Euro 2016 Fantasy Football – Group E

Euro 2016 Fantasy Football – Group E
The group of death some rate it, the silence of the lambs I’ve seen written. For me it’s one of the tightest groups surely, but probably not as difficult as group D which will surely provoke a few surprises and one or two GW1 goalkeeper capos come the next FPL edition (looking at you Init!).

Group E offers plenty of attraction points though. There’s the Belgium golden generation (minus R. Lukaku of course) and the Italian… err how do we call it? There’s no name for that. And then there’s Ireland who will be fighting for their lives and Sweden who will just be looking for meatballs.

It could be full of 0-0 ties or achieve the incredible heights of a couple of 1-0 wins! So it will be exciting. The interesting part is that only the winner and the third placed of this group could both end up playing Spain’s group D so we may actually end up with a final Matchday (is that how they call it) fight for runners up instead!
One thing I noticed involving this group (and others) is that final day games involve 8 teams so take a look at your bench/sub strategies before loading up on players that play on the same day. These teams will be the last ones on the pitch for the group stage.

Anyway, enough waffle and onto the teams and their respective fantasy potential.

[alert style=”1″]

Join our Leagues:

eurofantasy.uefa.com/en/fantasy16/leagues

FF247 league code – 02049WBX

Potty’s league code – 011427DN
[/alert]

[divider_1px]

Belgium
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]What to say about Belgium? I like their beers, that’s one. Gent is a nice and quiet city for a New Year’s Eve vacation. People are friendly and always glad to help, for instance, when your beer stock is over and all venues are closed. Brussels itself is a very boring city, the highlight being a smiling kid pissing at the street and a bunch of bureaucrats running Europe. You can find great beer shops with massively comprehensive ale portfolios though. Bruges is a very beautiful city with its canal boat tours and 9,0%ABV beers. You should travel there really. Just don’t tell Raziel, their Holland noisy neighbor!

What about Euro football, are they any good? Well, historically, they actually suck and normally fail to qualify. This is actually only their 5th participation and the first since they co-hosted (and thus automatically qualified)  in Euro 2000 with Holland. Before that, their previous participation takes us back to 1984! So this is their 3rd euro in 32 years! I’m sure they’ve had plenty of time to excel at beering.

They do have two good results in those 5 participations though: 3rd in 1972 (which they hosted) and runners-up in 1980 (against Germany) so maybe take heart from that.

And in fact given the talent available in their squad there may be good reasons to back them up for something notable this time around; after all, they are 2nd (!) in FIFA’s world ranking.

Let’s take a look at their players and their respective fantasy potential:
Goalkeepers
There’s only one name to highlight and that’s obviously Thibaut Courtois. The big man is surely capable of gaining some fantasy points given his ability between the posts but in what seems to be one of the tightest groups his price tag of 6.0 may be too much given the low CS potential. Reassess after the group stage.

Defenders
Toby Alderweireld (6.5) – You could do worse than picking him. Surely, the likes of Ibrahimovic and whoever Italy play in attack diminish his CS potential but he’s here more for his attacking potential. Three assists in ten games in the qualifying rounds following a career best 4 goals and 3 assists for the Spurs in the Premier League speak to that. They play with Ireland in gw2 so maybe a CS is also on the cards there.

Midfielders
If there’s something to highlight about Belgium as a country aside from their ability to produce high quality beers, it would be their ability to produce extremely talented midfielders.

Eden Hazard (9.5) – Stats are not great this season, we all know that. Stats however are not needed when it comes to the diminutive Chelsea magician. If for some reason you need evidence from the numbers, he ends the season on a high, scoring 4 of his 5 goals in his last five games in the premier league. Also, at a country level, he scored 5 of Belgium’s 24 in the qualifying stages and his their penalty taker. Ignore him at your peril.

Kevin de Bruyne (10) – Stats are great this season. Stats however are not needed when it comes to the Belgium’s and Manchester City’s powerful winger/attacking midfielder. If you do need the numbers, though, here they are: 7 goals and 10 assists in his Premier League debut, 17 goals in 45 matches in all competitions at a club level in 2015/16 and a staggering 12 goals in 38 games for Belgium’s first team, including 5 goals and 3 assists in the qualifying stages for this Euro competition (to put this in perspective, Romelu Lukaku has 13 in 44). If his past null experience in euro cups bothers you, do check his stats for 2014 WC in Brazil: at the age of 22 he played all the minutes of their first two games, was rested in the third match of the group stages and scored in extra time of the last 16 game against the USA. Class. Do yourself a favor, don’t ignore him.

Mertens (7.5) – If money is an issue a sneaky punt on Mertens is not out of consideration. He’s nailed on, it seems, as one of the attacking wingers, and has obviously an eye for goal with 11 in 40 games for Serie A Napoli.

