The Tipster: Matchday 10

The UEFA Champions League Tipster is back with his usual mix of hints and insider information, including a list of all Matchday 10's suspended players.

Transfer decisions
With the same teams meeting again this week as last, looking back at the events of Matchday 9 should shed some light on which transfer decisions to make if you want to stay ahead of the rest in uefa.com's Fantasy Football game.

Under pressure
Real Madrid CF's constellation of stars will be under pressure to consolidate their position in Group C. Goals from Raúl González and Ronaldo moved Vicente del Bosque's side away from bottom place last week, and more of the same will be wanted, and expected, at BV Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Milan continue to impress
The team to beat in Group C, however, are AC Milan. Last week, the Serie A outfit notched a third successive win in the competition, 1-0 against FC Lokomotiv Movska. Jon Dahl Tomasson scored the only goal while Dida's clean sheet means he is now Fantasy Football's top goalkeeper. Andriy Shevchenko will again be missing from the Milan side this week through injury.

Basel travel to Riazor
Group D brought Matchday 9's most unexpected result as Hakan Yakin's superb long-range goal gave FC Basel a 1-0 victory against RC Deportivo La Coruña. Christian Gross's side have done well at home, but whether they can get a result at the Riazor is another story. The Yakin brothers will certainly be under close surveillance while Deportivo striker Roy Makaay can never be ignored.

Van Nistelrooij tops table
Tuesday's final match sees Juventus FC take on Manchester United FC. Ruud van Nistelrooij scored his ninth goal of the competition last week, which puts him at the top of the Fantasy League's player statistics with 56 points, dislodging injured Internazionale FC striker Hernán Crespo (54). The prolific Dutchman is a good man to have in your side - if you can afford him!

Cúper solutions
Whether Inter can improve on last week's 3-0 loss against FC Barcelona will depend a great deal on coach Héctor Cúper's ability to provide an answer to the Catalan side's attacking duo of Patrick Kluivert and Javier Saviola. However, Barça will be without Marc Overmars, who suffered an injury in his team's 4-0 victory against Real Betis Balompié on Saturday.

Shearer return
In Wednesday's second Group A match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Newcastle United FC, manager Sir Bobby Robson will have to choose between Alan Shearer, back from suspension, and stand-in strikers Shola Ameobi and Lomana LuaLua, who did so well last week. Shearer is likely to get the nod and is always worth considering for inclusion, although his excellent domestic scoring form has not always been replicated in Europe this season.

Koeman's promising side
In Group B there is everything to play for with AFC Ajax, Arsenal FC and Valencia CF all on five points. In the absence of Jari Litmanen and Rafael van der Vaart, defender Nigel de Jong's equalising goal at Highbury last week showed Ajax can stand up to the best in Europe. Marshalled by 22-year-old captain Cristian Chivu, attackers such as Andy ven der Meyde and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were a constant threat, while Tomáš Galásek and Steven Pienaar prompted intelligently from midfield. It will not be a surprise if all these players do equally well in Amsterdam.

Valencia back on track
John Carew's freak goal saw Valencia overcome AS Roma last week and the Spanish champions are worth serious consideration. Indeed, Amedeo Carboni, Rubén Baraja and Pablo Aimar make Valencia the team with the highest number of Dream Team players at present.

Suspended players
The following players will miss Matchday 10 through suspension: Iván Cordoba and Alvaro Recoba of Internazionale, Leverkusen's Hanno Balitsch, Newcastle's Craig Bellamy, Miguel Angulo and Mista of Valencia, Jacob Lekcetho of Lokomotiv and Alessio Tacchinardi of Juventus.