Sponsored by FanTeam
With a few days to go until the European Championship begins, here is our FFScout Team first draft for the free, no-deposit FanTeam ‘Beat the Pundits League’.
Having established the game’s similarities and differences when comparing the rules to Fantasy Premier League (FPL), it’s time to put some names out there ahead of the Friday 14 June kick-off.
We at Fantasy Football Scout are delighted to partner with FanTeam during 2024’s summer festival of football.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Alongside the main cash-entry game, this free FanTeam league invites 5,000 managers to win a bunch of exciting prizes.
Not only will the top 160 get a share of the £2,000 cash pot (as seen above) but every manager who finishes ahead of FFScout Team will receive a free month of our Premium Membership. And you’re all invited to defeat some well-known FPL content creators, too.
Simply follow this link and enter the password: pundits2024
You can then pick a 15-man squad that fits within the £100m budget. There are seven Gameweeks and each deadline goes right up until the first kick-off but decisions can’t be tweaked afterwards.
Each manager gets one Wildcard to use. Points are similar to FPL, except slight tweaks for things like saves, shots on target and giving away decisive fouls.
CLICK HERE FOR FANTEAM AND ‘BEAT THE PUNDITS’
SCOUT TEAM: FIRST DRAFT
Knowing that there can’t be mid-Gameweek switches in personnel or captaincy, a light substitutes bench can be picked. It means the budget instead focuses on our starting XI.
And with the chip situation being different to the tournament’s official game – where there are effectively two Wildcards plus Limitless for only seven rounds – ‘Beat the Pundits’ requires thinking beyond the first set of fixtures.
Despite Friday’s defeat to Iceland showcasing England’s weaknesses, we’re putting faith in a backline that conceded fewer attempts (39) and shots on target (nine) than all other nations throughout the qualifiers. Jordan Pickford (£6.0m) is a safe pair of hands, with Marc Guehi (£5.5m) likely the replacement for injured Harry Maguire.
Elsewhere, November quotes from his Netherlands head coach have seemingly handed penalty duties to Virgil van Dijk (£5.5m). He’s cheaper here than in the other game and almost a no-brainer.
Instead of investing in the expensive defences of France, Portugal and Germany – where Maximilian Mittelstadt is £6.0m – we think there’s value in Mykola Matviienko (£4.5m) as it’s a fairly even-looking Group E.
Three-quarters of the midfield belongs to Group A. Ilkay Gundogan (£6.0m) had no qualification data because Germany are the hosts but both he and Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) are on spot-kick duties.
Bruno Fernandes (£9.5m) dominates set-pieces for Portugal and racked up an impressive six goals and seven assists during qualifying. It helped his nation win all 10 outings. They’ve been handed a favourable Group F, making it wise to own the individual that created the most chances (37) and big chances (11).
Manchester United team-mate Scott McTominay (£6.5m) joins him after a superb goal-scoring run. Highlighted by scoring twice in Scotland’s 2-0 victory over Spain, only big-hitters Cristiano Ronaldo (£10.5m), Romelu Lukaku (£10.0m), Kylian Mbappe (£11.5m) and Harry Kane (£11.0m) bettered his seven strikes.
The latter three form our heavyweight strike force. Each take penalties, are nailed for minutes and are trusted for returns. Lukaku’s incredible 14 goals came in just eight appearances, Kane scored 50% of his chances and Mbappe accumulated the most penalty area touches (85) of everyone.
Furthermore, the French superstar bagged a brace in both qualifiers versus the Netherlands, who they face again in Gameweek 2.
CLICK HERE FOR FANTEAM AND ‘BEAT THE PUNDITS’
FURTHER DETAILS
It’s free for verified FanTeam account holders aged 18 or older, limited to one entry per person. No deposit is required. However, new users who do put money into their account and then enter any Fantasy cash game will also qualify for a free £10 ticket into the main contest that boasts a £175k prize pool.
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