Forwards
Lukaku (9.0) – Stats are not bad. And are probably his best ever. But stats are needed here. He has just beaten his personal best for goals scored in the Premier League (18) and in a single season in all competitions (46G, 25G). But he also often fails miserably and has the worst fantasy habit ever, which is to fail precisely when you pick him. And indeed capo him… we all know the drill with him. Be wary, though, about his performances with Wilmots. In 28 games under Wilmots, he has only started 14, scoring 7 in those. Also, he famously got subbed before 60′ in Belgium’s first two games at the 2014 WC and was then relegated to the bench in the last two, including that 1/4 final game against Argentina. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts the first game but given the price tag you probably want to invest elsewhere.

Qualifying group position: 1st, 7W 2D 1L
Best rank ever: Runners-up, 1984
Predicted line up: First up, let’s just say it’s basically impossible to predict Belgium’s defense with any degree of certainty. Nailed as nails can be center backs Lombaerts and Kompany are ruled out of the competition. This could either mean that newcomer Denayer and or old man Vermaelen will feature at the heart of the defense, keeping Alder and Verthongen as right and left back, respectively, or that a combination of these blokes will be given first team responsibilities along with the likes of Ciman or Jordan Lukaku. While announcing the final 23-squad though Wilmots has said and I quote “Even with all these injured players, I have a defence with Toby Alderweireld, Jason Denayer, Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen. It’s not too bad after all.”. So maybe start from there and on we go:
Courtois, Alderweireld, Denayer, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Nainggolan, Witsel, Mertens, Hazard, KDB, Lukaku

[divider_1px]

Italy Qualitá e Tradizione
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Ah, La Bella Italia! The first time I’ve been to Rome I was a student and studying is something I did not do when in Rome. I remember coming back from Trastevere’s pubs wondering why they would allow all those rocks and stones to be in the middle of the street. Those were the days. This journey started in Guimarães, the actual berth of the nation (the Portuguese one, that is, not the Italian, wake up), and, by car, we did Spain, France and Italy all the way to Rome. All that only to bump in a few stones. We also got to see Vincenzo Montella net a hattrick against Fiore in a 4-0 showdown where Hidetoshi Nakata also scored one. Oddly, they were all applauding this youngster called Francesco. Anyway, speaking of Florence, it really is a sumptuous city, or at least that’s what I’ve heard from the lads in the morning. You should definitely go there and do try Birra Moretti. It’s not that good of a beer, surely not as good as the Belgium ones, but at least you make friends with Mr. Moretti. And, believe me; you don’t want to get on the wrong foot with Mr. Moretti.

My second visit to Italy was very different and, you guessed it, I had married and my co traveler was my wife. I then learned lots of interesting stuff about Italy. For instance, I found out that Trastevere also has restaurants and it turns out those stones were actually Roman Empire ruins. Go figure. I didn’t meet with Mr. Moretti again, but I got to actually meet the Medici’s work at Firenze. “It’s brilliant”, she said. In the morning.

How about football, I hear? Are they any good for this Euro they ask? Well, the good thing about ruins is that they remind you of History. And History surely answers your queries. Not only are Italy one of the countries with most silverware in the world they are also are the one country with the ability to achieve the Olympus (ok, that’s in Greece, but some of our readers are yanks, so it’s probably useless to explain the difference) when you least expect them to do so.

Indeed, the golden Serie A days are well behind us now and seem like a 90’s memoire at the moment, but would you say Italy are along with Spain and Germany the only European countries to have won the World Cup in the XXI century? You probably wouldn’t, but they did in fact win the WC in 2006,on German soil, with a Fabio Grosso stoppage time winner against our also suspect Euro 2016 host France. And they did that on the back of the Calciocaos and the consequent relegation of Juventus to the Serie B… (some say, they finally got their hands to Mr. Moretti’s papers).

Anyway, I digress. Their Euro cup record isn’t great, trophy wise, with just the one win coming in 1968, but let not that fool you. This is a team that has reached the semi-finals twice and indeed the final in two other instances, both of them in the said XXI century (2000, against Trezeguet, and 2012, against Guardi … Vicente del Bosques’s Spain). I just can’t see Ireland or Sweden surpass them, so whatever you do don’t underestimate them. Plus, they are currently #15 in FIFA world ranking and Conte is playing expectations down so expect … big things from the Azzuri.

Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Buffon (6.0) – One of the four most expensive GK’s in the game and indeed one you should really consider. Interestingly enough, one of the other four is fellow Group E GK Thibaut Courtois, but if it’s a straight choice between the pair surely Gianluigi gets the nod. Not only he is far more experienced at club and country level and is actually a better keeper, but he also has La Vecchia Signora’s back line ahead of him.

