UEFA U21’s Fantasy Football
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[/three_fourth]Just when you thought you were having a fantasy free summer we are here to reel you back in! If the odd fantasy cricket game or the madness that are MLS DGW’s aren’t quite quenching your fantasy thirst then we have good news for you. Starting on June 17th and climaxing on the 30th we give you UEFA U21’s Fantasy Football. This will be short and sweet but intense never the less. The rising stars of European football and some Englishmen will gather in the Czech Republic to do battle and we invite you to join us and them on the road to fantasy glory. We shall go over the basics here such as the rules, the point scoring, the teams themselves and the fixtures. And of course the all important fantasy league details.
The site itself is – UEFA U21’s Fantasy Football
FF247 League
The Official FF247 league is called ‘FF247 potty Party’ and the code for it is 1510540-686120 More on this later!
The Rules
The good news starts here as it’s all pretty much as you were for FPL as regards to point scoring. The rules are slightly different in relation to deadlines and substitutions but it’ll all be familiar to those that have played any previous World Cup or Euro’s competitions of this sort and we have noted the differences below…
Deadlines
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Transfers
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Substitutions
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Maximum number of players from any team
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The Teams
Group A
Czech Rep (4-2-3-1? No confirmed stats can be found)
Vaclav Kadlec will be the main man that the host’s will be pinning their hopes on to fire them through the group stages, he’s found the going tough so far in his Bundesliga career but a recent loan move back to Sparta Prague has seen the striker bag seven goals in five appearances so he should be brimming with confidence ahead of the big kick off on the 17th. Another loanee who has flourished away from his parent club is Chelsea’s Thomas Kalas, Boro should be kicking themselves that they didn’t extend the right back’s contract to cover the end of the season as he was part of a mean defensive unit alongside England representative Ben Gibson.
Don’t shoot the messenger but I think the Czechs might struggle in this group as they’ve failed to beat both Germany and Denmark at home in recent friendlies and although they were able to beat Portugal in their last outing they really do need to thank the crossbar for that result.
(I’ve read a report that Kadlec is suspended for the Czech’s opening game against Denmark but I can’t find a source which confirms it).
Penalties – ???
Free kicks – ???
Corners – ???
(No confirmed text commentary can be found).
Denmark(4-4-2)
In what looks like being a tight group, set pieces could be all important and at 6ft 6 centre half Jannik Vestergaard could prove to be the ace in the hole for the Danes, he’s the highest scoring defender I’ve come across so far with three goals to his name and the big guy seems to get amongst the free kick action. Another Dane that I’m looking forward to seeing (not that I couldn’t spot Vestergaard from a mile away) is midfielder Hojbjerg, he’s currently Bayern Munich’s youngest ever player and if you can break into that midfield I’d fancy my chances in putting you into my fantasy squad.
The Danes are one of the few teams who will be taking part in a pre tournament friendly and I’m hoping that both them and the Swedes will be taking this one seriously when they meet in Lyngby.
Penalties – Hojbjerg
Free kicks – Knudsen, Vestergaard, Thomsen, Hojbjerg
Corners – Thomsen, Knudsen, Bech, Hojbjerg, Norgaard
Germany (4-2-3-1)
Marc Andre Ter Stegen is the name that immediately jumps out at you from the German squad, the Barcelona keeper arrives fresh from a Champions League victory and would have to be favourite to be the man between the sticks but he won’t be joining the team until four days before the tournament kicks off as a result so prudence dictates that if you select Stegen in your initial squad your other keeper must be a nailed on starter. Just in case. The Germans have suffered a slight setback defensively with big Willi Orban pulling out (behave Andy! – ed.) of the squad and as they won’t be bringing in any replacements this could limit the CB picks to Ginter, Heintz and Knoche. That’s Ginter not Gunter, be careful with that one.
I’d loved to have seen this team play in the opening game as I fancy them to do well but there are a lot of 50 / 50 calls that will have to be made as to which mids are selected (and what role they are given) and the main striker role could go either way between Volland and Hofmann. (Serge Gnarby? Ha ha ha ha ha ha, no)
Penalties – Leitner, Hofmann
Free kicks – Geis, Leitner
Corners – Geis, Bittencourt, Leitner
Serbia (4-5-1)
The Serbian squad has been hampered by the main national teams poor start to the 2016 Euro’s qualification, the likes of Mitrovic (Anderlecht, forward) and Nastasic (Schalke, defender) will be sorely missed, particularly Mitrovic’s goal threat as all of the other forwards in the squad have a combined strike rate of one in four at this level and the Serbian under-21 wiki seems to have most of them listed as midfielder’s, really I’d be careful what you wished for if selecting a Serbian forward.
