The Bundesliga was without a midweek round of fixtures, so here is our selection of the best Matchday 14 (MD14) options.
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GOALKEEPERS
MICHAEL ESSER (1.7m), MARVIN SCHWABE (1.1m)
VfL Bochum are exceeding expectations in the Bundesliga, winning four of their last six league games. A lot of that is thanks to having Manuel Riemann between the sticks. However, Riemann is ruled out of this weekend’s visit to Augsburg and Michael Esser, better known as Bruno, will get his chance to impress. Esser was a Fantasy Bundesliga gem in 2018/19 when Hannover’s starting keeper and should have plenty of opportunities for save points and a clean sheet against the joint-third worst attack in the league.
Marvin Schwäbe proved himself to be an able deputy for Timo Horn in Köln’s 4-1 win over Gladbach and got eight points in the process. High in confidence, they now visit an opponent with the league’s worst attack and Schwäbe should make a mockery of his budget price tag.
DEFENDERS
JEREMIE FRIMPONG (8.4m), ALPHONSO DAVIES (14.9m), BENNO SCHMITZ (4.8m), BORNA SOSA (11.1m), DANILO SOARES (7.1m)
A goal, assist and 29 points from Jeremie Frimpong‘s last two games shows the sort of form that Leverkusen’s right-back is in. Bayer host Greuther Fürth, who lost 6-3 to Hoffenheim on Matchday 13 (MD13). Fürth have the second-worst attack and the poorest defence in the league following the worst start to a season in Bundesliga history. Frimpong can take advantage of Stefan Leitl’s team at both ends.
It might not be a very nuanced argument but Alphonso Davies is just very, very good. He’s the highest-scoring defender despite just nine starts and is getting better every game. Dortmund will be tough opposition for Julian Nagelsmann’s champions but Davies has proved that he doesn’t need clean sheets or clear output to get points. His 19 point haul from Matchday 11 (MD11) came from four goal attempts, nine passes to a shot and four duels won.
Benno Schmitz got his fifth double-digit haul of the season during the 4-1 win over Gladbach and has launched himself back into Fantasy Bundesliga contention. His fourth assist of the season has arrived and he still ranks sixth for crosses from open play (42). A visit to Arminia Bielefeld should give Schmitz plenty of opportunities to rack up points at either end.
Borna Sosa looks to be finding some form again for Stuttgart, after their terrible start to the season. He’s got 21 points over his last two home games and hosts a Hertha Berlin side under new management. Sosa scored against Mainz last time out and picked up four points for goal attempts, alongside three points for passes to a shot, on MD11. Hertha rank badly for both defence and attack, so Sosa is backed to score big at home.
Continuing to fly under the radar is Danilo Soares. A great Fantasy Bundesliga pick as the most attacking defender in Thomas Reis’ team, Soares has 55 points in his last six games and his 64 points for duels won is the highest in Fantasy Bundesliga by 14 points. It’s hard to know which Augsburg side will turn up but that doesn’t seem to matter for Soares – if Augsburg play poorly, he’ll pick up points for goal attempts and clean sheets; if they play well, he’ll have his work cut out and rack up duels points.
MIDFIELDERS
FILIP KOSTIC (16.4m), JONAS HOFMANN (14.4m), FLORIAN WIRTZ (13.1m), ONDREJ DUDA (10.0m), EDUARD LOWEN (6.0m)
Eintracht Frankfurt are finally finding some form and Filip Kostic is at the heart of that. They’ve now won their last three Bundesliga games and Kostic has a goal, an assist and 35 points over those. Kostic has seven goal involvements so far, meaning he’s contributed to 44% of Frankfurt’s goals this season and continues to rack up points for chances created and goal attempts, regardless of opponent, by virtue of his set-piece prowess.
Jonas Hofmann is the second-highest scoring midfielder this season and Gladbach’s main source of threat. They are up against Freiburg, who are winless in three games and fresh from a loss to VfL Bochum, so Hofmann will see this as an opportunity to exploit. 68 points from the most recent four home games shows the sort of form that the German is in at Borussia-Park.
After a slow patch between Matchdays 8 and 11, Florian Wirtz looks like he’s back in form. 13 points were scored against both Bochum and Leipzig, which is more like the Wirtz we saw terrorise defenses at the start of the season and he now hosts beleaguered bottom-dwellers Greuther Fürth. If this is a rout for Bayer, Wirtz should be at the heart of that alongside his partner in crime Patrik Schick.
Ondrej Duda has struggled to rediscover his fine form of last season but was great against Gladbach, collecting 16 points and grabbing his first goal of the campaign. Köln now visit Arminia Bielefeld with confidence and Duda will want to build on his MD13 success.
Picking this last midfield spot was tough, so let’s go with a hunch. Eduard Löwen is everywhere for Bochum at the moment, without actually managing a goal. He got 19 points over Matchdays 12 and 13, picking up points for goal attempts and passes to a shot both times, by virtue of controlling most set-pieces. Ahead of a crucial game against Augsburg, Löwen will be hoping to finally come good on his underlying statistics.
FORWARDS
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI (19.8m), PATRIK SCHICK (14.6m), ERLING HAALAND (17.6m)
In this kind of form, Robert Lewandowski could be surrounded by the Chorley under nine’s side and he’d still be chosen in Fantasy Bundesliga. Bayern are clearly missing Joshua Kimmich but Der Klassiker is always an open game, with goals coming from both sides. Dortmund’s defence isn’t great under Marco Rose – they’ve only got the joint-ninth best defensive record despite sitting second in the league.
Patrik Schick is back on the teamsheet and soon to be back amongst the goals. The Czech striker has only failed to score in three Bundesliga games this season and is third in the scoring charts behind the other two forwards in this team. Up next is Greuther Fürth, an opponent who has conceded three goals per game in the Bundesliga.
He’s back. It took Erling Haaland just seven minutes to score against Wolfsburg on his return from injury. Other names were considered for this spot, such as Anthony Modeste, but then it needs remembering that Haaland has six double-digit hauls from seven starts, averaging 1.62 goals per 90. He’s still the fifth highest-scoring forward in the game despite playing nearly half the minutes of his counterparts. Dortmund do play Bayern but, as said with Lewandowski, it’s traditionally an open game and Haaland has four goals and an assist from his last four meetings against Bayern. Getting the Norwegian back into your team has to be at the top of the priority list.
2 years, 11 months ago
think he can play in the wing-back roles because he's very good at arriving in the opponent's box. Maybe in the next games we have to try it because Chilly [Ben Chilwell] is out long-term and we can't put every game on Marcos' [Alonso's] shoulders."
This means Alonso will be benched for the odd game. Anyone wants to hazard a guess when could that be ? This gameweek or next ?