With two rounds to go including this gameweek 33, reigning champions Bayern Munich crowned themselves champions for an incredible eighth consecutive time with a narrow 0-1 away victory over strugglers Werder Bremen. A Robert Lewandowski goal just before the break was sufficient for the Bavarians to clinch the title, a second yellow card for Alphonso Davies at the end of the second half wasn’t enough to ruin Bayern’s party. Normally, Hansi Flick’s men would be celebrating their success with the home fans this weekend, but due to the corona-related measures, the home game against Freiburg will be played without spectators.
In any case, in this preview for GW33 of the Bundesliga, we won’t be focusing as much on Bayern as we will on what it means for the remaining marbles, i.e. The European spots and the relegation spots. There are only two games to go now and there are still a few tight battles being fought. In other words, the championship might have been decided already, but there’s still plenty to play for just as there are with casino games available online if you’re looking to be a winner just like Bayern Munich from 2013 through to 2020.
The battle for 4th (Champions League qualification)
In the Bundesliga, very much like in the Premier League for example, the difference between fourth and fifth place in huge, as it represents the difference between Champions League qualification and Europa League football. It looks like it’s going to be between Mönchengladbach, currently in fifth with 59 points, and Leverkusen, currently in fourth with 60 points, this year, as Leipzig sits in third with 63 points.
Both teams won last weekend, with Gladbach booking an impressive 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg and Leverkusen brushing aside FC Köln 3-1, keeping the gap between to the bare minimum. What makes this intense battle extra interesting is the fact that both teams have the same schedule in terms of home and away games. Leverkusen are playing an out-of-form Hertha in Berlin this weekend and Gladbach are visiting relegated Paderborn, while in the season’s final gameweek, Leverkusen are hosting number fifteen Mainz and Borussia welcomes Hertha to Gladbach.
As a result, it’s hard to say which of the two will come out on top in the end and snatch the fourth Champions League spot. In theory, both teams could get six points each from these two gameweeks without surprising too many people. Out of the four remaining games, the relatively trickiest one is probably Leverkusen’s visit to Hertha this weekend and Gladbach will surely have placed their hopes on an unfortunate afternoon for Die Werkself. As far as we’re concerned though, Leverkusen should be able to hold on to fourth place until the end. And who knows, if Leipzig fail against Dortmund this weekend and Augsburg the next, Peter Bosz’ men might even climb up to third.
The battle for 6th and 7th (Europa League qualification)
The difference between sixth and seventh place in the Bundesliga is considerable. as well, as sixth equals a spot in the Europa League group stages, while seventh means entering the tournament in the qualification rounds. With two games to go, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Freiburg are still in the running for a finish in sixth.
Current rank
Club
Current points
GW33 oppnent
GW34 opponent
6
Wolfsburg
46
Schalke (a)
Bayern (H)
7
Hoffenheim
46
Union (H)
Dortmund (a)
8
Freiburg
45
Bayern (a)
Schalke (H)
As you can see, the point differences are minimal here and the remaining fixture calendars are quite evenly matched for each of the three teams. Wolfsburg and Freiburg are even playing the exact same two opponents, While Hoffenheim are playing mid-table Union Berlin followed by current number 2 Dortmund. Due to Freiburg’s opponent being Bayern away from home just after they won the title, we feel the current number eight might be forced out of the race for sixth place. That’s because we can see both Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim win their encounters in gameweek 33, despite the former’s recent form slump. If we have to choose, we’re going with a Wolfsburg win this week and a possible draw the next to clinch the last Europa League spot.
The battle for 16th (avoiding direct relegation through play-offs)
There is a high-stakes battle going near the bottom of the Bundesliga table as well. SC Paderborn have already officially been relegated, but number seventeen Werder Bremen and number sixteen Fortuna Düsseldorf are still in the very middle of an extremely tight battle to avoid direct relegation. Düsseldorf currently sit on 29 points in sixteenth, just one point above Werder and sixteenth place means relegation play-offs while seventeenth means direct relegation.
This weekend, both teams are playing games with potential, at least in terms of their opponent’s respective positions in the table. Düsseldorf is playing at home against number fourteen Augsburg and Werder is visiting a Mainz team having just booked a majorly surprising away win against Borussia Dortmund last weekend. With Düsseldorf coming off a bad run of four games against Bayern (5-0 loss), Hoffenheim (2-2 draw), Dortmund (0-1 loss) and Leipzig (2-2 draw), it remains to be seen how they will turn up against Die Fuggerstädter on Saturday. If the home team wants any chance of remaining in the Bundesliga though, this weekend will be key as they will be going to Berlin in the final gameweek to face an Union side that’s hitting a bit of a purple patch to end the season.
On top of that, main rival Werder Bremen are playing a winnable match away from home against Mainz this weekend, followed by a home game against Köln. Mainz surprised practically everyone last weekend by coming away from the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund with a 0-2 victory, while Werder followed up their 1-5 win over Paderborn in GW31 with a narrow 0-1 loss versus Bayern last weekend. Home and away has been a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of situation for Die Grun-Weißen this season though, as 22 of their 28 points were won away from home.
Following on from our article on the FanTeam German Monster GW30, this weekend it’s time for gameweek 30 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 2.5 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, June 13th 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.
