In this article, we will look at the best defenders to pick for your Fantasy Champions League team in MD13 – Final
This article is part of the series: UCL Fantasy Matchday 13: Tips, Best Picks & Captain
We look at each price bracket: budget defenders, mid-priced picks, and premium options.
Budget defenders for the final
Ryerson (4.7m, Dortmund) – 7/10
- cheap route into solid Dortmund defense
- but he is injury doubt for MD12 – so wait for lineup
- offer attacking threat, 4G + 1A this season in Bundesliga
- 58 ball recovered in 9 games = 6.4 balls recovered per game
Maatsen (4.9m, Dortmund) – 6/10
- similarly, Maatsen at 4.9m could be a solid budget enabler (1G + 2A in Bundesliga this season
- but he is worse at balls recovered than Ryerson
Mid-Priced Defenders
Hummels (5.2m, Dortmund) – 10/10
- Dortmund delivered 6 clean sheets this Champions League campaign – no team has more
- 114 balls recovered this season so far, by far the most of all players
- 10 balls recovered per game on average – you are looking at approximately at extra 3 points from balls recovered on average in each game
Carvajal (5.2m, Real Madrid) – 7/10
- back from suspension
- unfortunately, he is not good at balls recovered, so you have to rely more on attacking returns to get points
Rudiger (5.4m, Real Madrid) – 5/10
- most selected defender
- unfortunately he is not as good at balls recovered as Dortmund defenders
- only 42 balls recovered in 11 games = 3.8 balls recovered per game
Premium Defenders
Schlotterback (5.7m, Dortmund) – 9.5/10
- we think you should go for multiple Dortmund defense with their balls recovering heroes Hummels + Schlotterback + Ryerson could be a good strategy in MD13
- very good at balls recovered (although not as good as Hummels), but still 77 balls recovered in 11 games – you are looking at approximately 7 balls recovered per game, which is extra 2 points
Picking the best defenders in UCL Fantasy 2023/24
When selecting a defender for your UCL Fantasy team you consider:
- Whether a defender that you pick has a good chance of a clean sheet. Our Champions League Clean Sheet Odds will help you with that. This is the most important criterion you should consider, as clean sheets are the most important source of fantasy points for defenders.
- Whether a defender has attacking potential: Can he score goals after free kicks and corners? Does he play in an advanced position so he could register a few assists?
- Balls recovered potential. Centre-backs usually recover more balls than full-backs which makes them more appealing from this point of view. You can check, which players are best at bells recovered in our article: Best players at balls recovered.
If you find a defender that offers all three above, you find gold and should pick him into your team. However, that is rare. So make sure that the defenders you pick satisfy at least 2 of those 3 criteria.
