matches.

Here's the full main slate.

Round of 16
Wednesday, February 13th
Dortmund at Spurs
Real Madrid at Ajax


Real Madrid are favored over Ajax, with the Spanish giants carrying implied win odds of 54.5%, per EPL odds. The Tottenham-Dortmund clash is an evenly-matched affair, listed as a pick'em. Tottenham are a slight favorites, boasting implied win odds of 44.4%, compared to 32.3% for Dortmund. The Ajax-Real Madrid matchup has a 3.0-goal over/under, with Madrid a 0.5-goal favorite, while Spurs-Dortmund has a 2.5-goal total.

Let's scan the slate and look at some players to target at each position.

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.

Forwards

Karim Benzema ($13,000) -- Real Madrid's poor early-season form is a thing of the past as Los Blancos are rolling right now, going unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions, with six wins in that span. That includes an impressive 3-1 road win at Atlético Madrid last weekend. Benzema has 10 goals and two assists in 23 La Liga appearances this season, and he's got three goals with two assists in five UCL matches. Over his past six matches across all competitions, the Frenchman has racked up six goals and one assist, firing off 22 shots in that stretch. Real are a 0.5-goal road favorite with a slate-high 1.75-goal implied total, making Benz awfully appealing, though he'll likely be pretty popular.

Dusan Tadic ($9,000) -- While the Eredivisie isn't the toughest league, Ajax have been stellar in attack this year, pouring in 72 goals in 21 league matches. Tadic has been their main man up front, recording 13 goals and seven assists while averaging 2.2 shots per match. Ajax haven't played many teams this year the caliber of Real Madrid, but they did face Bayern Munich twice in the group stage, tying both times (1-1 and 3-3) and putting 15 total shots on target across the two games. Ajax should be able to generate some chances at home versus Madrid, and Tadic -- who netted two goals against Bayern and normally takes penalties -- will be a key figure for them.

Mario Götze ($7,500) -- Marco Reus has been ruled out for Dortmund, and it's a big blow for the Germans as Reus is having a top-class season. Paco Alcácer is also out. That opens up some value on one of Europe's best attacking sides. In Reus' absence last weekend, Maximilian Philipp ($7,500) played in Reus' number-10 role in central midfield with Götze at striker. We'll have to see how the starting XI looks for BvB. Team news will be released at 2 p.m. EST, so be plugged in, but no matter how Dortmund line up, they'll offer some enticing value options in attacking spots.

Midfielders

Son Heung-Min ($8,000) -- With Harry Kane sidelined, Son has stepped up for Spurs, and he's putting together a superb season. In 20 appearances in the Premier League, he's totaled 11 goals and five assists, both of which are second on the team. He's made the net bulge in three straight matches, becoming even more of a focal point sans Kane. Dortmund are flying high in the Bundesliga, but their defense can be a little leaky as they've conceded eight goals across their past four matches in all competitions, a span which includes fixtures against Werder Bremen, Hoffenheim and Hannover -- all of whom are outside the top eight in the Bundesliga table.

Lucas Vázquez ($7,000) -- Vázquez is a cost-efficient way to get exposure to Real Madrid, and he's under-priced given the role he's played lately. Vázquez has tallied five goals and five assists in 23 matches across all competitions this season, and he's got a goal or an assist in five of his past 10 appearances. He's been starting at right winger of late, and unless Real manager Santiago Solari changes up things and starts Gareth Bale ($12,500) -- which seems unlikely with Madrid in their best form of the season -- Vázquez should be in the starting XI once again.

Hakim Ziyech ($7,000) -- Similar to Vázquez, Ziyech is listed a midfielder on FanDuel but has been playing as a winger in a front three. He's expected to be out on the right wing on Wednesday, and he's offered a really nice DFS floor so far in Europe this season. He played in five games in the group stage, and his game log reads: 34.4, 18.9, 24.0, 15.6 and 16.9 FanDuel points. The best part: Ziyech -- the owner of 11 goals in 17 domestic league appearances -- has done that with just one assist and no goals. He's got more upside than he's shown, and his ceiling game could come in this one.

Defenders

Sergio Ramos ($5,500) -- This season, Ramos' DFS stock has gotten a massive boost from his role as chief penalty taker, a task that's rarely bestowed upon defenders. That's helped him net six goals in domestic league action, good for the second-most on Real Madrid. Ajax have a 1.25-goal implied total, so Ramos' clean-sheet odds aren't great, but for a center-back, Ramos has pretty good anytime goal odds due to his set-piece prowess and penalty duties. At an easy-to-like price -- the most expensive defenders are $7,000 -- Ramos checks a lot of boxes.

Raphael Guerreiro ($7,000) -- Guerreiro is tied for the the most expensive defender on the slate, but the thing is -- he's not a defender. He's been playing higher up the pitch, deployed as a winger last weekend, netting a goal in that outing. So while $7,000 for a defender feels pricey, $7,000 for a winger who you can slide into a defender spot isn't too shabby at all. In the aforementioned match over the weekend, Guerreiro was heavily involved, crossing four times, taking four shots and creating three chances. He notched an assist in that game -- a 3-3 draw versus Hoffenheim -- and is a great stacking partner with any of Dortmund's other attackers. He's not a lock to start, but with Reus out, Guerreiro has a good shot to be in there.

Sergio Reguilón ($5,000) -- Priced like a non-factor, Reguilón has, at times, been Real Madrid's first-choice left-back this season, ousting the great but aging Marcelo ($6,500). Marcelo started against Barcelona midweek last week, but Reguilón -- who has two assists in nine La Liga games -- was in the lineup at Atlético Madrid on Saturday. In a big UCL away match, Solari might lean on Marcelo's experience, but if Reguilón gets the nod, he would super appealing at his bargain salary and would make for a great stacking option with any Real Madrid attacker.

Goalies

Thibaut Courtois ($6,000) -- Admittedly, this is a tough slate for keepers. The lowest implied total on the slate is 1.25 goals, shared by Spurs, Dortmund and Ajax, so no keeper has great clean-sheet odds. Courtois, however, has the best win odds (54.5%, per EPL odds), and a victory is good for seven FanDuel points. With that said, he may see the lowest save volume, so if he doesn't get the win, it probably won't be pretty. Still, he's super talented, and if you're building a lineup under the assumption Real Madrid wins, you might as well opt for the Belgian.

André Onana ($4,500) -- Onana is basically the complete opposite of Courtois. While he's got the worst win odds, he should be called on for a good amount of saves, giving him a respectable floor as long as Madrid don't put three or four past him. If you're going this cheap between the posts, you're hoping for just a non-implosion. Onana has produced well at home this UCL campaign, going for 10.5, 23.0 and 17.0 FanDuel points in the three home matches in the group stage. If you have an outfield lineup you love that won't allow you to pay for any of the other three starting goalies, plug in Onana and keep your fingers crossed.



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.