Our team suggestion for the German 50K Monster in gameweek 31
Formation: 3-5-2 | Budget used: 138.1m
General approach
With Pursuit mode active for another round of FanTeam German 50K Monster fun, budget restrictions are lifted. This allows us to load up on some of this weekend’s potential big hitters, as well as on some interesting assets with favourable fixtures. We have gone with three Dortmund players (away against Düsseldorf), three Bayern stars (home versus Gladbach), three Leverkusen assets (away against Schalke), and two picks from Wolfsburg (at home versus Freiburg).
Goalkeeper
The first of our two Wolfsburg assets is goalkeeper Koen Casteels, who has just come off a decent 8-point haul away against Werder Bremen last weekend, courtesy of a clean sheet and 2 recorded saves. Only Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig have conceded less goals than Die Wolfe this season (36 from 30 games), and up next is Freiburg. Die Breisgau-Brasilianer are having a good season and just booked their first post-coronabreak victory last weekend (1-0 vs Gladbach), but they haven’t been very prolific in front of goal (39 goals in 30 games). In fact, just five teams in the league have scored less them.
Defenders
It’s also mainly based on the above mentioned match-up that we decided to add a Wolfsburg defender to our team for gameweek 31. Wing-back Kevin Mbabu has been good to us in the past, so we don’t see why he could not be a profitable pick once again this weekend. The Swiss-Congolese defender is a nailed-on part of Wolfsburg’s four-man defence and he gets plenty of action in the attacking third as well. In 16 Bundesliga games this season, he has already scored twice and provided 2 assists as well. In FanTeam terms, he has been good for 15 points over the past three games, thanks to a clean sheet, a goal, and 2 impact points. Like with Casteels, we’re hoping for a clean sheet here and far as Mbabu goes, maybe a sneaky attacking return as well.
The second member of our three-man defensive setup this weekend is Leverkusen right-back Mitchell Weiser. A lot of focus has been on Leverkusen’s attacking exploits this season, and rightly so, but their defensive displays have been more than decent as well. Overall, only five teams have conceded less than Die Werkself and this weekend it’s time for an away game against Schalke 04, not only one of the most goal-shy outfits in the league (35 goals scored in 30 games) but also a team in full-blown crisis. Die Königsblauen have not won a game since the Bundesliga returned to action and the stats are discouraging: 5 games played, 2 goals scored, 12 goals conceded and 1 point won. Our big Leverkusen guns can be found on the midfield, but Weiser represents our bet on a clean sheet against Schalke.
Our third defensive pick is Bayern Munich revelation Alphonso Davies, who at the tender age of 19 managed to conquer a starting spot in the team of coach Hansi Flick. In 26 Bundesliga games this season, the youngster recorded 11 clean sheets, 3 goals and 4 assists, which has made him the highest-scoring defender on FanTeam (135 points), just 11 points behind teammate and number one Benjamin Pavard. This weekend, Bayern can crown themselves champions with a victory against Gladbach at home (and a Dortmund loss at Düsseldorf) and honestly, we find it hard to imagine a scenario in which they won’t do their duty, especially considering their current form. Since the return from the break, Der Rekordmeister have won all of their 5 games, scoring 17 goals and conceding just 4.
Midfielders
That’s also why we opted for a triple Bayern threat this weekend, so Joshua Kimmich joins Davies in our team. With Müller and Lewandowski suspended for the upcoming game against Gladbach, we shifted our focus partly to Bayern’s midfield. Like the rest of his team, the central midfielder has come out of the coronabreak all engines blazing, which explains how he managed to record a fantastic 36 FanTeam points since then. Over those five games, the 25-year old German managed to return 3 clean sheets, a goal, 3 assists and 5 impact points. As a matter of fact, just last weekend, Kimmich helped Bayern to a 2-4 away victory over Leverkusen with an assist. A big fantasy plus for him is that he is on many set-pieces for Die Roten, which puts him at the heart of a lot of Bayern’s attacking moves and we’re hoping that will be the case on Saturday.
In the middle, the Bayern star is joined by Leverkusen couple Kai Havertz and Kerem Demirbay. Where the former had to miss last weekend’s game against Bayern and the mid-week cup semi-final against Saarbrücken due to injury, the latter played 45 minutes against Bayern and then put in a man-of-the-match performance mid-week with two magnificent assists. For the away game against a Schalke in crisis, Dutch coach Peter Bosz will be happy to be able to count on the both of them as Die Werkselfe are in the middle of an intense battle for a Champions League spot with Gladbach and Leipzig. In that sense, the game in Gelsenkirchen looks like a great opportunity as Gladbach are visiting Bayern and Leipzig are visiting Hoffenheim on Friday.
Before his minor injury, Havertz was probably the most in-form man in the Bundesliga, which is saying a lot when considering the likes of Dortmund’s Sancho, Bayern’s Lewandowski, and Leipzig’s Werner, just to name a few. In the four games he played since the return of the German football, the 21-year old scored an unbelievable 5 goals, often playing as a striker, while also recording 1 clean sheet and 3 impact points.