Defenders
Italy play under a 3-5-2 system with Barzagli (5.5), Bonucci (5.5) and Chiellini (6.0) as center backs. They are all good shouts for a couple of cleanies in the group stages which would favour the former two for their price. Bonucci and Chiellini though also contribute with the odd goal here and there so maybe one of them with the former netting 3 against the latter’s 1 in Serie A this season.

Giaccherini (5.0) also deserves a mention given that despite being rated as a defender he is actually a midfielder and an attacking minded one as his 7 goals in 28 games for Bologna this season suggests.

Midfielders
First Italy had lethal strikers. Then, they had powerhouse trequartistas like Baggio, del Piero or Totti, afterwards we got the regista version with Pirlo in 2006. Unfortunately, after that we only got Balotelli.
So it’s difficult to tip anyone from their midfield. If I had to be pushed to do so then Candreva (7.5) could be considered. He scored two of Italy’s sixteen in the qualification stage and clearly has an eye for goal as his third consecutive Serie A season with more than 10 goals shows. He’s on penalty duty when de Rossi is not on the pitch.
Bernardeschi (6.0) is someone that I would strongly suggest if he was nailed on, but that seems unlikely at least for the first game. If he somehow manages to get in the team do take a peak as the Viola playmaker is one of the most talented Italian young players.

Forwards
Despite behind a National Team late adopter Southampton’s Graziano Pellè (8.5) will lead the line. He has a career total of 5 goals in 12 games for the Azzurri and only scored 3 in the qualification stage which is not great. However, despite the heavy rotation up front during that stage he managed to start the last five in which he scored 2. So they are not great numbers, but they’re Italy’s best. Brazilian born Éder Martins (6.5) will play alongside Pellè and it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to make any kind of impact. If not, El Shaarawy (7.5) could come in contention and 8 goals in 16 games for Roma this term seems enough for a cheeky punt.

Qualifying group position: 1st, 7W 3D 0L
Best rank ever: Champions, 1968.
Predicted line up: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Candreva, Florenzi, De Rossi, Giaccherini, Darmian; Pellé, Éder.

[divider_1px]

Republic of Ireland
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]I have never been to the Republic of Ireland as in fact I have never been to the UK. Oh, wait, Wikipedia tells me Kop’s country is not part of that so my apologies. I now feel like an American citizen on world geography…

So, onto their team and respective fantasy potential: this is a team that qualified in the playoff against Bosnia Herzegovina after ending Group D in 3rd place behind Germany and Poland and ahead of Scotland scoring 19 goals and conceding 7 in the process. Eleven of those however came from the two games against Gibraltar and despite not scoring more than 2 in a single game they did score in all but one. Defensively however, although they never conceded more than 1 goal, except away at Poland, there’s only the one and famous clean sheet against world champions Germany to all but give them a playoff spot where they eventually granted their ticket for their 3rd Euro qualification ever. So expect them to keep things tight for as long as they can and use a “score or don’t concede” approach here.

Goalkeepers and defenders:
Randolph (4.5), John O’Shea (5.0) and Richard Keogh (4.5). Oh my, this could be nasty. As I said before their defense is tight meaning that they didn’t concede more than 1 goal in a given game, bar one. Only one clean sheet in eight games though perhaps suggests investments elsewhere. If your bias for your country then O’shea does score the odd goal here and there.

Midfielders
McGeady (6.0) is probably their best mid. However, the former Everton winger will not be starting the competition and that’s due to lack of defensive commitment as we were told the other day by Patrick Vieira’s best friend Roy Keane. Look elsewhere is my advice.

Forwards
This is where it gets interesting. Robbie Keane (7.5) and Walters (6.5) lead with 5 goals each in qualifying ahead of Long (6.5) with three. Keane’s goals however were all against Gibraltar while Walter’s ones were well spread out including a massive brace against playoff rivals Bosnia. He’s on penalties too so offers more fantasy potential. The bad news is that they are most unlikely to be near the opposition penalty area…

Qualifying group position: 3rd, 5W 3D 2L (qualified via playoff against Bosnia Herzegovina)
Best rank ever: Group stage
Predicted line up: Randolph; Coleman, Keogh, O’Shea, Brady; Walters, Whelan, McCarthy, Hendrick; Hoolahan; Long.

[divider_1px]

Sweden
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]There’s only one good thing about Sweden and that’s… wait for it … meatballs! Or maybe not. Meatballs actually suck which immediately reminds us of Swedish players’ football ability: they suck.
Sure they have reached the semi-finals in 1992 but that’s when they hosted the damn thing (thus qualified directly) and there were only 8 teams involved (meaning the semi-finals were the next step after the group stage). This is a team that has qualified for the last 4 euros so experience they have. But in those they only won 3 games, drawing 4 and losing 6. So their experience here is that they are used to not winning games…
A certain Zlatan may change things of course (his 11 goals in qualification were second only to Lewandowski, 13) and in this new system it seems impossible to not go through but if Ireland somehow manage to beat them in the opening game of this group I fear for the Swedes.

