EURO 2024 Fantasy Football: Scout notes as Belgium and France kick off
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Article summary
Fantasy managers will be paying particular attention to the highly owned Kylian Mbappé, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku as France and Belgium play their first games on Monday.
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From team news to advice on manual substitutions and captain changes, the daily notes offer a helping hand throughout UEFA EURO 2024 for managers on EURO Fantasy Football, presented by Visit Qatar.
Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Kylian Mbappé are among three of the most popular Fantasy players who feature for the first time at EURO 2024 on Monday.
Fantasy decisions
• The first match to kick off on Monday – Romania vs Ukraine – is the deadline for any Fantasy manager who wants to make any substitutions or a captaincy change for that day, so make sure your team is finalised before 15:00 CET.
• Once again, three games take place across the day and there are lots of attractive options for Fantasy managers considering a captain switch, with some big names in action.
ROMANIA VS UKRAINE (15:00 CET)
Romania
Predicted starting line-up: Moldovan; Burcă, Drăgușin, Rus, Bancu; M Marin, R Marin, Stanciu; Man, Drăguș, Mihăilă
It looks to be a straight decision between Florin Niță and Horațiu Moldovan as to who will start in goal, while experienced striker Denis Alibec is a doubt and Nicușor Bancu has picked up a knock in training, although it is not thought to be serious.
Key Fantasy players
Nicolae Stanciu (€5.5m) offers a significant attacking threat out wide and scored three goals in Romania's qualification campaign.
Valentin Mihăilă (€5.5m) matched Stanciu's goal tally in qualifying and provides a solution for Fantasy managers wanting a cheaper forward.
Florin Niță (€4.0m), if selected, would represent an enticing budget option given Romania conceded just five goals across ten group games in qualifying.
Ukraine
Predicted starting line-up: Lunin; Konoplia, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Shaparenko, Stepanenko, Sudakov; Tsygankov, Dovbyk, Mudryk
Should left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko not be passed fit to start, Oleksandr Zinchenko will slot into that position, with Mykola Shaparenko playing in central midfield.
Key Fantasy players
Andriy Lunin (€4.5m) boasts an ownership of 20% at the time of writing, with only Jordan Pickford higher owned among goalkeepers.
Artem Dovbyk (€7.5m) is featuring after a club season in which he topped the La Liga goal charts with 24 strikes for Girona.
Mykhailo Mudryk (€7.0m) has high Fantasy potential with no Ukraine player registering more attacking returns during qualifying.
BELGIUM VS SLOVAKIA (18:00 CET)
Belgium
Predicted starting line-up: Casteels; Faes, Witsel, De Cuyper; Castagne, Mangala, Onana, Doku; Trossard, Lukaku, De Bruyne
Defenders Jan Vertonghen and Arthur Theate are out injured, while Thomas Meunier is nursing an injury he picked up in the recent friendly with Luxembourg.
Key Fantasy players
Romelu Lukaku (€9.0m) struck a record 14 goals in Belgium's qualification campaign and is one of four forwards with an ownership of 20% or more.
Kevin De Bruyne (€9.5m) is owned by 22% of Fantasy managers and his creativity from midfield makes him a candidate for goals and assists.
Wout Faes (€4.0m) offers a cheap route into the Belgium defence at the lowest Fantasy price tag.
Slovakia
Predicted starting line-up: Dúbravka; Pekarík, Vavro, Škriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Boženík, Haraslín
Centre-back Denis Vavro is doubtful with a thigh problem and midfielder Juraj Kucka has been suffering with an arm injury, but both may be available for selection.
Key Fantasy players
Ondrej Duda (€6.0m) is expected to be on penalties and is a key player in Slovakia's midfield.
Lukáš Haraslín (€6.5m) should be taking most of the set pieces and scored three goals in qualifying, more than any other Slovakian player.
Milan Škriniar (€5.0m) will be crucial for Slovakia and the ball recovery system could mean he profits from a Fantasy perspective.
AUSTRIA VS FRANCE (21:00 CET)
Austria
Predicted starting line-up: Pentz; Posch, Lienhart, Trauner, Mwene; Laimer, Seiwald; Wimmer, Sabitzer, Baumgartner; Gregoritsch
Head coach Ralf Rangnick has a decision to make over whether to start with Phillipp Mwene or Alexander Prass at left-back, and Michael Gregoritsch could be given the nod over Austria's most capped player Marko Arnautović up front.
Key Fantasy players
Marcel Sabitzer (€6.5m) was Austria's top scorer in qualifying with four goals and is expected to be their first-choice penalty taker.
Michael Gregoritsch (€6.5m) is a budget striker option after enjoying an impressive season at club level with 12 goals for Freiburg.
Philipp Lienhart (€4.0m) offers Fantasy potential at both ends of the pitch and is a cheap budget enabler in defence.
France
Predicted starting line-up: Maignan; Koundé, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernández; Griezmann, Kanté, Rabiot; Dembélé, Thuram, Mbappé
With Aurélien Tchouameni not expected to be fit, the experienced N'Golo Kanté should take his place in midfield, while one of William Saliba and Ibrahima Konaté will partner Dayot Upamecano in central defence.
Key Fantasy players
Kylian Mbappé (€11.0m) comes into Matchday 1 as the most popular Fantasy player in all positions, owned by over three-quarters of managers.
Antoine Griezmann (€9.0m) has 44 goals for France and offers Fantasy managers a cheaper alternative to Mbappé.
Mike Maignan (€5.5m) kept five clean sheets in six appearances during France's qualification campaign, conceding just one goal.