As far as Demirbay goes, there are no worries about his spot in the starting eleven either. The German-Turkish midfielder is Leverkusen’s number 10 and a main soldier on their midfield. He already has 21 Bundesliga games to his name this season in which scored once and provided 5 assists. As we wrote earlier, he took the spotlights in the semi-final of the DFB Pokal on Tuesday with 2 assists, so we’re hoping he can carry that playmaking form into Sunday’s game.
The remaining two spots on our five-man midfield are taken up by Dortmund duo Thorgan Hazard and Jadon Sancho. Die Schwarzgelben have one of the most favourable fixtures this weekend with an away game against Düsseldorf and we’re expecting some goals, especially from the visitors. After Bayern, Dortmund are the most prolific team in Germany (81 goals in 30 games), while opponents Düsseldorf sit on an average of exactly 2 goals conceded per game this season. This seemingly uneven match-up is the main reason why decided to go big on Dortmund’s attacking assets, but not the only one. That’s because avoiding a loss at the Esprit Arena is also the only way for Dortmund to prevent arch-rivals Bayern from crowning themselves champions coming weekend if they manage to beat Gladbach at home.
Hazard mostly filled in for the injured Erling Haaland up front in the past two games and he did so with success. The Belgian scored a goal, gave an assist, recorded a clean sheet and got 2 impact points for a total of 16 FanTeam points from those two games. Haaland is expected to return to the starting lineup this weekend, but we don’t feel that this diminishes Hazard’s potential at all. His team mate Sancho forms another key cog of the black and yellow goalscoring machine. The talented Englishman has played 28 Bundesliga games so far in which he returned an unbelievable 17 goals and 17 assists. Two of those goals and three of those assists have come since the end of the coronabreak. We’re hoping for another pair of key roles for Sancho and Hazard against Düsseldorf coming Saturday.
Forwards
They are not the only two Dortmund assets we will be crossing our fingers for this weekend, though, because we have also selected the fit-again Erling Haaland. The Norwegian goal machine missed the last two games due to a minor injury, but Dortmund coach Lucien Favre confirmed this week that his star man has been completing full team training without a problem. Considering the devastating impact he has had on Dortmund and the Bundesliga since his arrival from Salzburg during the last January window, there is no doubt that he will start against Düsseldorf on Saturday. In just 11 Bundesliga games so far, the 19-year old scored 10 goals and 3 assists, and to give you an even better idea of the incredible form he is in this season: In the Champions League this season, he has 10 goals and 1 assist to his name after 8 games. In other words, this pick was a no-brainer for us.
In attack, Haaland is joined by Bayern forward Serge Gnabry. In the absence of both Bundesliga topscorer Robert Lewandowski and assist leader Thomas Müller, who are both suspended for this weekend’s home game against Gladbach, many of the eyes will be on Gnabry to deliver. The 24-year old missed the midweek cup game against Frankfurt due to a slight back injury, but he is expected to return for the potential championship decider on Sunday. Should he unexpectedly not be ready to start, FanTeam’s safety net will switch him for either Dutch forward talent Joshua Zirkzee or German striker Jan-Fiete Arp, depending who would start in that case. Our money would be on the Dutchman in that scenario, but like we wrote before, we’re counting on Gnabry to approach the Gladbach game as a great opportunity to work on his current tallies (28 games, 12 games, 11 assists).
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 50,000 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.
Following on from our article on the FanTeam German Monster GW29, this weekend it’s time for gameweek 30 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 2.5 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, June 6h, 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.
Our team suggestion for the German 50K Monster in gameweek 30
Formation: 3-5-2 | Budget used: 157.0m/195.7m
General approach
With Pursuit mode active for another round of FanTeam German 50K Monster fun, budget restrictions have been lifted for second consecutive week. This allows us to load up on some of this weekend’s potential big hitters, as well as on some interesting assets with favourable fixtures. Where we went all-in last weekend in terms of selecting the big names, we have shifted this week to balance between stars and relatively less expensive Pursuit-positive picks with attractive match-ups. We have gone with three Leipzig players (at home against Paderborn), three Dortmund stars (home versus Hertha), three Hoffenheim assets (away against Düsseldorf), and two picks from Eintracht Frankfurt (at home versus Mainz).
Goalkeeper
In defence, we have gone with a block of three Hoffenheim to start with and our goalkeeper is one of them. Only six goalkeepers in the Bundesliga have performed better on FanTeam than Oliver Baumann until now, with an average of 3.56 points per game. A big reason for these good returns is the German’s average of 2.68 saves per game, which in FanTeam already adds up to 1 point. This weekend though, we’re aiming for a clean sheet more than for save points. That’s because Saturday’s opponent Düsseldorf are the second-least productive outfit in front of goal in the entire league, with just 31 goals in 29 games overall.
Defenders
Düsseldorf’s shyness in the opponent’s penalty area isn’t our only reason for stacking up on Hoffenheim defenders, though. In our defensive line, we reserved spots for out-of-position performer Robert Skov and “keeping Pursuit mode in mind” pick Stefan Posch, thanks to Hoffenheim’s own defensive stability as well. Die Kraichgauer have conceded 48 goals in 29 games, which is average in comparison to the rest of the league, but it’s in away games especially that they have shown extraordinary resilience by conceding just 13 goals in 14 games. No team in the league has done better so far. Add to that the seemingly diminished home and away bias due to games being played without spectators, and you’ll understand why we’re putting our money on Hoffenheim’s defence this weekend albeit we lose 3 stacking penalty points.
