Fantasy Football tips and advice: Euro 2020 early transfer and selection choices
The 2020/21 domestic fantasy football season may have finished but Euro 2020 presents the opportunity to create an international team for the tournament.
There are 24 countries who will battle it out for continental glory, and UEFA announcing the return of their fantasy football game for the competition presents the opportunity to put together some of Europe's best players in the hope of securing more points than your rivals.
Much like the English league season, a balance needs to be made between talented players and the teams they play for. Robert Lewandowski may be Europe's best striker, but will he get enough games with Poland across the whole tournament to gain a big number of points?
There's no right or wrong answer to that and I'd still back Lewandowski for Golden Boot contention. However, there are a number of options in every position that could easily justify their selection.
The previous Premier League season has highlighted that a couple of players will be wise choices at Euro 2020. Using those numbers and figures from the fantasy football campaign, we look at a few players worth including in any early team drafts.
Who are the top FPL performers at Euro 2020?
There are a number of Euro 2020 players who enjoyed good FPL seasons, and they will prove to be very popular picks when the tournament gets underway.
While we look for differential players and those who will offer points that many others won't have, the top performing FPL players are well worth inclusion in teams over the summer. They provided points for their club and should do the exact same for their country.
The positive here is that a lot of the top domestic fantasy football performers play for countries who could go far at Euro 2020. That will create more games and the more chance for points. Here are some of the big hitters who will be worth the big price tag they carry.
Bruno Fernandes
- Nation: Portugal
- Position: Midfielder
- Price: €10.5m
One of the most expensive players on the game and with good reason. Bruno Fernandes' 244 points haul was the highest of any FPL player during the 2020/21 campaign, while he came second with 268 points on the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game.
It's no surprise that Fernandes finished around the 50% selection rate mark on both games and he will exceed that on the Euro 2020 game.
What's also a good indicator of his performances is that the Manchester United man also topped Fantasy Football Fix's expected FPL points (xFPL) charts - that's using data to highlight how many points a player should have compared with their actual tally.
Fernandes' 233.04 was the highest of any player - almost three points clear of Mohamed Salah's 230.36 - and he has every chance of being one of the top points scorers at this summer's tournament. A must-have.
Harry Kane
- Nation: England
- Position: Forward
- Price: €11.5m
He finished as the Premier League's Golden Boot winner with his 14 assists also being a league high yet Harry Kane isn't the most expensive forward on the Euro 2020 game. Both Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo carry a higher price tag.
Kane has already established himself as one of the best strikers in the game and secured the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup. He finished second to Fernandes with 242 points on FPL but he did play two games less - two more outings would have surely seen him claim top spot.
Being the favourite to secure the Golden Boot this time around will make him a very popular pick among Euro 2020 fantasy football players and, like the domestic season, he is a must-have asset who should justify his bigger price tag with goals for the Three Lions.
Who are the best players to select on Euro 2020 fantasy football?
The 24 teams competing will all have various strengths and weaknesses and there is some really good value on offer from a fantasy football perspective.
Whether they have been strong on Premier League fantasy football games or posted good figures in their own leagues, there are a number of candidates who can go on the shortlist for selection in Euro 2020 fantasy football teams.
Burak Yilmaz
- Nation: Turkey
- Position: Forward
- Price: €8m
A bargain forward that frees up some budget for 'big hitters' to come in. Burak Yilmaz has every chance of being involved in the Golden Boot race - particularly if Turkey can continue their good recent form and go far in the tournament.
Yilmaz will go into the summer on the back of a prolific season with Ligue 1 champions Lille, averaging better than a goal every two games, and that also resulted in four goals across three World Cup qualification games back in March.
The fact that he is only €8m in the game suggests that he may go under the radar to begin with. He's the same price as the Czech Republic's Patrik Schick, Denmark's Yussuf Poulsen and France's Olivier Giroud - the latter may struggle to get any minutes due to other options.
Lining up alongside Italy, Switzerland and Wales, Turkey have every chance of progression through the top-two and that should mean goals for Yilmaz. Finishing runners-up to Italy will likely see a round of 16 tie against Denmark or Russia, which they should win.
