Fantasy managers left in panic after the shocking exit of Egypt and Morocco
With Egypt and Morocco out, two main stars of African football have to leave your squad
It was definitely worth considering to triple up on Egypt and Morocco assets given the good fixture vs South Africa and Benin, respectively. However, the shocking defeats left Fantasy managers in panic in what to do with the cash left from Mohamed Salah (12.9M) and Hakim Ziyach (10.8M). It is time to sell them, much earlier than expected, but with the lot of cash now released, who are the best alternatives?
There are certainly many heavy hitters left in the competition, as well as great budget picks, and in this article we look at the eight nations who will play the quarter finals and we analyze the best picks of each team.
Algeria
Riyad Mahrez (10.6M) has 25 points from 3 matches, with 2 goals and 4 shots on target, as well as 19 ball recoveries. Algeria showed once again that they are the best team in the tournament so far and are capable to go to the final stages. He takes all set-pieces except for penalties. Riyad looks to be the obvious direct replacement to Salah (12.9M) or Ziyach (10.8M).
Youcef Belaïli (6.1M) is an excellent cut-budget midfielder who scored 2 goals so far in the cup. He, however, did not manage to pick up any extra points from ball recoveries, so his defensive duties are less than Mahrez (10.6M). Nevertheless, he remains an excellent option at his price.
Baghdad Bounedjah’s (8.0M) owners must consider themselves unlucky as he could have scored against Guinea, but he looked very lively and registered an assist. He is still the number 1 striker in the team and he is on penalty duty.
Benin
There are no expensive asset in Benin so it is easy to fit anyone in our fantasy teams. Poté (5.1M) is the highest points scorer in the team, with 17 points. He has a difficult match vs Senegal, but he scored 2 goals in their draw vs Ghana, before defeating Morocco after 120 minutes. Everything is possible in AFCON, so Poté can do the damage to Senegal.
Côte d’Ivoire
Jonathan Kodjia (8.1M) has 1 goal and 1 assist in 3 starts. His ownership is as low as 7%. He is, very likely, the penalty taker for the national team as he took the last awarded penalty in March 2019.
Wilfrid Zaha (9.3M) started the cup from the bench, which concerned fantasy managers, but he made himself an essential part of starting XI after scoring the winner goal vs Mali, to add to his goal vs Namibia. Zaha is known for being a good dribbler and winning a lot of penalties at Crystal Palace. With the VAR to be used in QFs, Zaha can benefit from it if Algerian defenders mistime a tackle on the winger.
Franck Kessié (6.2M) played every minute so far in AFCON. He is in fine form after his hat-trick of assists vs Namibia. The midfielder registered 25 ball recoveries, more than any other teammate, and returned an extra point in every game so far. You can expect some returns from him.
Madagascar
Similar to Benin, it is easy to fit their assets due to their low prices but Andrea (5.7M) remains their best value along with Lalaïna (5.0M). If you fancy Madagascar to continue their surprises, they are the ones to look for.
Nigeria
Odion Ighalo (11.1M) was about to be forgotten, despite being the top goal scorer in the AFCON qualification, but Ighalo grabbed 2 goals and 1 assist in the last game vs Cameroon to pay off the 8% owners. Certainly this percentage is going to increase and he can score against any team on his day. He registered 4 shots on target in which 3 were goals. He is very clinical and this would certainly help for getting more points. His only downside is his price bracket, so fantasy managers may think twice before investing in him.
Alex Iwobi (9.0M) registered his first return in Africa Fantasy with a goal vs Cameroon. His performance is still underwhelming and at his price, it is hard to justify the buy. However, he is only owned by 8% so he could be very good differential moving forward.
Senegal
Sadio Mané (12.6M) is one of the hottest assets in the market at the moment. Many managers swapped Salah (12.9M) with Mané (12.6M) with 38% ownership at the time of publishing the article. Mané carried on a lot of drama with his owners over the last two GWs with 3 goals and 2 penalty misses. It is yet to be seen if he will continue to be the penalty taker as he has declared he has temporarily stepped down from penalty duties, while the head coach Aliou Cissé has insisted that the Liverpool star is still the number one for penalties.
Ismaïla Sarr (7.8M) can be a cheaper route to Senegal attack. He started 3 of the 4 games in the cup so he looks nailed on the right wing. With 3 shots on target and 12 ball recoveries so far, he can offer some attacking return vs Benin, but stats show that it is worth the upgrade to Mané, who has a more attacking role.
Mbaye Niang (10.5M) is only owned by 7% teams, which is very understandable as he only returned 1 assist in 4 games. However, he started all matches and he is trusted to start all games despite his goalless run so far. He registered as many shots on target (4) as Ighalo did, so we can tell that Niang is due a goal!
South Africa
The Bafana Bafana assets are in handy price with Tau (6.0M) offering excellent value. He is yet to score his first goal but still managed to score 17 points thanks to his assist vs Namibia and his defensive attributes. He managed an extra point from ball recoveries every game, as well as 2 points from 5 shots on target in the last 4 games. Tau can return again vs Nigeria, who looked shaky at the back vs Madagascar and Cameroon, in addition to his defensive attributes. Surprisingly, he is still owned by only 3% so he is certainly a great differential pick.
Mothiba (6.5M) is another option in the attack. Like Tau, he registered 1 assist vs Egypt. However, he does not offer the defensive points that Tau offer and he is 0.5M more expensive. Nevertheless, he is an interesting option as he is owned by almost 0%.
Tunisia
Wahbi Khazri (8.4M) has 1 goal in 4 matches and registered 3 shots on target in the run. He started from the bench vs Ghana but he played 52 minutes. He is fresh to start the next game vs Madagascar, who needed 120 minutes to go through DR Congo.
Taha Khenissi (7.0M) scored for the first time vs Ghana in the AFCON. He is only owned by 6%. Khenissi registered 2 Shots on target vs Ghana and looked lively in the game. He is expected to keep his place and start vs Madagascar.