Skov is actually a right-back who is playing as a right winger in trainer Alfred Schreuder’s team. As a result of this situation, he already has 4 goals and 5 assists to his name, as well as 82 FanTeam points. A goal, an assist and a clean sheet in his last three games allowed him to record a more than decent 21 points over that same period.
Like Skov, Posch is a nailed-on starter in Hoffenheim’s starting eleven. The central defender is one of the eight players in the team with more than 1,800 Bundesliga minutes to his name this season and is expected to start on Saturday as well. He has not scored or provided an assist yet this season, but he is also a cool 1.2 million less expensive than Pavel Kaderabek. We decided to prioritise budget for this one and select Posch with a clean sheet in mind against Düsseldorf (and half a bonus point extra).
Our third and final defender for gameweek 30 is our first RB Leipzig pick, left-wingback Angeliño. Die Rote Bullen are facing the league’s red lantern Paderborn on Saturday afternoon in what is probably the most attractive fixture from a fantasy football point of view. Where only Bayern and Dortmund are more productive in front of goal than Leipzig (74 goals scored), only Bremen and Mainz have conceded more goals than Paderborn’s 61 from 29 games. At the same time, only Bayern has conceded less goals than Leipzig (31 conceded), while only Düsseldorf and Bremen have scored less than the 32 goals scored by Paderborn. In other words, one of the leagues strongest offences and defences is facing one of the league’s weakest offences and defences in Leipzig this weekend. Add to that Angeliño’s up-field positioning and his current stats (1 goal, 1 assist, 4 clean sheets, 8 games), and you can see why we’re crossing our fingers for returns at both sides of the pitch from him.
Midfielders
The Spanish left-back is joined by his Leipzig team mate Dani Olmo in our selection for gameweek 30. The 22-year old Spaniard was bought from Dinamo Zagreb for €19 million in January 2020 and it was last weekend that he recorded his first goal for his new club, good for 8 FanTeam points. He looks to have conquered a spot in Julian Nagelsmann’s starting lineup, in which he switches between the number 10 spot and different positions on both wings. Besides his goal, he also has an assist to his name already and we wouldn’t be suprised to see him improve on his current tallies when Paderborn roll up to the Red Bull Arena Leipzig. On top of that, picking Olmo over more expensive Leipzig options like Sabitzer (16,1 million), Nkunku (15,9 million), Laimer (14,9 million), or Schick (15,1 million) has saved us a minimum of 1,7 million and a maximum of 2,9 million with Pursuit mode in mind.
Our second midfield pick is Eintracht Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic, who, with 4 goals and 11 assists to his name, is currently Eintracht’s joint-MVP. As a matter of fact, he got his eleventh assist of this Bundesliga season just last weekend in the game against Werder Bremen. That meant that the Serbian international brought his total FanTeam points over the past three weeks to 18, which is not a bad average at all. Die Adler have a home game against current number 15 Mainz this weekend and we’re expecting goals for this one: no team has conceded more goals than Mainz (62) and only five teams have scored more than Frankfurt (49). Hopefully, Kostic can get involved once again on Saturday.
The rest of our five-men midfield consists of Dortmund assets, namely Thorgan Hazard, Jadon Sancho and Julian Brandt. Star striker Erling Haaland is reported to miss Saturday’s game against Hertha Berlin at home, which is why we have opted for these three midfielders. Just like last weekend against Paderborn, we’re expecting Hazard to take up Haaland’s spot up front, but the likes of Sancho will also get plenty of opportunities to pop up in front of goal as Hazard’s associative and link-up play is extraordinary. This was illustrated last weekend, when the Belgian got a goal and an assist, while the young Englishman recorded the first hattrick of his professional career (all in one-half). In that same game, Brandt brought his owners 6 FanTeam points, courtesy of an assist and one impact point.
The reason why we decided to load up on Dortmund midfielders despite their ultra-premium price tags is their current (goalscoring) form in combination with a relatively winnable home fixture this weekend, though opponent’s Hertha are in great form at the moment as well. Only Bayern have scored more than Dortmund in the German league, both in terms of home games and overall Bundesliga games, at an average of almost three goals per game. Hertha, on the other hand, are the team in the top half of the table that has conceded the most goals (50 in 29 games). The team from the Capital books results with an attacking approach that comes at the cost of some defensive stability, which is similar to Lucien Favre’s tactics at Dortmund. Both teams score and concede relatively easily and even though we see Die Schwarzgelben take the victory here, there could be plenty of goals on the horizon for both outfits in this one.
Forwards
Timo Werner is our first forward and our captain for this weekend as well. The RB Leipzig striker is gameweek 30’s most expensive player on FanTeam and that’s really no surprise. The young German has already shown to be a very dependable source of goals, which is underlined by the 25 goals (and 7 assists) already recorded by him in the Bundesliga this season. Only Bayern phenomenon Robert Lewandowski has scored more up until this point with an unbelievable 29 goals from 27 games. Werner is the focal point of one of the Bundesliga’s most prolific outfits though, and this weekend they are hosting the league’s number 18, Paderborn. Football is and remains an unpredictable game, of course, but we feel there is a considerable haul on the cards here for the striker.
