The best Fantasy Bundesliga players for Matchday 17

There is a week left in the Bundesliga “Hinrunde” – the first half of the season.

Bayern Munich look set to run away once again and Borussia Dortmund’s comfortable second place position reflects the inconsistency of the teams below them, rather than their own performances. Hoffenheim and Friborg will both be looking for a victory on Matchday 17 (MD17) to decide on the real “surprise package” for Hinrunde.

Before the winter break, I will be imposing a new rule on these Scout squads because – in the interest of variance and to have something new to say every week – future teams will exclude Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland. They are not human, that is not fair.

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GOALKEEPERS

MANUEL RIEMANN (5.9 m), MARVIN SCHWABE (1.0 m)

Bochum are undefeated in their last five home games, although they are also now five games without a shutout. They are home to Union Berlin, which has been unusually inconsistent in recent times winning just two of its last eight and has not had an away victory out of four. Bodes well for the game’s third top scorer Manuel Riemann. He has 47 points from his last four points at home and can add some against their relatively weak opponents.

Marvin schwabe has been pretty uninspiring since replacing Timo Horn between the posts for Cologne, with 18 points in four games, but for 1.0m you can’t really complain. Stuttgart are coming out of a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Bayern.

DEFENDERS

ALPHONSO DAVIES (15.3 m), RAPHAEL GUERREIRO (14.1 m), ANGELINO (14.3 m), BENNO SCHMITZ (4.9 m), IAGO (6.9 m)

Alphonse daviesThe nine points per game average is the highest among all defenders. He has proven repeatedly that he doesn’t need to score, assist or catch a clean sheet to score big, as evidenced by his 14 points against Mainz on Matchday 15 (MD15) and 19 against Freiburg during the 11th day (MD11). He’s got 45 in their last three home games and Bayern host a side from Wolfsburg that can’t seem to buy a win. He is the best defensive pick of the week.

Dortmund Raphael Guerreiro seems ready for Saturday’s visit to Hertha Berlin. Alongside Davies, he also has nine points per game, although he has only started eight Bundesliga appearances this season. Hertha have the second worst defense, which is a good sign for the marauding Portuguese full-back. If he was in great shape, he could feast on it.

Angelino Showing the first signs of a return to his form from last season under new manager Dominic Tedesco, especially after his double in assists and 19 point loot on MD15. Leipzig welcomes 17th Arminia Bielefeld, who despite a solid victory on Matchday 16 (MD16) against Bochum, is the league’s top scorer.

Benno Schmitz was heavily involved against Wolfsburg without actually racking up any points, but that could change against Stuttgart. He is the eighth scoring defender and has six double-digit goals so far, underscoring his explosive potential against one of the worst back lines. For the fifth defender, it can be made mandatory to have at least one selection against Greuther Fürth each week and that of Augsburg Iago does the trick this time. He’s got 23 points in his last two away games and, well, everyone knows how bad Fürth is. With 0% ownership, he’s a great budget defensive option before the next Wildcard.

MIDFIELDER

JESPER LINDSTROM (7.8 m), JULIAN BRANDT (11.7 m), CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU (17.1 m), JAMAL MUSIALA (12.7 m), DAVID RAUM (10.7 m)

Everything seems to come together for Oliver Glasner’s Frankfurt. They have five out of six wins in the league, including the impressive 5-2 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen. Jesper lindstrom has 31 points in his last two games, racking up two goals and an assist as the summer signing finally looks good. While Mainz’s home record is very impressive, they have only won one of their last four road games and could be clinched when visiting Waldstation.

Julien brandt was perhaps Dortmund’s most improved player under Marco Rose. The German now has either a goal or an assist in each of his last four league appearances and Dortmund are set to visit Hertha Berlin’s poor defense. Brandt is a great option in great form ahead of Saturday’s game.

I also thought about putting Christophe Nkunku in the “Scout Squad Ban” group for Outstanding Outperformers, but he was saved by wanting to see more of his role under Tedesco. Of course, his 27 points on MD15 was a good sign, but first let’s see what he can do against relegation fighters Arminia Bielefeld. Nkunku is the midfielder with the most goals (seven) and most shots (43) – an incredible player in great form and he should do well in MD17 again.

Midfield injuries mean Jamal Musiala is expected to return home against Wolfsburg. The German prodigy has three goals and three assists, despite having started just four league games. He could offer a big comeback against Florian Kohfeldt’s disaster of a Wolfsburg team.

David Raum is very good at taking set pieces. Borussia Mönchengladbach are very bad at defending set pieces. It’s a good thing for David Raum. This is not a good thing for Gladbach. Three double-digit goals in his last five starts show what future left-back “Die Mannschaft” can do and, alongside Gladbach having conceded the third most set pieces, Hoffenheim scored the fourth. Raum will have a lot of opportunities here.

BEFORE

PATRIK SCHICK (15.7m), ANTHONY MODESTE (9.0m), SERGE GNABRY (16.0m)

With 16 goals in 13 Bundesliga appearances and eight in their last three. Patrik schick is really in the shape of his life before Leverkusen’s visit to Freiburg. He racked up 61 points from the most recent line-up and opponents Freiburg have won only once since Matchday 10 (MD10) – despite this being Gladbach’s 6-0 beating. Still, when you’re in the kind of shape that Schick is, the fixation doesn’t really matter.

Only two Bundesliga players have taken more than 50 shots this season – Robert Lewandowski (70) and Antoine Modeste (60). Modeste is also the league’s third-highest scorer, with ten goals, after another brace for Cologne against Wolfsburg on MD16. Modeste is now facing a Stuttgart defense which was heavily beaten by Bayern Munich and generally conceded plenty of shots, which bodes well for the trigger-easy Frenchman.

Serge GnabryStuttgart’s hat trick and assists against Stuttgart took him to nine goals and two assists in nine Bundesliga starts this season. Injuries elsewhere mean Gnabry looks guaranteed to start here and, after his last performance, you’d want Gnabry to strike again. Wolfsburg now have seven games without a win and have conceded 18 goals in that span.

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