Champions League Gameweek 3 Fixture Previews

Pep Guardiola returns to his old stomping grounds at the Camp Nou and Leicester City look to make it 9 points from 9 in the group. Let’s take a look at some of the key matchups to focus on for fantasy players this week.

Real Madrid vs. Legia Warsaw

Right now Real Madrid are sitting second in the group F, level on points with Borussia Dortmund. Legia Warsaw on the other hand, are sitting at the bottom of that table with 0 points from two games and a -8 goal differential. I would be absolutely shocked if that goal differential didn’t slip deeper into the negative column after Tuesday’s match. This past weekend, Real ended a streak of 4 straight draws with a resounding 6-1 victory over Real Betis away from home and are surely looking to continue the goal scoring party against Warsaw. If you don’t already have any part of the BBC in your team, I’d suggest making some moves to accommodate them. This is probably a good tactic beyond this game, as you can expect Real Madrid to go deep into the competition and most probably score plenty of goals. Aside from that, keep in mind that Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos so look for other options from Real’s defense and midfield.

Leicester City vs. FC Copenhagen

Leicester City has been a tale of two teams so far this campaign. Looking completely out of sorts in the Premier League and seemingly unable to defend set pieces, they have been totally different so far in their two Champions League matches. They’ve been threatening going forward and defensively solid at the back, yet to concede a goal in their two matches. Interestingly enough, Ranieri seems to be putting more of an emphasis on the Champions League thus far, evidenced by the fact that he decided to rest Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani against Chelsea on Saturday. I can see Leicester continuing their Champions League form against Copenhagen and perhaps using it to give their Premier League campaign a much needed jump start.

Arsenal vs. Ludogorets Razgrad

When Arsenal have really “clicked” this season, they’ve been unplayable. Against Chelsea they were rampant, against Swansea less so, against Ludogorets Razgrad, I’m going to say rampant. Mesut Ozil has been in fine form this season, I bet N’Golo Kante is still having nightmares about how Ozil burned him to lead to Arsenal’s third goal against the Blues. I’d look to select him for your fantasy squad, along with Theo Walcott who has been on a great run this season as well. On the defensive end, fitting Shkodran Mustafi into your side wouldn’t be a bad move either as I’d expect Arsenal to keep a clean sheet tomorrow.

Atletico Madrid vs. Rostov

Atletico seem to have found their scoring boots which could spell danger for teams across Spain and Europe. Well known as one of the most defensively solid teams in possibly the entire world, if they can start putting goals in on a consistent basis they could become contenders to win the Champions League and La Liga this season. Call me crazy, but remember you heard it here first! Atletico are thus far unbeaten this season, and are coming off an impressive 7-1 defeat of Granada and their last Champions League match? A 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich. Yannick Carrasco would be a great pick to fit into your team, the Belgian winger has been impressive this season and is coming off a hat-trick in Atletico’s last match. On the flip side, you can’t really go wrong with picking players from Atletico’s defensive set up. Of the ten competitive matches Atletico have played in this season, they’ve kept 7 clean sheets, I particularly like Filipe Luis who can get up and down the wings on the offensive end.