Our final pick of the week is another in-form striker, namely André Silva from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Portuguese forward has scored a goal in his last three games for a total of 20 FanTeam points, but that’s not at all. Despite playing for a (lower) mid-table team, he has already scored 8 goals and provided 3 assists in 20 Bundesliga games this season, and the home game against Mainz looks like the perfect opportunity to work towards the double digits for Silva. Die Nullfünfer have conceded a staggering 62 goals in 29 games so far this season and 35 of those goals came in away games. We’ll have to see what the effect of an empty Commerzbank-Arena will be on both these teams, but we find it hard to imagine Frankfurt not winning this one by a comfortable margin.
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 50,000 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.
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
(Times: UK+1 hour)
How did our German 50K Monster team fare last week?
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.
Our FISO team below will be entered into this week’s €20 entry (€25k prize pool) German 25K Monster, which has a maximum entry limit of 1,667 participants. The first 278 will partake in the prize pool and for this particular weekend, the winner will take home a cool €5,000 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 Midweek Monster as well.
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 25K 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. If your captain or vice-captain don’t start then in Pursuit their replacement will score the 200% or 150% points increase instead so you can be more relaxed about choosing who to captain and vice captain.
Number two is that FanTeam also have a ‘stacking penalty’ for the German 25K 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 25K 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 more Pursuit in more detail on the FanTeam website.
Don’t forget, the deadline for the upcoming German 25K Monster is set at 5.30PM (UK time) on Tuesday, May 26th, 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 5.30PM (UK time) games, so you can change your selections accordingly up until the 5.30PM deadline, but not after.
German 25K Monster matches in gameweek 28 – Tuesday
(Times: UK+1 hour)
How did our German 50K Monster team fare last week?
Our team suggestion for the German 25K Monster on Tuesday in gameweek 28
Formation: 2-2-3 | Budget used: 96.3m
General approach
The German 25K Monster varies from the classic Weekly Monster format in a few ways. Select a team consisting of 7 players from the eight teams playing on Tuesday, May 26th. The 7 players are subject to a maximum 3 Forwards, a max 4 Midfielders and a max 5 Defenders (so you can choose 3 forewards and 4 midfielders if you want i.e. no defenders or a goalie) but no more than 4 players per team and, because this is the Pursuit mode, it means that managers are rewarded bonus points in their score for selecting cheaper assets (so you can pick who you want but the more you spend the more it costs you more in terms of points; in other words you gain 1 point for every 2 million euros underspent). The budget given by FanTeam to select 7 players should equate to the total of the top higest priced 7 players (with captain’s price doubled and vice-captain’s price at 150%) so you can pick who you want (strictly the highest budget you can use is 1.3m under the 106.3m budget due to the restriction on max 4 players per club and max 3 forwards). Both the stacking penalty and the safety net still apply to this tournament.
We have gone all in on two teams, namely Leverkusen (at home versus Wolfsburg) and Gladbach (away against Werder Bremen) and a single Bayern star in support. Budget would have allowed us to go all-in on attacking assets, for example, but considering the active Pursuit mode, we decided to trade in some budget expenditures for bonus point rewards (5). Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz is our captain for 26.2 million (2 x 13.1m) and Gladbach’s Ramy Bensebaini is our vice-captain for 13.4 million (1.5 x 8.9m).
BAYER LEVERKUSEN (home vs Wolfsburg)
Picks: Kai Havertz, Kerem Demirbay, Daley Sinkgraven
The Bundesliga has returned and it has done so with all engines blazing. Since restarting the season on May 16th, we have already had two match days and the third one, gameweek 28, is upon us with the first four games tomorrow. Gameweek 29 is then set to start on Friday, which means a hellish rhythm of four gameweeks within 14 days. In other words, keep this in mind when considering starting line-ups for the German 25K Monster. This is another reason the Bundelsiga allow 5 substitutions per match so players can be rested to help prevent injury.
Leverkusen have come out of the corona-break in good form, taking six points from two games (1-4 at Werder and 1-3 at Gladbach). Super talent Kai Havertz played a big role in these victories with 3 goals that saw him record a total of 27 points on FanTeam. That has been in part due to him replacing usual striker Kevin Volland up top while the former was injured. The forward is said to be fit again, though it remains to be seen if trainer Peter Bosz starts him, considering Havertz’ blistering form. Whether he starts all the way up front or in his more natural number-ten spot, his current 10 goals and 5 assists in the league give us cause to believe that he can be decisive from any position. Therefore, he is also our captain in GW28a.
Our second Leverkusen pick is midfielder Kerem Demirbay, who, at 10.8 million and with Pursuit mode in mind, is 1.2 million less expensive than Bellaraby and 1.4 million less than Diaby. The German-Turkish player is a nailed-on part of Leverkusen’s central midfield and he already has 19 Bundesliga games to his name this season, with 5 assists and a goal to show for it. Since returning after the corona-break, he has recorded 1 goal, 2 assists, and a total of 19 FanTeam points. The fact that he is on plenty of set-pieces for Die Werkself reinforces our hopes of a nice return against Wolfsburg tomorrow.
