Champions League Fantasy Football: Goalkeepers

As we head towards the business end of the group stage, UEFA.com selects some goalkeepers who #UCLfantasy managers may want to consider for Matchday 5 and beyond.

First place in Group H is still to be decided and in their penultimate fixture Chelsea will be looking for revenge over current leaders Juventus, who were 1-0 winners in Turin back on Matchday 2. That was the only goal the holders have conceded so far in the UEFA Champions League, which means Edouard Mendy (€6.2m) boasts the best defensive statistics in the competition. The Senegalese No1 is comfortably the highest owned goalkeeper in #UCLfantasy and is likely to remain in place for the visit of the Italian side.

Another premium option is Manuel Neuer (€6.2m), whose 23 points are more than any other goalkeeper in #UCLfantasy. Bayern are all but certain to finish top of Group E so there might be some concern over goalkeeper rotation, but the fact that they play in one of the early kick-offs on Matchday 5 is certainly helpful in this respect. If Neuer starts against Dynamo Kyiv, then he looks an excellent option for a side who have kept three clean sheets out of four so far.

Odisseas Vlachodimos (€4.9m), meanwhile, is a cheaper alternative involved in the same group. The Benfica keeper has amassed just two fewer points than Neuer and has already kept clean sheets against both Barcelona and Dynamo, whom he faces in the next two matchdays.

#UCLfantasy managers looking to avoid the threat of rotation on Matchday 5 would do well to cast their eyes over the teams competing in Group G, with all four participants still capable of reaching the knockout stage. The pick so far has been LOSC Lille's Ivo Grbić (€4.8m), who has accumulated 16 points so far thanks to two clean sheets and ten saves. Both of the French side's shut-outs so far have come at home, and they entertain Salzburg on Matchday 5.

Alternatively, Wolfsburg's Koen Casteels (€5.1m) could be an under-the-radar choice; the German outfit began the competition with a clean sheet at LOSC and, after something of a rocky patch, have steadied the ship under new coach Florian Kohfeldt, with three successive wins, and two clean sheets, in all competitions.

Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso (€4.9m) will be glad to see the back of Cristiano Ronaldo after successive games against Manchester United and the Serie A side now take on Young Boys on Matchday 5. The reverse fixture brought a clean sheet for Musso and with everything to play for in Group F, the Argentinian goalkeeper is another differential asset worth keeping in mind.