FanDuel Soccer: Champions League DFS Helper for 11/25/20
As always, we're covering FanDuel's main slate, and that kicks off at 3 p.m. EST. All betting lines come from Soccer odd, and they may change after the article is published.
Slate Overview
Fixture | Favorite | Over 2.5 Goals |
Most Likely to Score |
---|---|---|---|
Real Madrid at Inter | Inter (+110) | -178 | Lukaku (-105) |
Atalanta at Liverpool | Liverpool (-155) | -280 | Salah (-165) |
Lokomotiv Moscow at Atletico Madrid | Atleti (-490) | -142 | Costa (-125) |
Midtjylland at Ajax | Ajax (-320) | -245 | Traore (-130) |
RB Salzburg at Bayern Munich | Bayern Munich (-410) | -600 | Lewandowski (-550) |
Porto at Marseille | Porto (+155) | +108 | Marega (+185) |
Positional Breakdown
Forwards/Midfielders
Oh, hello, Bayern Munich. While we have a few big favorites on this slate, Bayern are undoubtedly the team we most need to get exposure to, and they're firmly on the stacking radar. We want to stack teams who are at least -233 to win, per a study I did this past spring. Bayern are -410 favorites over RB Salzburg, and the match is -600 to go over 2.5 goals. Consider the boxes checked.
Robert Lewandowski ($24; -550) is going to be super popular, and with him at -550 to score, it's hard to argue against it. He has 11 goals and four assists in only six Bundesliga starts this year and will be on penalties. He's a monster.
Any Bayern starting attacker is worth a look, so you'll have plenty of options if you want to fade the Lewa chalk and still stack Bayern. Serge Gnabry ($18; -155), Thomas Muller ($16; -110) and Leroy Sane ($17; +105) all have great floor/ceiling combinations. Fading Lewa is scary, but I'll have some lineups where I do it and plug in two of these three.
Atletico Madrid are actually the biggest favorite on the slate at -490 to beat Lokomotiv Moscow, but their match is only -142 to go over 2.5 goals. I'd much rather stack Bayern, but with the masses likely to take that route, Atleti could be a fun contrarian stack. Diego Costa ($14; -125) has the top goal odds in the match, and Joao Felix ($18; -115) is tied for the team lead in goals and has served as Atleti's penalty taker. If Costa starts, he's easy to love at his salary.
Ajax are -320 to win, so they're stackable, too. Lassina Traore ($7; -130) and Dusan Tadic ($20; -110) have six and seven goals, respectively, in Eredivisie play. They each have three assists, as well. They're my favorite non-Bayern stack, and Traore's salary is laughably low, which should make him one of the slate's most popular players.
Of course, Liverpool need to be on our radar. They're only -155 to win at home against Atalanta, but this match is -280 to go over 2.5 goals, so it should be a fantasy-friendly affair. The Reds thrashed Atalanta 5-0 in Italy in the previous meeting, and that match had 18 total shots on target (12 by Liverpool). Diogo Jota ($19; +100) had a hat trick in that game, and he's still in incredible form. Mohamed Salah ($22; -165) and Sadio Mane ($21; -120) are smashing plays, too, and Salah will be on pens.
Added time -- With so many big favorites, attackers from the two evenly matched games (Real Madrid-Inter and Porto-Marseille) and the underdog teams won't be very popular. Of those players, Romelu Lukaku ($19; -105) and Duvan Zapata ($18; +120) are my favorite options.
Defenders
If you've read any of my stuff before, you know I like going with low-salary defenders on underdogs. The reasoning there is two-fold -- I want to save coin for attackers, and I think I can find cheap defenders who can get 10ish points via their team being under siege.
This slate is perfect for that strategy, though Traore being $7 does alleviate some of the need to spend down at defender. I'll be looking to the cost-efficient guys on Lokomotiv, Midtjylland, Salzburg and Atalanta. Rafael Toloi ($6), Grzegorz Krychowiak ($7), Dion Cools ($8), Erik Sviatchenko ($8), Rasmus Kristensen ($8) and Andreas Ulmer ($9) are all low-salary expected starting defenders from those sides.
Attack-minded full-backs on a massive favorite would usually be $14 or $15, but Bayern's Benjamin Pavard ($11; +490) and Lucas Hernandez ($10; +490) are a little cheaper. Both have superb anytime goal odds for a defender, and they're fantastic point-per-dollar plays. Hernandez, however, is a fitness question mark, so make sure he's in there before you roster him.
Liverpool's Andrew Robertson ($14) is always an appealing option. The Reds' clash with Atlanta could be a wide open game, but he failed to create a chance in the first matchup.
Added time -- If you want to pinch pennies, Porto's Malang Sarr ($6) is a probable starter. He totaled 10.2 points in the first meeting with Marseille. ... Sean Klaiber ($6) will likely start at right-back for Ajax. He's got one assist in one start in league play, and his +800 goal odds aren't terrible for the position.
Goalies
There's a clear top play at goalie -- Jan Oblak ($12). Atleti are a sound defensive team, and they're huge -490 favorites over Lokomotiv. That gives Oblak great win odds, and he also has -- by far -- the best clean-sheet odds, at -158. You know the talent is there, and you don't even have to pay a premium to roster him. Oblak will surely be the chalk keeper on this slate.
Andre Onana ($12) is a fun pivot off Oblak. Onana also carries good win odds with Ajax -320 to win over Midtjylland, and he's got the second-best clean-sheet odds (+124). You could argue that going with Onana over Oblak is overthinking it, but we should always be interested in getting a favored goalie with respectable clean-sheet chances at a modest draft percentage.
With Onana and Oblak in a great spot at easy-to-like salaries, I don't see many people paying up for Manuel Neuer ($14). Bayern are +158 to keep a clean sheet and are -410 to win, so he's a good play. I may have him in some lineups, but I won't try too hard to move off Onana and Oblak.
Added time -- If you don't have the salary for any of the above guys, you can do worse than plucking a goalie from the Porto-Marseille match, which is +108 to go over 2.5 goals. At +200, Porto's AgustÃn MarchesÃn ($10) has the best clean-sheet odds in the match, but Marseille's Steve Mandanda ($7) is +225 to keep a clean sheet. Both are fine dart throws, but I'll prioritize having at least $12 for my keeper.