The Serbs did however manage to knock out championship holders Spain on route to this summers tournament so it’s not all doom and gloom and I’d expect them to be solid defensively behind the 4-5-1 formation.
Penalties – Kostic? (He takes every other set play.)
Free kicks – Kostic
Corners – Kostic
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Group B
England (4-3-3)
Gareth Southgate’s team are heading into this tournament as the in form side as Portugal, Czech Rep and Germany have all been swept away recently in friendly matches. Continuity has never been England’s strongest suit however as many of the current crop of ‘Yoof’ have been toing and froing between the under-21 and full England set up.
The English attack will be the main worry for all the other contenders in the group with Berahino being the top scorer through the qualifiers and Kane’s none too shabby record of eight goals in ten U21 appearance. A sneaky move could be Norwich City’s Nathan Redmond who normally starts as part of the attacking three but could be listed as a mid. (His goalscoring record is a far cry from the other two though.)
Penalties – Berahino, Kane
Free kicks – Kane
Corners – Carroll, Hughes, Garbutt, Ward Prowse
Italy (4-4-2)
Finally a team with what looks a settled side and surprise surprise it’s the Italians. Bardi will be the goalkeeper, Bianchetti will start at centre half and Andrea Belotti should start up front. There are seven players within the squad with fifteen plus caps at this level and it comes as no shock to find that Italy are the most successful team at UEFA U21 tournaments with five wins to date. Panucci, Cannavaro, Inzaghi, Totti and a certain mister Pirlo (who top scored) have all been privy to an Azzuri winning party.
They haven’t been in the best of form of late and since qualifying for the tournament they’ve only actually managed to beat themselves! Yes that’s right. The Italian Under-21 team beat… another Italian Under-21 team (match fixing rumours abound that the Italians threw this game to the Italians, Italy denies this profusely). They also lost to both the Danish and Serbian teams respectively.
Penalties – Bellotti
Free kicks – Viviani, Crisetig, Baselli
Corners – Viviani, Berardi, Bernadeschi, Crisetig
Portugal (4-3-3)
With the Under-20 world cup taking place in New Zealand it was feared that leading talents like Bernardo Silva would be unavailable to play in the Czech Republic but to the Portuguese credit it looks like the Monaco man will be lacing his boots at the Under-21 tournament instead and with six goals in the final month of the French Ligue 1 he looks like a man in seriously good form.
Portugal however have been struggling as of late and they’ve only managed to find the back of the net once in the last three games. They did manage to blast seven past the Dutch over the two legs of the qualifying play off and before their 0-0 draw with Denmark you’d have to go back to 2013 for the last time they drew a blank. (Nineteen games).
Penalties – Sergio Oliviera, Esgaio
Free kicks – Sergio Oliviera, Lopes, Neves, Silva
Corners – Sergio Oliviera, Silva
Sweden (4-4-2)
I like this team. Why? because they beat France and whenever the French meet their Waterloo I’m always a happy chappy. Vice captain Aleksander Milosevic will look to form the bedrock of the Swedish defence, he has rarely featured for new club Besiktas since joining in January but since he’s made only the two appearances he should be fresh and raring to go. He has been a nigh on ever present in the Under-21 squad only ever losing his place when called into the full national team.
Bypassing the midfield quicker than a Sam Allarydce team – Celtics John Guidetti will look to provide the creative spark upfront, the superhoop has a decent record of one in two at this level and if Sweden want to advance any further than the group stages he’ll have to keep this record up. Kiese Thelin will likely start alongside Guidetti and he seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to the under 21’s as he managed to bag six goals from six appearances, for no other team can Thelin boast of a goal scoring record like this as he’s even managed to pick up more yellow cards then goals for new club Bordeaux.
Penalties – Guidetti?
