Planning to activate your limitless chip in UCL Fantasy but not sure which teams and players to target? Tipster Mike Rachfal is here to help with this handy guide.
What if you need to use your limitless chip in Matchday 2 of UCL Fantasy?
Matchday 2 in the UEFA Champion’s League presents some unique challenges for fantasy owners. It is not the ideal week to use your ‘limitless’ chip because many of Europe’s top sides are away from home or facing decent opponents. However, if week 1 was painful for you, this may be the route you take to get fired up for the remainder of the group stage. (If this is your first season, the ‘limitless’ chip is a 1-week option to use an unlimited budget. Your roster will reset to its previous state after the chip has been used.)
Fantasy sports is supposed to be fun. If you had a disaster in matchday 1, if your team setup was flawed, or if you were overly aggressive to start, using your ‘limitless’ chip now + your ‘wildcard’ chip in matchday 3 is a reasonable path to getting excited again.
Creating an ideal XI based on the ‘limitless’ chip can be a useful exercise for your decision to use the chip or find value at other positions with your two free subs. As always, from a strategy perspective, we want to try to split the team between Tuesday and Wednesday as much as possible to maximize our output with substitutions. I always prefer to lean heavily on the Tuesday matches within reason, and then replace any bad performances with subs on Wednesday. I believe this is critical as even the greatest players on earth are capable of producing a stinker here and there. You will see that applying this mindset to the forwards in matchday 2 was difficult.
As always, follow the news and updates as late as possible before making your final decision. (We are not allowed more than three players per club. I have tried to reflect that rule here.)
Limitless Chip Tipster Team for Matchday 2
Forwards
Harry Kane
Club: Bayern Munich
Price: €10M
Next match: @CPH (Oct. 3rd)
Easy decision here as Bayern roll into Copenhagen as the biggest favorite of any team this matchday. We’ll be anticipating goals here in open play and maybe a penalty as well. My first choice for captain.
Antoine Griezmann
Club: Atlético de Madrid
Price: €10.5M
Next Match: vs. FEY (Oct. 4th)
Atleti are looking good after defeating Real Madrid. They are one of the few big clubs to be a solid home favorite this week. Griezmann is their main man and gets the nod over Morata due to his set-piece involvement.
Erling Haaland
Club: Manchester City
Price: €11.5M
Next Match: @RBL (Oct. 4th)
Playing away in Leipzig is not enough of a reason to abandon the goal machine. He is the second captain option for me.
Midfielders
Bruno Fernandes
Club: Manchester United
Price: €9.5M
Next Match: vs. GAL (Oct. 3rd)
Fernandes will be hoping to be involved in goals in Manchester as his side hosts Galatasaray in a favorable matchup. The fact that he can take penalties and free kicks also brings optimism here.
Leroy Sane
Club: Bayern Munich
Price: €9M
Next Match: @CPH (Oct. 3rd)
I originally had Jamal Musiala in this position, and he is a totally fair option. However, the midweek injury to Serge Gnabry leaves it even more unlikely that Sane will be subbed off on the wing with Coman likely starting for Gnabry. This news makes Sane more valuable.
Martin Odegaard
Club: Arsenal
Price: €8.5M
Next Match: @LEN (Oct. 3rd)
The Arsenal captain is involved in everything and even took corners again in the last match. It is rare to have an elite captain so involved in free kicks, penalties, and goal creation.
Phil Foden
Club: Manchester City
Price: €8M
Next Match: @RBL (Oct. 4th)
Foden will almost certainly feature in a big way for the Citizens with Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne still out. Anyone can fall victim to a Guardiola rotation, so check the news often.
Luis Alberto
Club: Lazio
Price: €6.5M
Next Match: @CEL (Oct. 4th)
Foden and Alberto are the Wednesday subs. You need to make the call to sub or not based on your best judgment. Luis Alberto is the Martin Odegaard of Lazio. He’ll look to be involved in a number of ways at Celtic Park, including providing service to his forwards for goals and not just his goalkeeper on the last kick of the match.
Defenders
Alfonso Davies
Club: Bayern Munich
Price: €6M
Next Match: @CPH (Oct. 3rd)
This is an ideal XI. We are looking for defenders involved in chance creation with a good chance at a clean sheet. The Copenhagen defenders have likely never seen anyone with the ability on the left side like Davies.
Denzel Dumfries
Club: Inter Milan
Price: €5.5M
Next Match: vs. BEN Oct. 3rd
Our first Inter player comes in defense. They have not lost a match since the Champion’s League final last season. Dumfries is a dangerous threat going forward on the right side at home this week.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo
Club: Napoli
Price: €5.5M
Next Match: vs. RMA Oct. 3rd
This is about more than just his goal versus Braga. He was Rudi Garcia’s captain in the following match versus Bologna and he is always looking to be involved in the attack. He should be reliable even in a tough matchup against Real Madrid at home.
Nahuel Molina
Club: ATM
Price: €6M
Next Match: vs. FEY Oct. 4th
Other Atleti defenders could be argued for in this fixture, but Molina provides the most value going forward in a nice home matchup. A possible injury to Theo Hernandez of AC Milan could leave Molina as a better Wednesday option.
Joao Cancelo
Club: Barcelona
Price: €6M
Next Match: @POR Oct. 4th
His role and skills are simply too much to deny at this point in a less-than-perfect road matchup. Barcelona have nice cleansheet odds and maybe he will reward the faith with an assist also.
Goalkeeper
Andre Onana
Club: Manchester United
Price: €6M
Next Match: vs. GAL (Oct. 3rd)
Injuries and uncertainty in the back four is a reasonable argument to avoid Onana here. A certain error versus Bayern hasn’t helped his cause. Nonetheless, anything other than a win for United at Old Trafford will be a major disappointment for a side already under pressure. Yann Sommer and Sven Ulreich are certainly solid alternatives here depending on how you have used your maximum of three players from each club.
Jan Oblak
Club: Atlético de Madrid
Price: €6M
Next Match: vs. FEY (Oct. 4th)
We have good odds for a clean sheet in this spot at the Wanda Metropolitano. Oblak was 10 seconds from a clean sheet versus Lazio and took down Real Madrid in the build-up to this match. There is always comfort in seeking a clean sheet with Simeone’s Atleti.
UCL Fantasy Fixtures to Target
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023: Bayern Munich @ Copenhagen, Manchester United vs. Galatasaray, Arsenal @ Lens.
Wednesday, October 4th, 2023: Manchester City @ Red Bull Leipzig, Atletico Madrid vs. Feyenoord, Royal Antwerp vs. Shakhtar Donetsk.
You can find UCL Fantasy resources for the 23/24 season here.
