The final matchday of World Cup Fantasy group stages is here and tipster Bakchod FPL takes a look at the best performers in matchday 2 and the top picks to consider for matchday 3.
14/16 games done in MD2, sharing our observations and early plans for MD3 in this post. We are looking at the MD3 fixtures and the teams to target.
Group A
🇪🇨 Ecuador vs Senegal 🇸🇳
🇳🇱 Netherlands vs Qatar 🇶🇦
- Netherlands haven’t sealed their spot yet, they will also be taking on one of the weakest teams in the tournament; this will be a fixture to target.
- Two attackers could be picked, front three of Depay, Gakpo, and Bergwijn could be expected as Depay could get 60 minutes as per a few reports.
- Bergwijn has zero shots across two games (123 minutes), Gakpo has two and Depay has one though he has only played 74 minutes till now; Gakpo and Klaasen have the highest xG+xAG, 0.23 each.
- Gakpo has four key passes as well (highest for the Netherlands) and is on corners (nine CKs till now).
- Noppert looks like a good choice for MD3, he has seven saves in two games and will be going against a Qatar side that have just scored once in two games.
- Dumfries/Van Dijk are also good picks as there is a good chance of a clean sheet; the Netherlands do have the highest xG against in this group though, at 2.6.
- Enner Valencia has three goals till now, but there are still doubts about his fitness at the moment; Preciado has four shots (none on target) and three key passes.
- Ecuador have the lowest xG against in this group at 0.4, they have conceded only one SoT and one goal after two games.
Group B
🇮🇷 Iran vs USA 🇺🇸
🏴 Wales vs England 🏴
- England still haven’t sealed their spot; they will be going against a Wales side that has looked like the weakest team in this group.
- Wales have also scored only once this tournament (via a penalty), they have just five SoT across the two games and an xG of 2.4.
- Trippier and Shaw have made three key passes each; Shaw has an xA of 0.6 (highest for England).
- Kane has the highest xG+xA/90 mins at 0.59, Saka next at 0.43; they have made two key passes each.
- Taremi has the highest xG+xA/90 mins for Iran at 0.91, with nine key passes till now for him; USA have been good defensively though, they have conceded only one goal (penalty) and five SoT across two games.
Group C
🇵🇱 Poland vs Argentina 🇦🇷
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia vs Mexico 🇲🇽
- Al Owais or KSA defenders can be considered, Mexico are yet to score and have an xG of 1.00 after two games; Saudi Arabia does have the highest xG against though in this group (3.7) after facing Argentina and Poland.
- Messi has an xG+xA/90 mins of 0.68, Di Maria at 0.2, and Lautaro at 0.11; Messi has made four key passes, the same as Di Maria.
- Lewandowski meanwhile has the highest xG+xA/90 mins for Poland at 1.06.
- Poland is yet to concede in this WC, and have conceded eight SoT; Meanwhile, Argentina has conceded two goals and three SoT.
Group D
🇹🇳 Tunisia vs France 🇫🇷
🇦🇺 Australia vs Denmark 🇩🇰
- France has pretty much sealed the top spot, reading many posts that the squad could be rotated so France players can be avoided for MD3.
- However, there is a risk in not going without Mbappe – 13 shots, xG of 2.3, and six key passes as well; Theo Hernandez can also be considered, with nine key passes and two assists till now.
- Meanwhile, Australia has the worst xGA of 5.00 after two games (majorly because of the game against France); Denmark will need to win against Australia to go 2nd in the group and qualify for the KOs.
- Eriksen has the highest xG+xA/90 mins at 0.26 (no returns yet), Andreas Christensen at 0.18; Maehle at 0.04, and Olsen at 0.00.
- Eriksen has seven key passes and an xA of 0.3; Cornelius has the highest shots (4), followed by Eriksen and Andersen (three each).
Group E
🇯🇵 Japan vs Spain 🇪🇸
🇨🇷 Costa Rica vs Germany 🇩🇪
- Germany and Spain have an xG of 4.3 and 4.1 respectively, with Japan at 2.3; Costa Rica has the worst xG against in this group at 4.4, Japan next with 3.2, followed by Germany (2.3) and Spain (1.3).
- Germany have 36 shots (12 on target) across two games; second only to France (44, 12 on target) for teams that have played two games till now.
- Gnabry has eight shots (three on target), Kimmich is next at six (three on target) followed by Gündoğan (five, two on target) and Rüdiger (five, one on target).
- xG+xA/90 mins for key Spain assets – Torres (0.84), Morata (0.84, 71 mins), Olmo (0.75), Asensio (0.64), Alba (0.41).
- xG+xA/90 mins for key German assets – Gündoğan (0.84), Musiala (0.71), Gnabry (0.56), Kimmich (0.36), Raum (0.21) and Rüdiger (0.16).
Group F
🇭🇷 Croatia vs Belgium 🇧🇪
🇨🇦 Canada vs Morocco 🇲🇦
- Belgium have the worst xG against in the group (3.9), followed by Canada (3.4) and Morocco (1.5); Croatia have the lowest xG against (0.8) and the highest xG (3.1).
- Morocco just beat Belgium 2-0 and will now be facing a Canada side with two losses; they haven’t conceded a goal until now in the tournament (after facing Croatia and Belgium).
- Canada have conceded 13 shots on target till now (highest before the MD2 fixtures of groups G and H); at the same time, they have also taken 29 shots (third highest after France and Germany for teams that have played two games).
- Ziyech has the highest number of crosses (8) and attempts at goal (5) for Morocco.
- Croatia have 11 SoT across two fixtures, Kramaric and Livaja with three.
- xG+xA/90 mins for key Croatian assets – Kramarić (0.67), Kovačić (0.42), Perišić (0.33), Modrić (0.32).
Group G
🇷🇸 Serbia vs Switzerland 🇨🇭
🇨🇲 Cameroon vs Brazil 🇧🇷
- If Brazil win today, their situation will be similar to France and they might want to rotate as well; will have to decide on Brazilian players after the game vs Switzerland.
- Cameroon defender Castelletto had a goal and an assist in the game vs Serbia today, priced at only $4M as well.
- Meanwhile, goal-scorers for Serbia were Pavlović, Milinković-Savić, and Mitrović; however, Switzerland had an xG against of 0.7 in the game vs Cameroon.
Group H
🇰🇷 South Korea vs Portugal 🇵🇹
🇬🇭 Ghana vs Uruguay 🇺🇾
- Portugal’s win tonight against Uruguay should help them qualify for the KOs.
- Ghana did get two goals against Portugal and they just achieved a 3-2 win vs Korea.
- Kudus (6m) definitely can be considered vs Uruguay, with one assist in the first game and two goals today vs Korea.
- Korea did play well today, they had 22 shots (seven on target) vs Ghana (seven shots, three on target); they had 64% of the possession as well.
- However, I don’t think I will be considering any Korean player, Gue-sung did get two goals today and he is a forward at just $5M; however, there are much better options available.
To summarise, currently considering (wildcard in MD3 for me):
- Triple Netherlands (Noppert, Dumfries/Van Dijk and Depay/Gakpo).
- Triple England (three of Trippier, Shaw, Saka and Kane).
- Double Germany (two of Gündoğan, Musiala, Gnabry, Rüdiger).
- Messi will definitely be picked; others being considered – Alba, Olmo, Perišić, Ziyech, Eriksen, Di Maria, Bruno Fernandes, Mbappe/Theo Hernandez (based on early Franc team news).
End of post. All data taken from fbref.
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Two football fans from Bangalore, playing and writing about Fantasy Football in our spare time.