DraftKings DFS UCL Picks for Wednesday, Oct. 2

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Published on October 1, 2024

Unlike Tuesday's slate, two massive favorites don't dominate Wednesday. Liverpool have an 80-percent chance to win, but their implied total is well lower than those of Manchester City and Barcelona, while Real Madrid are the next heaviest favorite with just above a 60-percent chance to win. That should make for some more variety in lineup construction at DraftKings.

MATCHES (ET)

For detailed stats and odds, check out the
DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Wednesday Champions League Cheat Sheet

FORWARDS

Mohamed Salah (LIV v. BOL, $8,600): Once again, the DK prices are random. Salah is most likely on the slate to score or assist and he's priced $2,200 cheaper than Harry Kane at Aston Villa. Without Diogo Jota, whoever starts next to Salah is intriguing because the other two forwards next to him are usually subbed off early. Still, Darwin Nunez ($9,100) and Cody Gakpo ($9,500) are more expensive than Salah and Luis Diaz ($8,300) isn't likely to start.

No one else really stands out at forward. Vinicius Junior ($8,800) is in the same range as Salah and will be on PKs if Kylian Mbappe ($10,200) isn't ready to start. In terms of cash games, Andreas Skov Olsen ($6,400) sticks out slightly even without set pieces. He had a floor of 12 points against Dortmund last match and figures to get the same opportunities against Sturm Graz.

Antoine Griezmann ($9,000) almost always produces in Champions League and won't be overly popular in this spot. He's in the same range as Liverpool and Real Madrid players, but if he makes the score sheet once, he could be the highest-scoring player on the slate.

If you really want to save money, Dinamo Zagreb players like Bruno Petkovic ($5,200) and Marko Pjaca ($4,600) are all cheap, while Breel Embolo ($4,900) is on the opposite side.

MIDFIELDERS

Angel Di Maria (BEN v. ATM $8,000): Di Maria didn't have one corner last week which took away a good chunk of his usual floor. At $8,000 he's still kind of expensive against Atletico Madrid, but he's at home and it wouldn't be surprising if Benfica pushed for good chunks of the match. Di Maria gets the slight edge over Joshua Kimmich ($7,300) for me. Kimmich will pop on the score sheet here and there, but he's not in the same attacking situations that Di Maria gets. Orkun Kokcu ($5,800) is another Benfica player who will take some sets.

If you really want to ride Liverpool, Dominik Szoboszlai ($6,100) is fairly cheap, though he no longer has sets and he hasn't had the best start to the season. He's more of a tournament play because most will be looking to play other Liverpool pieces in this matchup.

Lamine Camara (MCO at DIN, $3,600): This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but Camara could be the best value on the slate if he goes more than 45 minutes. He's battled fitness issues in recent weeks and hasn't gone more than 45 minutes in his last three appearances. If he does get close to 90, he'll split sets and be in a good enough matchup that could produce a 10-point floor.

Every Sturm Graz player is relatively cheap (for good reason), but William Boving ($3,700) might be the most intriguing. He went 90 minutes in the UCL opener and had an 8.6-point floor at Brest where he took three shots and created three chances. Mika Biereth ($4,300) is the team's leading scorer and is forward-eligible only, but Boving will likely be forgotten by everyone since he's not a striker.

DEFENDERS

Maxim De Cuyper (BRU at STU, $4,800): De Cuyper is a free play as a set-piece taker for less than $5,000. He was cheap last slate and then finished with eight crosses and four chances created against Dortmund. He's a pretty easy click in all formats.

Kostas Tsimikas (LIV v. BOL, $5,700): I think you can get by with Tsimikas over Trent Alexander-Arnold ($6,600), assuming the latter doesn't score and hit 25 points. That's always a risk, but if he starts again, Tsimikas showed more range to get forward than Andrew Robertson, and if that's the case, his floor is about level with Alexander-Arnold's.

Similar to his teammate Camara, Caio Henrique ($4,500) may be overlooked on this slate due to the bigger names. Like De Cuyper, Henrique will take a split of his team's sets and he's under $5,000 which means he's in range no matter the contest. Jusuf Gazibegovic ($4,100) is another set-piece taking full-back.

GOALKEEPER

Emiliano Martinez (AVL v. BAY, $4,000): This seems like a slate where one of the cheap goalkeepers will smash and the others will finish negative. Aston Villa are not only familiar against big teams that like to dominate possession, but Unai Emery also knows Vincent Kompany well after last season at Burnley. I think this could be a massive Martinez game if Emery gets the best from his team, which should involve mostly sitting back and then pouncing on the counter.

Ivan Nevistic ($3,900) against Monaco and Lucas Chevalier ($3,800) versus Real Madrid also fit the bill for cheap goalkeepers who should see plenty of save opportunities.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Adam Zdroik plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: zdroik, DraftKings: rotozdroik, Yahoo: StreakMaster.