Fantasy Focus: Berterame’s bonanza

Born in Argentina but now a Mexican international, it was a day when worlds collided for forward German Berterame ($6.0m) at the FIFA Club World Cup™. The powerhouse 26-year-old from Cordoba scored twice for Liga MX outfit CF Monterrey in a 4-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds that both confirmed their place in the Round of 16 and eliminated Argentine side CA River Plate.

With two goals, two shots on target and the scouting bonus it was a perfect evening for Berterame and his less than one per cent of owners and having led the line for Rayados in each of their three group outings he also looms as a real differential heading into the knockout stage.

Berterame’s 15-point bounty narrowly pipped Borussia Dortmund defender Daniel Svensson’s ($5.3m) 14-point haul as the top score on an evening when five of the eight teams in action kept clean sheets.

That saw plenty of defensive returns, with Svensson as well as FC Internazionale Milano’s Alessandro Bastoni ($5.6m) both swelling their numbers with goals.

It was though a quieter day for some highly owned assets, particularly those in front of goal, with Inter’s Lautaro Martinez ($9.8m) and Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt ($6.5m) both failing to build on their base returns.

Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Ulsan HD

DEF Daniel Svensson (Dortmund, $5.3m) – 14 points
DEF Yan Couto (Dortmund, $4.0m) – 9 points
DEF Waldemar Anton (Dortmund, $4.6m) – 9 points

MID Karim Adeyemi (Dortmund, $8.0m) – 1 point
MID Julian Brandt (Dortmund, $6.5m) – 1 point
FWD Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund, $9.0m) – 4 points

Mamelodi Sundowns FC 0-0 Fluminense FC

GK Fabio (Fluminense, $4.6m) – 10 points
DEF Samuel Xavier (Fluminense, $4.2m) – 9 points
DEF Ignacio (Fluminense, $4.1m) – 9 points

FWD Iqraam Rayners (Mamelodi, $5.8m) – 2 points
MID Jhon Arias (Fluminense, $6.2m) – 2 points
MID Lucas Ribeiro (Mamelodi, $5.7m) – 3 points

FC Internazionale Milano 2-0 CA River Plate

DEF Alessandro Bastoni (Inter, $5.6m) – 13 points
DEF Francesco Acerbi (Inter, $5.4m) – 9 points
FWD Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter, $4.0m) – 9 points

GK Franco Armani (River, $4.0m) – 1 point
MID Franco Mastantuono (River, $4.3m) – 2 points
FWD Lautaro Martinez (Inter, $9.8m) – 2 points

Urawa Red Diamonds 0-4 CF Monterrey

FWD German Berterame (Monterrey, $6.0m) – 15 points
MID Nelson Deossa (Monterrey, $4.5m) – 12 points
MID Jesus Corona (Monterrey, $5.5m) – 11 points

MID Ryoma Watanabe (Urawa, $5.4m) – 2 points
FWD Yusuke Matsuo (Urawa, $5.3m) – 2 points
MID Matheus Savio (Urawa, $5.4m) – 2 points

Juventus FC v Manchester City
Wydad AC v Al Ain FC
Al Hilal v CF Pachuca
FC Salzburg v Real Madrid C.F.

FWD Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid, $11.0m) – 31.1%
DEF Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid, $6.4m) – 26.4%
FWD Erling Haaland (Manchester City, $11.0m) – 20.8%
DEF Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City, $6.1m) – 20.2%
MID Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, $9.3m) – 18.1%

With the Group G picture already settled, outside of a scrap for top spot between Juventus FC and Manchester City, the risk of rotation is quite a serious one and perhaps those fixtures are ones to avoid for fantasy owners looking for one final preliminary stage swing.

That then brings the Group H matches into focus and with Al Hilal needing a win over already-eliminated CF Pachuca to keep their knockout stage hopes alive they have plenty of differentials to target.

Midfielder Salem Al Dawsari ($5.6m) appears the most obvious candidate but the likes of cut-price forward Marcos Leonardo ($4.0m) and midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic ($6.2m) are both below the 5 per cent ownership cut-off for the scouting bonus and well worth targeting in a fixture where goals seem likely.

In the other section settler, both Real Madrid C.F. and FC Salzburg know that a win will ensure they reach the round of 16 and goals could be offer in Philadelphia as well. While the highly owned forward Kylian Mbappe ($11.0m) is still battling illness, opportunities should again present themselves for the likes of young winger Arda Guler ($6.5m) and forward Gonzalo Garcia ($5.1m) to profit. Finally, Salzburg’s midfielder Oscar Gloukh ($6.1m) could be worth a punt for those who fancy an Austrian upset.