Direct qualification could have been reached had they beaten Austria in the run in at home instead of going down to a shocking 1-4, but Zlatan was there for the rescue against play-off neighbour opponents Denmark with a penalty on the first leg and a brace in the second and away leg.

If there’s something that their good at though is their mentality. They are very competitive and if they don’t win more times is because they spend their childhood playing ice hockey – which is understandable, why would you play football outside when you can play hockey on a warmed ice rink?

Anyway, on to their fantasy football potential and I must warn you there’s isn’t much outside Zlatan.

Goalkeepers
Andreas Isaksson (5.0) is of course their number 1 keeper and if there is a Swedish experienced player at this level it’s him. He has played all the minutes of Sweden’s last 3 euro competitions which means he was there when the opposition scored 12 times in that period. The Kasimpasa (Turkish League) shot stopper leads the back line of course but his best days may well be past him.

Defenders
They try to play tight, they are competitive and normally don’t concede too much, the exception being the said Austria game. However, they somehow always seem to concede at least one, which suggest avoid if you are looking for a sneaky cleanie here. They’ve recently have kept Wales at bay in a friendly match, I know, but there was no Bale in that bay until late in the game. Besides, that’s Wales we’re talking about.

So, only consider them for they attacking potential. The bad news is that they have none as stats from the qualifying show that no-one from their defence has given them any attacking returns, except Mikael Lustig (5.0) with 2 assists in 5 games. He also just scored in that friendly against Wales, but I’m not sure how much consideration we should give to that.

Midfielders
Sweden’s style of play is just boring. And their mids are of course the reason for that which is shown perfectly by the man leading the line in the middle of the park: Kim Kallstrom (6.0). His best days are over and interestingly enough he had scored in every euro qualification stage prior to this one and hasn’t in the road to France. Why? Well, he’s on the wrong side of 30 and quite frankly seems to have hung up his boots as would suggest his current club choice in the form of … wait for it … Grasshoppers! Not much hope here, no. He does take a few free-kicks but only when Seb Larsson (6.5) isn’t on the pitch.

One midfielder I would consider if any is Emil Forsberg (5.5). He’s attacking minded and is in fact listed as a forward in several stats sites. He plays for newly promoted to the Bundesliga RB Leipzig having scored 8 league goals last term including 2 in his last 4 games. He also scored against Wales the other day so hurray, there’s your cheap, nailed on, in form-ish 5th spot midfielder.

Forwards
There’s only one name you need to care about and that is of course Ibrahimovic (11.0). Much was said about the Luis Suarez (40), Gonzalo Higuain (36) and Cristiano Ronaldo (35) fight for the golden boot this year but many forget that Ibra (38) would be in there if it wasn’t for the fact that he plays for a league that’s arguably one of the top 5 money and quality players wise but isn’t one of the top 5 leagues in UEFA rankings; that’s the Portuguese one. So, his goals were multiplied by 1.5 only instead of the 2.0 as the other bunch. Anyway, stats are surely not needed when discussing this brilliant and out of the box striker, forward, free-kick specialist, penalty taker, armband carrier, you name it, big and strong player. If you do need stats, here’s one: he’s one of the three players to have scored 30+ goals in all competitions for the last five consecutive seasons. And you know who the other two are. Country level stats, I hear? Well, “only” 62 in 113 appearances including 38 in WC and EURO qualifications and indeed 6 in 3 EURO final tournaments. Great stats, especially if you consider how poor Sweden has been in such period. Imagine if he played for a decent side.

Now, I’m not sure if you can get better elsewhere in terms of balance in the squad, etc., given his price tag, but I’m pretty sure that on a value for money direct competition he’ll be second to none in the group stages. And yes, that’s including the almighty Lews, Rons and Girs. I mean he’s the real thing and he’s able to score any time, any place, against any Vertonghen out there, so ignore him at your peril.

Ah, of course, there’s always Marcus Berg (7.0) and UEFA Under-21 2015 winner John Guidetti (6.5) with the latter being tipped to start and the former to take his place at some point. There are both capable of producing some fantasy points but you may need to go all Zlatan here or don’t go at all.

Qualifying group position: 3rd, 5W 3D 2L (qualified via playoff against Denmark)
Best rank ever: Semi-final (4th), 1992
Predicted line up: Isaksson; Lustig, Johansson, Granqvist, Olsson; Durmaz, Källström, Lewicki, Forsberg; Berg, Ibrahimovic.

[divider_1px]

Thanks for reading Euro 2016 Fantasy Football – Group E. This article was written by DMC

Follow @FantasyFooty247