Shock upsets and unexpected results in the round of 16 have left plenty of fantasy managers – including me – with decimated squads ahead of the quarter-finals. Popular teams such as France and the Netherlands were knocked out by Switzerland and the Czech Republic in the last 16, causing chaos for those managers without a wildcard.
Managers are only allowed to make 3 free transfers to their side after the round of 16, with every additional transfer costing 4 points.
Currently, my team sits on 280 points with an overall rank of 2014, but with 3 free transfers to use and only 7 players fit to start the second knockout round, things aren’t looking pretty. Nevertheless, here is how my team lines up ahead of the quarter-finals.
TEAM SELECTION
With the Netherlands, France and Germany all eliminated, most of the players to do well (Depay, Benzema, Wijnaldum, Dumfries, Gosens) are no longer in the competition, putting me in a spot of bother.
To add insult to injury Kevin de Bruyne is injured and unlikely to start the quarter-final against Italy while Domenico Berardi is expected to lose his spot in the Italy starting XI to Federico Chiesa. This leaves my team with only 7 players expected to feature in the quarter-finals before any transfers.
TRANSFERS
With such few players available to play, I have opted to make 5 transfers for this week and take an 8-point hit.
Spain have dominated the underlying statistics so far in this tournament and have been the best-attacking team. La Roja have created 22 big chances so far this summer and hence targeting Spanish attackers with your free transfers seems like a viable strategy.
The two players I am bringing in are Pablo Sarabia (€6.7m) and Alvaro Morata (€9.1m). Sarabia has already managed 4 goals and assists in only 2 starts and offers great value at his price while Alvaro Morata has managed the most shots on target and big chances in the tournament so far.
The other attacking player I am bringing in for this week is Harry Kane (€11.5m). While Kane hasn’t lit up the tournament so far, he is still the bookies favourite to get on the scoresheet in the quarter-finals and England are extremely likely to make it to the final given the draw.
With this easy draw, I have also begrudgingly taken a -8 by making two extra transfers to bring in Luke Shaw (€6.1m) and John Stones (€5.7m). England are yet to concede a goal at Euro 2020 and are once again the favourites to keep a clean sheet in the quarter-finals.
CAPTAINCY
Spain and England are the two favourites to make it to the semi-finals and are the two teams I will be backing for the captaincy. Spain have a favourable fixture against Switzerland on the 1st matchday while England are massive favourites against Ukraine on matchday 2. Hence, my captains on either matchday will be Alvaro Morata and Harry Kane. Both players lead the lines for their country, are on penalties and should be amongst the points if either team are to go through the semi-finals.
Shivaan Shah