We considered adding Bellaraby, Diaby, or even Volland to our German 25K Monster selection, but with Pursuit mode in mind, we decided to save a minimum of 3 million and a maximum of 3.3 million by selecting left wing-back Daley Sinkgraven. Besides budget and Pursuit considerations though, it’s also worth noting that the Dutchman is a starter in the league’s third-best defence overall (32 goals conceded in 27 games) and the second-best when looking at home games only (13 goals conceded in 13 games). On the other hand, Wolfsburg are not bad on their travels, but they’re no free-flowing goal-scoring machine either with 20 goals from 13 away games. We’re counting on Sinkgraven and his Leverkusen team mates here to justify picking him over more offensive assets in the form of a clean sheet and some bonus point rewards.
BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH (away vs Werder Bremen)
Picks: Alessane Plea, Marcus Thuram, Ramy Bensebaini
Whilst our Leverkusen picks are largely based on current attacking form and the fact that they are playing a home game (albeit against a relatively strong opponent), our Gladbach picks attracted our attention with their decent form, the horrid home game performances of their opponent so far, and the increasingly strong indication that home team advantage has been considerably diminished by the absence of crowds in the stands. In terms of the individual players we have picked, we have taken an approach largely similar to our Leverkusen tactic: two premium attacking assets accompanied by a defensive asset. This results in a bonus points reward, plus Werder is the lowest-scoring outfit in home games by far this season.
Our first pick is French striker Alessane Plea, who already has 24 Bundesliga games, 9 goals, and 8 assists to his name this season. What’s more, in the two games since the end of the corona-break, he has scored a goal (during the 1-3 away win at Frankfurt) and provided an assist (during the 1-3 home loss to Leverkusen), rewarding him with 12 FanTeam points. Die Fohlen are chasing a Champions League spot and last weekend’s loss versus Leverkusen was a deception in that sense, so we’re expecting them to make amends and get back on the right track on Tuesday. If they manage to do so, Plea will more than likely be at the centre of it.
We have chosen to have Plea joined in our attack by a compatriot of his, namely Marcus Thuram. The Gladbach winger and son of former-World Champion Lilian Thuram was bought from French side EA Guingamp in the summer of 2019, and in his first season for Die Fohlen, the Frenchman already has 27 Bundesliga games, 8 goals, and 8 assists to his name. Tuesday’s opponent Werder Bremen boast the league’s second-worst defence, with only Mainz conceding more than Werder’s 59 goals from 27 games. When it comes to home games only, Die Grün-Weißen have conceded a worrying 30 goals in just 12 games, a tally bettered by no less than 15 teams in the league.
Very unfortunately for the home team though, their defending is not the only issue. Werder have also scored just 9 goals in 12 home games, which is considerably less than any other team in the league. That’s also one of the main reason for picking Gladbach defender Ramy Bensebaini instead of midfielders Hermann or Neuhaus, or forward Stindl. This saved us a minimum of 2.1 million and a maximum of 2.4 million in terms of budget expenditures. The Algerian left wing-back arrived at Gladbach in the summer of 2019 and has made an impression since then: 13 Bundesliga games, 5 goals, and 2 assists so far in his first season. Werder Bremen look like the perfect opponent for him to further improve his numbers and for Gladbach to get back on Champions League track.
BAYERN MÜNCHEN (away vs Borussia Dortmund)
Pick: Robert Lewandowski
For our seventh and final pick, we could have picked a fourth asset from either Leverkusen or Gladbach, but instead, we went with Germany’s current top scorer. Since the restart of the Bundesliga, Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski has continued doing what he was doing before the coronavirus put world football on hold: scoring goals. In 25 Bundesliga games so far, the Polish assassin has netted 27 times and provided 3 assists. He will be starting in the stand-out fixture of gameweek 28, when Bayern roll up to the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund for an authentic top-of-the-table clash. Not an easy game by any stretch for the reigning champions, not even when thinking back to their resounding 4-0 home victory over Dortmund in November of last year. Since then, Die Borussen were reinforced with the likes of Emre Can and the phenomenon known as Erling Haaland, leading to a run of 9 victories from the last 10 games. They will be raring to make it 10 out of the last 11 tomorrow and to reduce the current 4-point gap between them and the league leaders, but if there is one man who can rain on this potential yellow-black parade, it’s former-Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski.
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.
Following on from our article last week on the FanTeam German Monster GW26, this weekend it’s time for gameweek 27 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.
Don’t forget, the deadline for the upcoming German 50K Monster is set at 2.30PM (UK time) on Saturday, May 24th, 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 27
How did our German 50K Monster team fare last week?
Our team suggestion for the German 50K Monster in gameweek 29
Formation: 4-4-2 | Budget used: 99.9m
General approach
The 27th gameweek of the Bundesliga brings us a few more so-called favourable fixtures in comparison to last weekend. This has also resulted in a very expensive pool of potential player picks, which is also reflected in our team selection for this gameweek. We initially wanted to stick to players from just a few outfits (Bayern, Leipzig, Freiburg, Köln), but we had to start making some budgetary room eventually. As a result, our team consists of 3 Bayern players, 3 Freiburg players, 2 Wolfsburg players, a Leverkusen star, a Köln defender, and a Düsseldorf budget enabler.
