Champions League Fantasy Football: The Scout squad for Matchday 7

The Scout is in the same position as every manager on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation, ahead of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 – unlimited transfers. Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé provide a potent front line in a side that includes three players from Inter and Paris Saint-Germain and two apiece from Manchester City and Arsenal.

Goalkeepers

There will be plenty of Fantasy managers putting their faith in Inter's Yann Sommer (€4.5m) on Matchday 7, the Swiss international currently selected by almost a third of all teams. After three clean sheets in the group stage, Sommer has also managed four shut-outs in his eight Serie A outings since Matchday 6; indeed, Saturday's 4-2 win at Roma was the first time in 18 games in all competitions he had conceded more than once.

With Thibaut Courtois still sidelined for Real Madrid and Kepa Arrizabalaga having not been selected since 21 January, Andriy Lunin (€4.7m) presents himself as a useful potential differential. First-leg hosts Leipzig have failed to score in only one of their last 14 matches in all competitions, but the Ukrainian has managed six clean sheets in his 12 La Liga appearances this season, including three in his last five games.

Defenders

The top-scoring defender on the game, Mats Hummels (€5.1m) scored 40 points in the group stage – 16 of them from ball recoveries, making him a key inclusion for Borussia Dortmund's first leg at PSV Eindhoven. Also away from home in the first leg are Arsenal, with William Saliba (€5.5m) the selection for the trip to Porto; the Gunners kept three clean sheets in the group stage and have two in their last four Premier League matches, the Frenchman scoring his second league goal of the campaign at the weekend.

Inter's Francesco Acerbi (€4.6m) scored 28 points in the group stage thanks to three clean sheets and an assist and is selected for the home game against Atlético de Madrid. Hamari Traoré (€4.6m) managed three clean sheets in five appearances for Real Sociedad; the Spanish side have eight shut-outs in their 12 games since the conclusion of the group stage. Another might be a tall order at Paris Saint-Germain, for whom Achraf Hakimi (€6.1m) is included looking for a repeat of his Matchday 1 haul of 15 points, exactly half of the Moroccan's season total.

Midfielders

With Jude Bellingham – who is currently in 75% of Fantasy teams, 25% more than any other player – not in Real Madrid's squad for the visit to Leipzig, managers are forced to look elsewhere for goals from midfield. Arsenal's Bukayo Saka (€9.8m) certainly fits the bill having scored twice on Sunday to make it four in his last four Premier League games; his England team-mate Phil Foden (€8.1m) scored a hat-trick on 5 February and has seven goals in his last nine Manchester City appearances ahead of the trip to Copenghagen.

Leipzig's Xavi Simons (€6.9m) managed two goals and two assists in the group stage and has also delivered regular attacking returns in the Bundesliga, where he has five goals and seven assists. Marcus Thuram (€6.5m) may have only managed one goal in the group stage but has nine, to go with his seven assists, in Serie A in 2023/24 while Warren Zaïre-Emery (€5.3m) could be the ultimate budget differential after 35 points in the group stage; the Paris teenager is still in only 3% of teams.

Forwards

There is an embarrassment of riches among the options in the forward line, with Vinícius Júnior, Antoine Griezmann – the joint top scorer in the competition – Lautaro Martínez and Luuk de Jong all making a strong case for inclusion. It is next to impossible to overlook Erling Haaland (€11.7m), however, the Norwegian having scored his first goals since Matchday 5 at the weekend with Manchester City looking to make it 11 wins in a row in Denmark.

Kylian Mbappé (€11.5m) sat out Paris's weekend win with a minor ankle injury but, having scored in eight of his last nine club appearances – 12 goals in all – could hardly be in better form for the visit of Real Sociedad. Bayern München might be going through mixed fortunes but Harry Kane (€10.1m) has been the epitome of consistency with 24 goals in his first 21 Bundesliga games, the England captain looking to add to his four strikes in the group stage at Lazio.