Free kicks – Guidetti
Corners – Hiljemark, Augustinsson, Guidetti, Khalili
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NB – disclaimer! All stats regarding formations, penalty takers etc are taken from the teams final five competitive games. Finding reliable text commentary from the friendlies is proving to be a bit of a nightmare (The BBC in its infinite wisdom can tell you who concedes a corner but not who takes it) and as there is a high turnover of players at this level it may not all be 100% accurate. We did our best!
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The Fixtures
Pre Tournament Friendly Games
9th of June
Czech Rep v Ukraine
11th of June
England v Belarus
Denmark v Sweden
12th of June
Italy v ?? (probably a youth team)
Obviously these games aren’t relevant to our fantasy scores however we may gleam some insights into possible starting line ups.
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Tournament Fixtures
All matches are staggered to kick-off times unless stated.
Match day 1 (Unlimited transfers until 16.45 GMT 17th)
17th of June
Czech Rep v Denmark
Germany v Serbia
18th of June
Italy v Sweden
England v Portugal
Match day 2 (2 Transfers available, deadline 16.45 GMT 20th)
20th of June
Czech Rep v Serbia
Denmark v Germany
21st of June
England v Sweden
Italy v Portugal
Match day 3 (2 Transfers available, deadline 16.45 GMT 23rd, no team sheets, gits – I would have WC’d!)
All matches kick off at the same time
23rd of June
Czech Rep v Germany
Denmark v Serbia
24th of July
England v Italy
Portugal v Sweden
Match day 4 (6 Transfers available, deadline 16.15 GMT 27th)
27th of June
Winner B v Runner up A
Winner A v Runner up B
Match day 5 (6 Transfers available, deadline 19.30 GMT 30th)
30th of June – The Final
Semi 1 v Semi 2
NB If England qualify for the Semi final stage an extra fixture will be added to the calendar, both teams that finished in 3rd place of the groups will play on the 28th of June in an Olympic qualifier, I can’t see this being added into the fantasy game but we mention it just in case. You’ll also notice the lack of colour for this summer’s competition, predicting this? No dice.
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FF247 League
We have left the league itself down to Potty to run and so our Official FF247 league is called ‘FF247 potty Party’ and the code for it is 1510540-686120
Potty will no doubt update us all regularly on here with progress and deadlines and he usually throws in some curve-balls with new comps along the way so it promises to be a roller-coaster as ever! Just hopefully not of the Alton Towers variety…
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What do you think of this team lads? Need to make 8 transfers but only have 7 FTs so need to play my WC. Screenshot won’t work.
Ter Stegen (Busk)
Vestergaard Guerruro Ginter (Baffo) (Scholz)
Mario Silva Can Hojberg (Younes)
Guidetti Volland Sisto
Hey Matt, not much wrong there mate. What’s the craic with Sisto though? Is he back?
I didn’t even realise he was gone! I just thought he was good the times I seen him and since everyone was getting Fisher he’d be a good differential. Is there anyone else or is Fisher the best option?
Unfortunately yes it’s probably him. Means most people will roll with an identikit forward line. Shame there isn’t a Portugueser to mix things up, unless DMC can think of one for us!
Ye was hoping for a Portuguese forward but could only think of midfield players. Hopefully he’ll have some new insight! Is olivera a mid or a forward??
He’s a central midfielder as far as I am aware.
Ye that’s what I thought and I don’t want another in midfield I think 3 of them would be overkill.
Well mentioned some forwards below but prob just one of those 3 stars possibly Ivan who was key In qualification and one of the best imo against England and Sweden. Mane is my favorite and I’ll play him if he starst. Medeiros is class as you could see from his neet assist Last game but he is not a forward, more like right wing ‘attacker’… Paciencia, whom scored a very center forward ish goal against Sweden is the only actual striker but i’d be surprised if he starts. Could nick one though if he does. I need to see line ups but I’ll be playing 6 portuguese, Volland and need to assess my gut on the den-sweds. Head says den, gut too, but the differencials may be the sweds. And i need differencials having failed to make any transfers Last gw…
Ok never mind my comment below.
I’ll have to have a look at the teamsheets to see who is starting but might go with Ivan if he starts. Do you think I should sell Mario ti bring in Oliveria instead?
Hello Matt. That is a trick one. Mário is much better than Oliveira from a quality player perspective. From a fantasy pov though Oliveira may be tempting. He’s on pens, freekicks around the penalty area and has a good shot from distance (unlike Mario). Mário often assists the assister which may be frustrating fantasy-wise.