Goalkeeper
We picked out goalkeeper with budget constraints in mind. In that sense, we were happy to see Wolfsburg playing at home this weekend, as Die Wolfe boast the league’s third-best defence, both overall and for home games only. That’s why, for 6.2 million, we brought in Belgian international Koen Casteels. As the seventh highest-scoring goalie on FanTeam’s German 50K Monster, he’s a more than decent pick, but the downside is that this weekend he is welcoming Borussia Dortmund in a crowd-less Volkswagen-Arena. A clean sheet looks complicated, but a few save points not so much.
Defenders
The first pick of our four-man defensive set-up is Bayern’s David Alaba, who, at 10.1 million, is also the most expensive defender in our team. The extremely versatile Austrian left-back, who can also play in the midfield or as a central defender, already has 21 Bundesliga games, 1 goal, and 1 assist to his name this season, and he will be starting against Eintracht Frankfurt at home coming Saturday. On top of that, when a set-piece is positioned well for a left-footed specialist, Alaba is one of the prime candidates for the reigning champions. Frankfurt are dead last when it comes to away games this season, with just 7 points taken from 12 games. Over that run, the scored just 11 and conceded a more than worrying 25 goals. Fingers crossed for returns at both sides of the pitch for our Bayern man.
Christian Günter is the first of three Freiburg assets in our team for gameweek 27. At a price of 7.8 million, he is not super cheap, but hear us out. Not only is he a nailed-on part on the left side of Freiburg’s defence, he is also given freedom to participate in attack. The tangible results until now: 2 goals and 7 assists in 26 games. Add to that the fact that current number 17 Werder Bremen are rolling up to the Schwarzwald-Stadion and Günter’s potential keeps rising. Bremen, after all, boast the league’s worst defence (conceding 59 goals in 26 games), while only Düsseldorf has a less prolific attack than them. In other words, we’re kind of counting on points here.
Our third defensive pick is Toni Leistner, the only Köln player on our roster this weekend. Considering Die Geißböcke were in decent form prior to the sudden corona-break and the fact that they are playing at home against Düsseldorf, we actually wanted to include at least one more team mate of Leistner’s, but budget made us decide otherwise. We stuck with the German 29-year old who arrived on loan from QPR at the very end of the last January transfer window and who has played 5 of the possible 7 Bundesliga games since then. He has no attacking returns to his name yet, but this weekend provides him with a good opportunity to get his counters going. Newly-promoted Fortuna Düsseldorf are coming to Cologne, who have scored just 14 goals in 13 away games, while conceding a whopping 27.
Our fourth and final defender is a complete budget pick. It basically came down to picking a defender from either Mainz (at home against Leipzig), Frankfurt (away to Bayern), and our pick, Düsseldorf’s Zanka. In the previous paragraph, we just pointed out Düsseldorf’s defensive frailty, so we are not expecting too much here. As a matter of fact, seeing as we have a defender from each team in the Köln-Düsseldorf game, we’d be extremely happy with a boring 0-0 draw.
Midfielders
Like our defence, our midfield is made up of four players with Bayern’s Leon Goretzka being the most expensive one at a price of 12 million on FanTeam this weekend. Our preferential midfield pick from the Bayern roster was actually Kimmich, but Goretzka gives us a good way into the starting line-up at 0.6 million less. On top of that, Kingsley Coman is priced 0.2 million lower still, which means that the Safety Net would apply automatically in case Goretzka doesn’t start. It’s very possible that Bayern won’t start with both against Frankfurt, but also extremely unlikely that neither Goretzka nor Coman will start, considering both are fit. The 25-year old German recorded a lovely 21 points on FanTeam from his last three Bundesliga games, courtesy of 2 goals and 1 assist, and he might just continue that purple patch on Saturday.
For gameweek 27 of the German 50K Monster, we have also gone with a real joker. Kai Havertz is the only Leverkusen player in our team, partly due to the prices of Leverkusen assets and partly due to the fact that Die Werkself are visiting Mönchengladbach coming Saturday afternoon. Defensively, Wolfsburg is very stable this season, but traditionally, this encounter has been full of goals. Just to give you an idea: 13 of the last 20 games between Leverkusen and Gladbach saw 3 goals or more scored between them. At the same time, Havertz resumed his Bundesliga in style by scoring 2 goals against Werder Bremen last weekend after trainer Peter Bosz started him all the way up front. Only three teams have scored more in away games than Leverkusen’s 24 goals, so we’re counting on their offensive prowess to deliver again this weekend.
Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo is joining Goretzka and Havertz on our midfield. The Italian-German left-winger is listed as a midfielder for FanTeam’s German 50K Monster, which gives him some additional out-of-position potential. In his first season for Freiburg, Grifo has already racked up 19 Bundesliga games in which he scored twice and provided 5 assists. This weekend, he is facing the league’s third-worst defence in terms of away games when Werder Bremen visit Freiburg. Die Grün-Weißen have conceded 29 goals in 13 games, while overall, this total reaches the worrying amount of 59. After Freiburg’s hard-fought 1-1 draw at Leipzig last weekend, we’re hoping Grifo and his team mates will build on that result against Werder this weekend.