If that transpires, Yilmaz will have five games to rack up the goals and his domestic form, alongside showings for his country, suggests that he could get three or four over this period. There's a strong case to say that he may become the bargain of the tournament at his current price.
Ilkay Gundogan
- Nation: Germany
- Position: Midfielder
- Price: €7.5m
Despite a prolific season for a midfielder at Manchester City, Ilkay Gundogan's price on the Euro 2020 fantasy football game is far too low. His €7.5m tag means that 31 other midfielders are more expensive and he could quickly score more points than them with a few goals.
With 17 goals across all competitions, Germany will also look to him to provide an attacking threat and the mixed form of some of their other big hitters - mainly Timo Werner - will place extra emphasis on goals coming from elsewhere. Gundogan firmly falls into the 'elsewhere' category.
The bonus here is that Gundogan should be on penalty duty for his country and spot kick takers are always good to have on any fantasy football game.
The midfielder posted 157 FPL points at City this season from an Expected FPL figure (xFPL) of 139.32 (via Fantasy Football Fix), so should carry his form into the summer tournament, even if his Premier League involvement has been hit-and-miss as Pep Guardiola rotated his side.
Germany have a tough group, this is perhaps why some of their players are a lower price than we expected, and they have to battle France and Portugal in a difficult looking Group F. However, they are still capable of scoring and Gundogan should be a part of that.
Mason Mount
- Nation: England
- Position: Midfielder
- Price: €7m
Phil Foden will be a popular choice on this game, and while he remains a solid pick, Mason Mount can make an impact for a whole €1m less. It's a significant saving that can be invested elsewhere in your squad, and Mount should be a regular starter throughout the tournament.
England should go far (as we seem to say at every tournament), but Gareth Southgate does have a very talented squad to use. Mount should be in the attacking midfield role and having Harry Kane in front of him will surely lead to plenty of assists.
Mount may have posted just five assists during the 2020/21 Premier League campaign but his Infogol expected assists figure was a much higher 10.04. He should have had double the amount of actual assists, but Chelsea's wasteful nature cost him in this column.
Kane won't make the same mistakes though and Mount has a good chance of finishing the tournament as the best playmaker if England can reach the latter stages.
Mount finished as the 11th-highest points scorer among midfielders on FPL this season. However, his xA figure has also influenced Fantasy Football Fix's xFPL number. If Chelsea had converted the chances Mount had created, he would have finished in 5th with 155 points.
He's actually a bargain price too when we consider the most expensive midfielders on the game are Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandes at €10.5m. They justify that price tag but Mount should be priced around the same mark as Foden - he's firmly one of the value picks of the tournament.
We're mainly focusing on playmaking with Mount but he has shown that he can score too. He scored six from an xG figure of 6.48 in the Premier League this season while he's averaging a goal every four games for his country - that includes one in the recent win away at Albania.
Mikel Oyarzabal
- Nation: Spain
- Position: Forward
- Price: €7.5m
The forward positions are going to be the most competitive due to the sheer number of Europe's top attackers available to select. However, a differential player could well be Mikel Oyarzabal, who goes into the tournament on the back of a strong season with Real Sociedad.
Spain's squad selection was interesting to say the least, and they've left themselves with few options in attack. The depth in that area of the pitch is a worry, but it does mean that Oyarzabal should be a starting figure on the left wing. If so, that will bring points.
Spain have a great chance of topping Group E as they are placed alongside Poland, Slovakia and Sweden, and that will create an easier route to the latter stages of the tournament. The more games the better for fantasy points and Oyarzabal could find himself among the early front-runners for the Golden Boot.
Not only that, he has proven to be a creator for Sociedad and should pick up assist points too. There weren't too many forwards who hit double figures for goals and nearly did the same for helpers. While many will focus on the big hitters up front, Oyarzabal is a player who may go under the radar.
His 11 goals underperformed his xG figure of 12.1 while his xA figure was narrowly better than his actual assists tally. Having only recently come back into the Spain squad, Oyarzabal has been going at a rate of a goal every four games for his country so he could easily grab a couple in the tournament.