We have two days off to chat, contemplate and (as usual) eliminate high potential players only to regret later! The last day of MD-3 was Wednesday 23 June finalizing groups E and F. The round of 16 will begin on Saturday 26 June with the round of 16 spanning four days with two matches per day. These are scheduled in the 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. GMT slots, a decision applauded by most players and coaches who have complained about the midday heat in the group stage.
Wembley Stadium will host two matches this round. The others are scattered all over Europe. Attendance at Puskas Arena in Budapest was the most positive moment with around 60,000 fans cheering on Hungary, which was clearly reflected in their daring performances.
Selection criteria
The fantastic selections for the round of 16 must meet at least the following criteria:
- Captain viable for each calendar day (Essential)
- Player Form (Major)
- Difficulty of assembly (Major)
- Path to the final (medium, unless you have your generic chip)
- Travel time / rest time on MD-3 (Minor)
Path to the final
Important notes to take into account before delving into player choices:
- The maximum number of players from each nation is now four. This increases by one after each elimination round. A maximum of eight can be selected from each nation in the final.
- The number of free transfers before the QF will be three; before the SF and the final it will be five.
Goalkeepers:
G. Donnarumma: After three matches, Italy is one of the two teams to have yet to concede in this tournament. The goalkeeper himself is in high spirits, with contract negotiations with PSG seemingly finalized pending a medical test. Italy weren’t strained in their squad and their game against Austria should be straightforward. The road then becomes more stony in the QF.
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Hugo Lloris : Tottenham The French goalkeeper conceded one of the strangest penalties of all time when he struck Danilo in France’s 2-2 draw against Portugal to seal first place in Group F. France will face Switzerland as one of the easiest matches in the round of 16, and the world champions should come through comfortably, possibly with a clean sheet.
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Other GK choices: Schmeichel and Simon considering that neither Wales nor Croatia did well when they were forced to defend for 90 minutes, as Denmark and Spain are qualified to do.
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however, make sure your second goalie plays another day than your 1st! (eg do NOT choose Schmeichel if you are starting Donnarumma; both play on Saturdays!) If you run out of money and trust Italy, Stekelenburg at £ 4.7million may be the second budget keeper for you.
Defenders:
Leonardo from Spinazzola: High potential for both clean sheets and assists makes this a must-have. His opposition Stefan Laimer is strong with long passing accuracy, but Spinazolla should be able to outdo him in all other areas.
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Denzel Dumfries: Amazing performance, amazing shape and a great choice overall. The Netherlands might not be clean against the Czech Republic, but the Oranje right-back can make up for it with assists or maybe even goals.
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Victor Lindelof: the United man the central defender is underestimated in fantasy because he plays in the center of defense. But Sweden managed two clean sheets in the group stage, one against Spain.
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Jordi Alba: The Barcelona left-back continues to impress by showing the extraordinary endurance that characterizes the entire Spanish team. He dominated his performance with an assist in Slovakia’s 5-0 MD-3 loss.
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Robin Gosens / John Stones: They play against each other in the round of 16. England are one of two teams to keep three clean sheets, but Gosens have the higher cap. Honestly, if England parks the bus and relies on historic long-ball strategy for a target man, then this game is for a penalty shootout making Stones the better choice (more stamina is demanded from Gosens). However, if England switch to attacking football, Germany’s forces will emerge in their wings to create chances. Take your pick based on how you see the match going.
Midfielder :
Emil Forsberg: The Swedish left winger is in good shape and on PK with three goals scored so far. Sweden is favored against Ukraine, so likely to qualify for the quarter-finals. Priced at £ 7.7million, it’s a good choice.
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Georginio Wijnaldum: Wijnaldum has also scored three goals in the group stage, and there is no indication that he will stop anytime soon. The Netherlands are one of the best-placed teams to reach the semi-finals, so fantasy managers should be maxing out four players (and wanting more).
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Pablo Sarabia: At the modest price of £ 6.5million for a midfielder, Sarabia is a good choice for Spain against Croatia. Personally, I would like to see Llorente in his place, but the La Liga champion has been given the role of right-back limiting his potential. Some might say Sarabia only played Game 3 so he might not start over but I think his fighting spirit is what the Spanish side need.
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Nicolo Barella: The Serie A champion and Inter Milan the midfielder was at rest in the last game against Wales, but will return to his place to face Austria. He is the main playmaker at the heart of the Italian team. However, I would advise against having more than two or three Italian players this round so that you can transfer them before the scheduled game against Portugal or Belgium.
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Kevin De Bruyne: the City of man the playmaker is arguably the best midfielder in the world, but he is expensive and Belgium’s path to the final is strewn with difficult obstacles; he faces high mountains to climb. Choosing any Belgian means high risk every step of the way.
Forward:
Memphis Depay: With two goals and two group assists, he could finally live up to his potential at national team level. The Czech Republic are playing balanced football, so Depay is an obvious choice for this round until the semi-finals.
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Karim Benzema / Kilyan Mbappé: Playing against Switzerland should be an easy victory for the French. I wouldn’t be surprised if Didier Deschamps decided to let some of his players rest. Benzema is £ 2million cheaper than Mbappe and has earned more points in the group stage.
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Cristiano Ronaldo: On PKs, CR7 is the only player to score in all three games. He’s a rock-solid player who can turn things around in a second. There’s no denying Ronaldo’s worth when it comes to point returns, but picking him up is both expensive and risks being knocked out against Belgium.
The limit of £ 105m +
Yes, £ 105million, more. Firstly, we each got £ 5million to start the knockout stages, probably because most of the newbie players who played well enough to survive have all won £ 0.1million or 0.2million. pound sterling. Out of 15 players, that’s £ 5million +. You’re welcome!
In addition (or subtraction), when you sell a player whose price has changed, it looks like you are capturing their full current price. So if your player went from £ 5m to £ 5.2m, you earned a dividend of £ 0.2m. What all this means is that YMMV.
Choosing the ideal player in each position works well if you use the unlimited chip, but since the number of free transfers is endless before the round of 16, no one should be doing it now. The above team actually costs £ 105.9million, so compromises need to be made.
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Variant 1:
Replacing Ronaldo with Yaremchuk and Sarabia with Hojbjerg is enough to reduce the cost of the squad to exactly £ 100million while having a viable captain for each day:
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Variant 2:
Suppose four Dutch players and four French players are must-haves, and a strong captain option is needed every day:
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Variant 3:
It’s not a revelation from my team but that’s what I have so far. As I don’t have the wild card to play yet, my team selection only considers the round of 16 and quarter-finals. I intend to play my joker before semi finals:
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Needless to say, personal intuition is also an indicator in deciding which players make up your squad in any given round. The deadline will be after Wales’ roster is announced against Denmark, which may not help anyone, but I could bring in Maehle from Denmark to replace Gosens.
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Survey
Portugal qualified from the kill group to find themselves in the knockout stages of the killings quarter. Who will qualify for the semi-finals from the dead quarter?
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So how have the price changes affected your team? Who’s on your shopping list? Have you added any of my choices above? And did I miss a babysitter, so to speak? Where do you see the maximum reward? Where do you see the risk? Share your thoughts and feel free to ask questions in the comments!
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