Following on from our article on the FanTeam German Monster GW28, this weekend it’s time for gameweek 29 in the German Bundesliga. Our FISO team below will be entered into this week’s €20 entry (€50k prize pool) German 50k Monster, which has a maximum entry limit of 3,000 participants. The first 555 will partake in the prize pool and for this particular weekend, the winner will take home a cool €7,500 this weekend. Before moving onto our team selection, we want to highlight a couple of FanTeam rules that they apply to their Weekly Monster competition and which apply to this weekend’s German 50k Monster as well. If you’re not sure how to play FanTeam Fantasy Bundesliga then check out our step by step video guide.
Number one is that FanTeam have a rule called the ‘safety net’. The safety net comes into play when a selected player does not start in the Weekly Monster, because the game will then automatically replace this player with the next lowest-priced player from the same position (GK, DEF, MID, FOR) in the same team. This is regardless of whether or not your selected player does take to the field later in the game. This rule helps people who have entered a team into the German 50K Monster not to worry too much about whether their selected players will start or not, particularly if they know there are cheaper players for that same club in that same position who should start instead.
Number two is that FanTeam also have a ‘stacking penalty’ for the German 50K Monster, which penalises teams that have selected more than one defenders/goalkeeper from the same club. The stacking penalty comes into play when you pick more than one defensive player (defenders or goalkeepers) from a particular club and this club records a clean sheet. The points awarded for this clean sheet will decrease by 1 point for each additional defensive player from the same club that you have selected. The stacking penalty has a maximum of minus 3 points. This rule helps stop multi-entrants from gaining an advantage by submitting block defence teams. A reasonable tactic can be to select two players from two different clubs for your Goalie and Defenders, which would see you incur just 2 single-point deductions if you nail both clean sheets correctly.
Finally, a new format is being applied to the upcoming German Monster, called Pursuit. In this game mode, you get more bonus points the cheaper your players are (you gain 1 point for every 2 million euros underspent). Your captain will get double points, but he will also cost twice as much. Your vice-captain will get 150% more points, but he will also cost 150% more. You can read about the Pursuit mode in more detail on the FanTeam website.
Don’t forget, the deadline for the upcoming German 50K Monster is set at 2.30PM (UK time) on Saturday, May 30th, 2020. You can enter a team earlier and make changes right up to the deadline. This means you have an hour to check the starting line-ups for the 2.30PM (UK time) games, so you can change your selections accordingly up until the 2:30PM deadline, but not after.
German 50K Monster matches in gameweek 29
How did our German 50K Monster team fare last week?
Formation: 4-4-2 | Budget used: 99.9m | Finish: 1790 / 2600 | Prize pool: ///
| RETURNS | |
| Lewandowski (Bayern) home vs Frankfurt | 1 goal, Impact+1 |
| Goretzka (Bayern) home vs Frankfurt | 1 goal, Impact+1 |
| Havertz (Leverkusen) away vs. Gladbach | 2 goals, Impact+1 |
| Alaba (Bayern (home vs Frankfurt | Impact+1 |
Our team suggestion for the German 50K Monster in gameweek 29
Formation: 4-4-2 | Budget used: 152.4m
General approach
After a few tight gameweeks in terms of available budget, for gameweek 29 of the Bundesliga FanTeam have the Pursuit mode active for this round which means the budget is effectively unlimited and you can choose who you want, albeit you suffer a slight points deduction the more you spend. This has allowed us to load up on potential big hitters, especially considering the fact that this round is providing us with a few very favourable fixtures, on paper at least. We have gone with three Bayern stars (at home to Düsseldorf), three Dortmund stars (away against Paderborn), two Wolfsburg defenders (at home versus Frankfurt), two Gladbach defenders (home against Union Berlin), and an interesting out-of-position Hertha defender.
