So in gameweek two we saw a few shocks, Arsenal got turned over at home by Olympiakos, Atletico got beat at home by Benfica which I might add decimated my Atletico defence and Roma also got beaten in Belarus by BATE Borisov. I sacrificed transfers last week to set up for this week because the thing about GW3 and GW4 is that the fixtures mirror each other, it is the return fixtures so this is a big chance for some serious points if you play it right. There is a couple of situations within the groups that you need to be aware of. Arsenal quite simply have to win this match vs Bayern or they are all but out they have started to hit a bit of form recently too so this could be as a neutral one of the matches of the night. Bayer vs Roma well whoever comes off the better in these fixtures will get out the group quite simply and then finally there is PSG at home to Real Madrid with Benzema out injured this could well be the time to gamble on not having Ronaldo in your team and making some points up.

Arsenal vs Bayern Munich point scoring potential

Now this is not the only big match in this gameweek, Real Madrid also take on PSG in Paris in another clash of the titans but from a Fantasy football perspective this one is more appealing. Now these two teams do not take a backward step, neither will sit back and defend and I am not saying this will be a wide open affair but both teams will want the ball. The obvious tip here is that you should just stay away from defender, I expect both teams to score, Arsenal are starting to show some form and with the explosive pace of Sanchez and Walcott up against that high line you can easy see goals, but then also on the flip side Bayern will look to exploit defensive frailties that have plagued the gunners with their intense press and pass game. You also have Lewandowski and Thomas Muller who are just on another planet when it comes to finishing the Polish forward is in the form of his life right now and when he does not score the German does, if you was looking for a differential you could do worse than Douglas Costa or Kingsley Coman these two are in decent form too and have been in amongst the goals and assists in Bayerns unbeaten start to the season. Bottom line in this fixture there will be goals be very shocked if there is not.

Defence

I say this every week but Atletico look like a sure thing at home against the group minnows FC Astana, if you have a shaky defence this could be the perfect opportunity to at east swap one out and tighten it up a bit. Godin is a solid choice but I would probably opt for Juanfran if I had to choose he will probably spend more time bombing forward down the right than defending but Filipe Luis is just as solid a pick going down the other side. Barcelona look a certainty too with the Dani Alves and Jordi Alba looking very solid options because of what they offer going forward too. You could also throw in Chelsea even though Kiev have looked good in the games so far you would still fancy that the Blues will be able to hold their own against the Ukrainian champions and with Baba Rahman making his debut at the weekend he could prove a decent price differential. You can also make a case for Juventus, Gladbach have struggled recently but have recently appointed a new coach so that could kick start their poor season so far so be wary.

Defensive Differentials

But these are the premium options, if you want to shop at the lower end of the market and free up some cash for those expensive attacking options then look no further than FC Porto, they play Maccabi Tel Aviv two game weeks on the trot Martins Indi and Maxi Pereira as well as Maicon all looking safe picks for the next two gameweeks. In the same price bracket are Valencia defenders all of the back four has seen a swell in ownership so people must be realising the potential they have for clean sheets. Zenit could be an option too as teams don’t generally travel well to Russia but Lyon are a decent option so AVB has his work cut out. Another good cheap option for the next two weeks is Shakhtar they play a Malmo team that has offered very little in way of goals so far as they struggle, these matches will also go a long way to deciding who will get the Europa League spot too so expect Shakhtar to take this seriously.

Premium Midfield Points

Midfield is an area which can make the difference between doing ok to winning the mini league as more and more goals are scored from midfield in this years competition. Calhanoglou is still the leading point scorer in the midfield but has 2 tricky games vs Roma coming up, but given their performance against Barcelona at the Camp Nou losing valiantly 2-1 I would actually fancy them to win this against the Italians and if they are to do so Calhanoglou will have to be at his best at least with his amazing dead ball delivery. You also have the usual suspects too, I would most likely stay away from PSG or Real midfield players its such a hard match to call and would not be surprised if it ended up being a goalless draw, Barcelona are away to BATE Borisov so its a take your pick here but their midfield are not in amongst the assists as much as you would expect, so maybe be wary of that. Juan Mata could be a good premium pick he is amongst most of what United do well going forward and is in pretty good form but Herrerra could be the differential here, I have hung onto him in my domestic league team because if he plays he affects things but just needs to play more but I was rewarded on Saturday same case here too.

Sterling hit a hattrick for Manchester City at the weekend and Kevin De Bruyne was involved in the assists and they will need to turn up against Sevilla who can be stubborn and City do have a tendency to hit the self destruct button also the return fixture will be tough. Willian has been in great form for Chelsea so he could pick up points against Kiev and could also be a good differential. Again Porto could be a great source of points here with Andre Andre and last years fantasy football sensation Brahimi all solid picks it is quite an even spread in the midfield and there is most definitely big points to be earned.

Forwards

Usual suspects week don’t really need to say a great deal about Neymar and Suarez their records speak for themselves Neymar also hit 4 at the weekend so has found form and room to perform now that Messi is out, consecutive matches against BATE Barce players are a no brainer, Will mention Porto again for the third time, I will be honest my team is not filled with Porto players far from it but that is because my defence is already set up for the groups to accrue points but I do have Aboubakar and I am expecting a decent return off him this week after scoring two in the opening fixtures. Antoine Greizmann faces the Kazakh champions so he is also a shoe in for me and whoever ends up partnering him up front should also be taken into consideration. Hulk could also be a good differential for Zenit as well as his partner in crime Dzyuba.

When it comes to Real Madrid and PSG I think Madrid will be more than happy with a point and as phenomenal as Ronaldo is I am going to take the massive gamble and pray this match is nil-nil. Benzema is out so that really hurts the Madrid attack he is an excellent foil for Ronaldo as he has the playmaking abilities of a number 10, both set up well defensively so even if it is not nil-nil I do not expect goals galore and if Ronaldo only scores one its happy days and a sound gamble but is a gamble nonetheless.

One final differential to consider that could have a decent return is Lestienne for PSV, he has found his form and is really flourishing at PSV in the customary Dutch 4-3-3, now he is hoping to secure a move back to Europe and with displays like the last gameweek bagging two goals out in Moscow he is doing himself no harm.

The final word I will leave for captains and the transfers I actually plan to do, you see it is difficult blogging for the UCL as there is 16 matches and with the elite clubs anything can happen and with the divide between elite clubs and minnows getting bigger all the time lop sided results will happen more often. So what may look like me either briefly going over stuff or covering a lot it is in truth I am mindful of the word count so in truth I probably do not cover half as much as I would like anyway. My captain will be Neymar after his weekend showing I was going to try something different in Aboubakar but with me dropping Ronaldo altogether I think that is as different as I dare risk. Now my team is in relatively good shape, so my transfers will reflect that, Neymar>Greizmann, Lewandowski>Bony and Aboubakar>Bas Dost (see I did not even mention Dost in the blog). General strategy is get players who play on the second night because in gameweek 4 they will then play on the first night so this maximises point scoring ability. Hopefully this blog has given you food for thought for the Tuesday night, thank you for reading.