Our fourth midfielder is Wolfsburg player Xavier Schlager. The 22-year old central midfielder is a nailed-on part of Wolfsburg starting eleven, which is kind of the minimum you want from a fantasy budget-enabler. On top of that though, he plays for a more than decent team at home this weekend, though the opposition will be formidable. Borussia Dortmund are just coming off an impressive 4-0 home victory over derby rivals Schalke 04, so they’ll be brimming with confidence. Wolfsburg though, is a more than solid unit this season, which is illustrated by the fact that only Bayern and Leipzig have conceded less goals. At the same time, Dortmund are a bit leaky away from home, having given up 23 goals in 13 games already. In other words, Schlager has his work more than cut out for him in the middle, but we would be surprised if the home team don’t get a few good opportunities themselves as well on Saturday.
Forwards
Robert Lewandowski. We’re going to be brief here, because, what is there left to say? He scored 26 goals in 24 Bundesliga games so far. He scored last weekend. He’s on penalties. He’s the highest-scoring game on FanTeam’s German 50K Monster. He’s playing at home against Frankfurt. Yes, his 15-million price tag is extreme, but… just pick him, captain him, and move on to the rest of your team.
Joining our star man in attack is our third Freiburg pick, striker Nils Petersen. The experienced German has been at the club since 2015 and has grown into an inevitability up front for the Breisgau-Brasilianer since then. This season, his tallies stand at 8 goals and 2 assists from a total of 2’015 Bundesliga minutes. With eight Bundesliga games still to go, Petersen will be aiming for at least double digits in terms of goals and what better way to continue that mission with a home game against Werder Bremen at home? Die Grün-Weißen boast the league’s leakiest defence and are already 9 points behind the safe 15th spot (with one game in hand). Petersen might just be the one to complicate things further for them on Saturday.
As we said this team has been entered into the 20 euro FanTeam German Monster and we hope to report back next week that we’ve shared part of the 50,000 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.
We might have seen empty stadiums, spaced-out subs and socially distanced celebrations but it’s back. The Bundesliga got back this weekend. Finally, football is back! Then, very quickly, the same names dominate the headlines. So, what do you do if you want to add a sprinkling of under-the-radar stars to your fantasy team?
That’s right, you check out this list of players that won’t be lining up for Bayern, Dortmund or any other of the top six sides but may still bring you some much desired points.
Number 5. Kai Proger, Paderborn
On the surface of it, selecting a player from the club bottom of the league and 10 points from safety might sound like the move of someone who has lost the plot during the coronavirus lockdown. Bear with us though.
Paderborn might be struggling but Proger is having a terrific campaign – particularly given it’s his first year playing in the Bundesliga. In 24 appearances, 1,824 minutes to be precise, Proger has been involved in nine goals – scoring two and laying on a further seven. That means he’s had a hand in 30% of the team’s overall goals.
“A more than tidy contribution.”
Number 4. Robin Koch, Freiburg
Koch is the man closest to that top six we’re not delving into, with Freiburg currently sitting in seventh. He’s having a tremendous year too albeit without attracting the same headlines as the forward players get. Koch predominantly plays as a centre back where he dominates everything that comes into his zone but a recent transition into the deep lying midfield position has allowed him to show off his ball playing skills as well.
Whilst he’s not one to chip in with goals or assists on a regular basis he is one of the first names on the team sheet having missed just one game this season when suffering from illness.
“A steady name to have in your ranks.”
Number 3. Robert Skov, Hoffenheim
Last year, Skov was a goal scoring machine for Copenhagen in the Danish Superligaen with 32 goals and 10 assists in a total of 48 appearances. He’s settled into German football pretty well too. Okay, so Hoffenheim have switched him from right wing to left back, which obviously has an impact on his statistical output.
A goal involvement of just over one in three games (three goals and four assists) isn’t too shabby for a defender though. Hoffenheim do have the worst goals against column in the top half meaning you won’t be getting many clean sheets but, at the other end, give them a free kick and there is a decent chance that Skov picks out the top corner.
“A defender that is a dead ball specialist.”
Number 2. Sebastiaan Bornauw, Koln
Like with Skov, Bornauw isn’t likely to see to many shut outs recorded with Koln having shipped 47 goals so far this season. What Bornauw does bring though is a genuine defensive goal threat and five goals from centre half is impressive by anybody’s standards. This is his first year in the Bundesliga after joining for a £5m fee from Belgian club Anderlecht but he’s taken to it like a duck takes to water. He’s been a pretty consistent figure in the backline too with just a couple of fixtures missed through suspension and injury.
“A goal scoring defender.”
Number 1. Robin Quaison, Mainz
Everyone has heard of Robert Lewandowski, Timo Werner and Jadon Sancho. What about Robin Quaison? He’s not quite the household name – yet. Give it time though because he’s currently fourth in the goal scoring charts behind the trio listed.
The numbers backing that up, read as 12 goals (and two assists) in 25 games – all whilst in a team that’s teetering dangerously above the drop zone too. Next up is RB Leipzig, which is a tough fixture but then comes four winnable games where Quaison could add to his already impressive tally.
“An eye for goal and a kind set of fixtures.”
There you have it, five less than obvious Bundesliga players to boost your fantasy team. And if you fancy betting on Bundesliga games, click here to check out TonyBet Sport odds on the German topflight.