That being said, I’ve deployed Mario since GW1 and wont be pulling him out. At the best, I’ll get Oliveira in as well! Teamsheets will tell on the striker front of course.
Cheers DMC. I get what your saying I like Mario and Silva might just bite the bullet and bring in Olivera aswell he is the one that is priced 6.5 isn’t it?
Hi MattX, i need to point out what Andy pointed out before Den-Serbia about Sisto. He lost his place and Fischer is a quality player (and scored that night).
Other than that, looks good, though it has too many germans at my portuguese eyes!
Hey DMC, I didn’t even realise he was gone but since you and Init both said it I must have missed that bit of news. Anyone else any good or is Fisher the best option?
Ye I’ve been really impressed with the Portuguese and wanted to bring in more but couldn’t think of who else after Silva,Mario and Guerruro so just stuck Younes in
Well Younes looks a good option too. Portuguese diferencials could be Oliveira (skipper on pens), and any who stars from Ivan, Mane, Medeiros. Of course heart aside Germany are favorites i guess.
Cheers DMC are Ivan, Mane and Medeiros strikers? I think Oliveria is a good player but already have 2 Portuguese mids and I think 3 is over doing it.
Main problem with the Danish forwards is that they kick off second so we won’t get teamsheets to help with the conundrum. Poulsen is the only safe play as he’s the only one to start all three group games whilst all the others would have to be considered a gamble as theirs 4 players who’ve rotated in and out for the two remaing slots. I’m going to guess (why not) at Falk and Fischer, I think the only thing holding Fischer back is fitness as he’d be a shoe in if fully fit.
Cheers for that Andy. I didn’t even think of Poulsen but like you said Fischer is the best out of the bunch. Was just looking for a differential
Bloke spent the majority of the last game on the deck. Made a young Cristiano look positively rugged and honest.
hey everyone. just checked in on my
sorry! as i was saying, just checked in on my overnight MLS score and was extremely surprised to see 84 points and ranked 47th….chuffed. shame about my u21 team though, captaining garbutt wasnt my brightest idea!
That’s great news Mr D well done. We can add you to the list of FF247’ers who currently occupy a top 100 spot in the rankings and it’s quite a % of it! We did have one friend who somehow managed to pull a 19 score this week though. I wont reveal who it is though as that’d be cruel and unkind.
Anyway, talking of Potty you’ve managed the unmanageable and finished below him in Group A I think!
Thanks Innitt. Who did you captain in MLS mega double gameweek? Below Potty eh? Oh dear oh dear.
Keane here. On 77 so far this week. Had Jorales with the red though which doesn’t help. Another cracker for the FF247 site team as well. Gone within 1 point of the leader in the overall rankings. Any luck that’ll be first by the end of the GW.
Great going pal and well done the site team. May the site MLS takeover continue.
Would you Adam & Eve it I’m still logged in my u21 fantasy team on my Ipad not clue how still cant get on using work computer or Iphone so I have set team up for Semi final :thumbup:
Morning. So the UEFA tipster has picked his team. Hmmmm…
Well that’s a totally different set up than mine I thk Port will beat Ger & Den will beat the Sweeds but what do I know , Cap also a strange one I have gone for Fisher as a differential
That team really surprises me I didn’t expect to see so many Swedes
and I agree with Silver, strange capo choice and I think Den and Port will win.
I have just been thinking why you would Cap a GK thoughts are Port v Ger fin 0-0 penalties how many points do you get for a pen save method in his madness :smirk:
I didn’t think you got points for a penalty shootout
Not sure mate will try & find out
Cheers Silver
You don’t
Ah I didn’t think so Cheer Kop
Yeah, I never said it was any good, just saying that’s what he’s picked! Looks a very odd team to me. No idea how he’s done so far but judging by that I won’t hold my breath on anything decent. Their CL ‘experts’ often go left-field too and rarely do very well either!
He’s done ok so far for having his gk as cappo the whole time, I’d probably take the Danes over Sweden but if your chasing this could be the last chance saloon, can’t see much opportunity in the final to make up ground unless your (c) goes bananas, German – Portugal game could go either way.
That is very true mate
I think it’ll be a tight one in the Ger-Port game