Goalkeeper
When it comes to away games, Eintracht Frankfurt are currently the worst-performing team in the Bundesliga with 7 points from 13 games in which they scored just 13 goals and conceded a worrying 30. Combine this with the relatively decent (defensive) stability of this weekend’s opponent Wolfsburg, who have conceded just 15 goals in 14 home games, and you can see the potential of Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels. Die Wolfe have not kept a clean sheet since the return of German football two weeks ago, but we should note that they have played two away games (Augsburg, Leverkusen) and one home game (Dortmund). The home game against Frankfurt on Saturday looks like a good opportunity to get that clean sheet taste again, albeit the lack of fans at games does indicate that home advantage may no longer exist.
Defenders
For that reason we have doubled up on Wolfsburg defensive assets. We ended up going with right-wing back Kevin Mbabu mainly based on two important parameters: since the injury of the main rival for his spot (William), the Swiss-Congolese defender is a fixed part of Wolfsburg’s defence, and as part of that defence, he is the one with most attacking returns (1 goal and 2 assists in 14 Bundesliga games). In their own Volkswagen-Arena against a fragile Frankfurt setup, the 25-year will be looking first and foremost for a clean sheet, but we’re hoping for some action at opposite side of the pitch as well.
For gameweek 29, we have opted for a four-men defence and two spots are taken up by two Borussia Mönchengladbach assets, namely Stefan Lainer and Ramy Bensebaini. The former is a fixed feature on the right wing, while the latter fulfils a very similar role on the far left side of the defensive block. Should one or both of them not start on Sunday though, the safety net covers our team as Lainer and Bensebaini are currently the most expensive defensive Gladbach options.
The reason for doubling up Gladbach defenders despite the active stacking penalty is the fact that Die Borussen represent a much coveted fantasy football combination: fixture plus form. The last two games were not great in terms of results (a home loss against Leverkusen followed by a draw away to struggling Bremen), but overall, their season is pretty good so far. They are currently in fourth place, which would mean qualification for the early phases of the Champions League next season. When looking at home games only, Gladbach even sits in third, thanks to taking 29 points from 14 games (31 goals scored, 19 conceded).
Then there is this weekend’s opponent, Union Berlin. A thirteenth place after 28 games out of a total of 34 is really not a bad situation to be in for a newly-promoted side, but it’s mainly the result of Union’s strong start of the season. Since the end of the corona-break, Die Eisernen have taken just 1 point from three games (this week’s midweek 1-1 draw at Mainz). The game against Bayern (0-2 at home) and the derby against Hertha (4-0 away) were both lost without netting. As a matter of fact, we need to go back to February 24th for Union’s last Bundesliga victory, which was three games before Germany’s lock-down. Where opponent Gladbach sits near the top when it comes to home games this season, Union find themselves in 17th place when it comes to away games (14 games played, 11 points won, 14 goals scored, and 29 goals conceded). In other words, this encounter is looking like a great fantasy opportunity for Gladbach picks.
Our final defensive pick is kind of our joker, seeing as Robert Skov is the only player to represent one team in our selection for gameweek 29. The Hoffenheim right-back operates mostly as a right-winger this season, which turns him into a very interesting out-of-position fantasy asset, especially when considering Hoffenheim are playing away against Mainz this weekend. Skov already has 4 goals and 5 assists to his name this season, which is a fantastic return for a player listed as a defender, while Mainz will be battling against relegation until the end of the season. Only four teams have conceded more goals at home than Mainz’s 26 in 14 games, while only one team has scored less at home than Die Nullfünfer’s 15 goals. Hoffenheim, at the same time, perform tend to be very stable away from home (13 games, 20 points, 17 goals scored, and 13 conceded), so we’re seeing a potential haul for Skov in this one.
Midfielders
We’re starting the review of our midfield picks with Borussia Dortmund, seeing as we have stacked our midfield for gameweek 29 with no less than three Dortmund assets. Revelation and star man Erling Haaland is set to miss this weekend’s away encounter with Paderborn, which is why we decided to avoid any related risk and leave him out of our selection. As a result, our team now features Jadon Sancho, Thorgan Hazard and Raphaël Guerreiro, who have scored 4 goals and provided 3 assists combined in the three games since the end of the corona-break.
