UCL Fantasy: Matchday 4 Preview and Team Reveal
The author
Simon K. Kjær, @AeselFC on X, 25/26 ranks: #FPL 5k │ UCL: 165th │ FWC: 7k.
My previews before every Matchday – what can you expect?
I’m an experienced Fantasy Football aficionado, having played FPL for multiple seasons and finishing 10k and 5k overall in the past two seasons. Last season, I also turned my focus to UCL Fantasy, finishing #165th in the world in my first attempt.
I’ll publish a thorough preview every Monday, around 24 hours before the deadline, covering fixtures, chip strategy and key assets, alongside my transfer thoughts. On Tuesday, after the first line-ups are released, I’ll update the preview and publish my final team.
MD3 recap and my team
The preview team had an excellent week using the Limitless chip in MD3, catching Foden’s hat-trick as well as hauls from Malen and Guirassy, for a total of 100 points and a healthy green arrow from 22k to 7k overall.
The Limitless squad from MD3 scored 100 points and took me to 7k OR.
Chip strategy: Unchanged
With Limitless used, my team has now reverted to the MD2 team, and it feels like quite a while ago that I decided to bring in Saka and Dimarco.
However, I’ve been relatively fortunate and only have three players who are almost certain to miss MD4: Saka, Diaz and Vagnoman.
Besides that, the team is in good condition, with most players having favourable fixtures and, importantly, an overweight of players playing on Tuesday evening. This should allow me to get maximum value from the four substitutions available between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Therefore, I’ve decided against using the Wildcard. I expect it to be widely played this week considering the injuries and doubts surrounding several highly owned and key players, including Saka, Olise, Diaz, Kvara, Dembélé, Zalazar, Lautaro, Mendes and Vagnoman.
My current MD4 squad before transfers.
Chip strategy: When to play the Wildcard
The players you should consider buying obviously depend heavily on when you plan to use your chip – particularly the Wildcard.
It is not yet set in stone when I’ll play mine, but I’m strongly considering MD5, on the other side of the international break. Teams such as Bayern and Atlético Madrid have prime fixtures, while key players such as Olise may also have returned by then.
However, I’m not ruling out saving it for MD6 – or even MD8, where we will have confirmed line-ups for every team and could essentially treat the Wildcard as a Free Hit.
Transfer targets
First of all, if you don’t own Mbappé, I think it is time to get there. He is projected to be the best captain over the next two Matchdays according to TheFantasyTool (projected points), and apart from Arsenal in MD6, Real Madrid face favourable opposition.
Next, with plenty of managers looking to sell an injured midfielder such as Saka, Olise or Diaz, the two Barcelona midfielders Yamal and Raphinha should be firmly on the radar.
PSG have also come through the toughest part of their schedule. With both Kvara and Dembélé injured, Doué and/or Hakimi look like brilliant transfers in.
My favourite budget pick is Tripic, who faces Sabah at home, while Zechiel and Valente from PSV are other options in the cheaper brackets.
Other contenders:
DEF: Hakimi, Gabriel, Grimaldo, Altimira, Upamecano, Cancelo, Konsa, Dumfries
MID: Barcola, Thauvin, Hauge, Aliouche, Moussa, Paz
FWD: Haaland, Kane, Guirassy, Christiansen, Mbeumo (yes), Álvarez
Transfer paths
With all of this in mind, I’m currently looking at the following transfer paths:
Diaz + Saka → Raphinha + Paz
Diaz + Saka + Vagnoman → Raphinha + Hakimi + sub-5.4 midfielder (-4)
Diaz + Saka + Vagnoman → Raphinha + Tripic + sub-5.6 defender (-4)
The first and second path is slightly more robust if I decide to keep the wildcard for later stages, while the third path increases the chance of Wildcard MD5.
As always, I’ll update the preview tomorrow, Tuesday, around 30 minutes before the deadline.