It’s a tricky Scout Picks selection for Matchday 3 of Euro 2024 Fantasy.
There are a number of very appealing matchups on paper but fixture difficulty isn’t the only consideration ahead of Sunday’s deadline.
Three of the teams we’d ordinarily be targeting, Germany, Spain and Portugal, are already assured of qualification. In the cases of Spain and Portugal, top spot is also sealed.
There could be rotation involving the two nations from Iberia, indeed. The hosts’ head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, seems to be going the opposite way.
As well as that, there are question marks over the fitness of key players like Kylian Mbappe (€11.0m) and Federico Dimarco (€5.0m).
Here we go, then, with a stab at a best XV, on a €100m budget, for Matchday 3. Our captaincy schedule is also included at the foot of this article.
READ MORE: UEFA Euro 2024 predicted line-ups: Matchday 3
GOALKEEPERS
Jordan Pickford (€5.0m) and Florin Nita (€4.0m) are our chosen goalkeepers in Matchday 3 ahead of their nation’s meetings with Slovenia and Slovakia.
England failed to take the opportunity to qualify for the Euro 2024 knockout stage earlier this week, after producing another drab display against Denmark. Still, they’ve conceded just one big chance so far.
As for Pickford, he already has one clean sheet to his name and has racked up seven saves across his two tournament outings.
If England do concede, switching to Romania goalkeeper Nita is a viable tactic. He kept a clean sheet in Matchday 1 and acts as a decent enabler for the rest of the squad.
DEFENDERS
Theo Hernandez (€5.5m) has produced 13 points across his first two matches. He’s yet to register an attacking return, but could potentially profit against Poland, given that Michal Probierz’s troops have conceded 13 key passes from their right flank, more than any other side at Euro 2024.
With Portugal already qualified, we’ve reserved a spot for Diogo Dalot (€5.0m). The full-back is admittedly a bit of a punt, but with rotation likely against Georgia, he may come back into the reckoning after his Matchday 2 omission.
They are joined by Alejandro Grimaldo (€5.0m), Wout Faes (€4.0m) and Maximilian Mittelstadt (€4.0m).
With Spain also qualified and Marc Cucurella (€4.5m) perhaps not risked for a third straight game, we’ve opted for Grimaldo. The attack-minded full-back produced a ridiculous 25 attacking returns for Bayer Leverkusen in last year’s Bundesliga.
Meanwhile, Faes has amassed 13 ball recoveries so far which is one of the highest in his position.
Our final defender is Mittelstadt, who has racked up four shots and three key passes for the hosts.
Don’t forget, we’ll get to see the Germany teamsheet before the deadline, so if Mittelstadt doesn’t start, you can simply transfer in an alternative Die Mannschaft defender who does. The same applies to our German and Hungarian midfielders, of course.
MIDFIELDERS
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