It’s true that away games have not been Dortmund’s forte in the Bundesliga this season, as all of their direct rivals for the Champions League spots (Bayern, Leipzig, Gladbach and Leverkusen) are above them in the rankings when looking at away games exclusively, but at least one thing has not faltered them away from home: their ability to score goals. In 14 away games, Die Schwarzgelben conceded a sub-par 23 goals, but they also netted an impressive 29 times. Only reigning champions Bayern München and current number three have scored more.
Then there is Paderborn. The home team are currently last in the league, 8 points behind sixteenth place (which avoids direct relegation) and 9 points behind Mainz in fifteenth, which avoids the play-offs for promotion/relegation. They have conceded 55 goals in 28 games overall and an unacceptable 32 of those goals have fallen in front of their own fans. That’s also why we expect Sunday afternoon’s game to largely become a 90-minute struggle for Paderborn, especially when considering the likely possibility that Dortmund feel they have to make up for something after losing to Bayern at home this week and Paderborn won’t have any fans to cheer them on.
As far as our individual picks go, the expectation is that Thorgan Hazard will be replacing Haaland up front for this one, though we can see the Norwegian’s spot being filled intermittently by each of our three picks during the game. Hazard already has 6 goals and no less than 12 assists to his name, Sancho currently sits on a rather unbelievable 14 goals and 16 assists, and Guerreiro has scored 8 goals and provided 3 assists. With the absence of crowds in the stadiums seemingly reducing home advantages and away disadvantages considerably, we’re hoping for an extremely attacking Dortmund side and an overall goal fest.
Our Dortmund trio in the midfield is joined by the man who decided the midweek top-of-the-table clash between Dortmund and Bayern with a magnificent effort (check it out if you haven’t yet), Joshua Kimmich. In the last three games, the right-back/central midfielder scored 1 goal, provided 1 assist and recorded 2 clean sheets for a total of 21 points on FanTeam. The 25-year old is a nailed-on part of Bayern coach Hansi Flick’s starting eleven and he is responsible for plenty of set-pieces as well. That’s also one of the big reasons for his tally of 7 assists this season, on top of the 3 goals he has to his name already. Bayern’s home fixture against Düsseldorf is probably the most attractive Bundesliga fixture from a fantasy point of view this weekend and we can see Kimmich perform well here.
Forwards
We expect the real Bayern fantasy fireworks this weekend from striker Robert Lewandowski (our captain for GW29) and shadow striker Thomas Müller (our vice-captain) who form our team’s forward line for gameweek 29. Looking purely at their numbers so far this season, there might not exist a more compatible attacking duo in world football at the moment. Lewa is the finisher, the killer in the area with 27 goals to his name from 26 games (as well as 3 assists), while Müller is the provider, the Bundesliga’s assist king with 17 decisive passes. Of course, for a real idea of their compatibility we would need to look at how many times these two players actually set each other up for a goal, but we’re stating these tallies for a more general reason. They simply show the great form in which these players find themselves this season and they are combining that form this weekend with a very favourable home fixture against Fortuna Düsseldorf. If one of them is rested then we have the cheaper Gnabry waiting in the wings under the safety net (and he will still score 200% or 150% if replacing our captain or vice-captain).
Die Flingeraner were promoted to the Bundesliga at the end of last season and at the moment they sit in 16th place, which would avoid direct relegation but would mean play-offs for promotion/relegation. It’s not the worst result for the new boys, but seeing as the gap with number seventeen Bremen is 5 points and the gap with number fifteen Mainz just 1 point, they are definitely still in the race to retain their Bundesliga status for next season. That’s also why we’re sure they won’t be making it easy for Bayern at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, but we simply feel the reigning champions in their own home will be a bridge or two too far for Düsseldorf. They have conceded 29 goals in 14 away games, which represents an average of just over 2 goals per game, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Bayern exceed that average this weekend.
As we said this team has been entered into the 20 euro FanTeam Midweek German Monster and we hope to report back next week that we’ve shared part of the 25,000 euros prize pool. You can also follow discussions about FanTeam games on FISO’s FanTeam Forum where we have a FreeRoll for those that want to learn a bit more about the game.