We are now halfway through the group stages of the Champions League and it is time to re-evaluate. There have been many high profile busts thus far this season (Sergio Aguero and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for instance) but there have been just as many pleasant surprises.
While some of the players below are “high profile”, all of them are less than 10% owned but likely shouldn’t be. So, if you’re in a pinch or are lower in your league standings than you’d like, consider adding any of these players from our Differential XI.
GK: Alphonse Areola - PSG, £6.2m, owned by 9.43% of managers
DEF: Alberto Moreno - Liverpool, £6.0m, 1.84%
DEF: Marquinhos - PSG, £6.4m, 8.52%
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The defenders either side of Marquinhos in this list are far more creative and attacking yet neither have near the 21 points that he boasts. The PSG defence has yet to concede in the Champions League, which has obviously landed the Brazilian three consecutive clean sheets and that run is unlikely to be broken by Group B bottom-dwellers Anderlecht who, conversely, have yet to score in the group stage.
DEF: Alex Telles - Porto, 5.7, 1.33%
MID: Marcel Sabitzer - RB Leipzig, 6.3, .23%
Timo Werner was Leipzig's main man coming into the group stages, but it’s Sabitzer who the stats seem to support. The Austrian is currently top five in assists in the Bundesliga and chances created in the Champions League and has also been playing further up the pitch of late, having played 23% of his matches this season as a forward - something which obviously boosts his fantasy potential. Sabitzer had an assist against Porto in their last matchup and looks likely to repeat the feat on Tuesday.
MID: Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich, 6.9, 9.13%
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MID: David Silva - Manchester City, 7.1, 4.55%
MID: Ryan Babel - Besiktas, 6.1, 5.42%
Babel has had his struggles for the Dutch national team, but that has certainly not been the case for Besiktas this season. He has yet to blank in the Champions League thus far, having notched two goals and an assist, and he also leads all Besiktas midfielders in both of those statistics domestically as well. While Monaco seem a daunting task on paper this week, the French side have actually conceded the most goals (6) and are currently bottom of Group G.
FOR: Ricardo Quaresma - Besiktas, 7.2, .48%
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FOR: Edinson Cavani - PSG, 8.7, 6.14%
Cavani has had a lot of doubters but he has been inarguably fantastic since the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This season the Uruguayan sits in the top five in goals and shots on target in both the Champions League and Ligue 1, so whilst he carries a hefty price tag, only four forwards have more points and three of those are more expensive. He’s not a must start yet, but he is a terrific high price differential play with a kind fixture this week (Anderlecht).
FOR: Vincent Aboubakar - 7.1, .59%