World Cup 2018 Fantasy: To the Nines

The nine. The finisher. The poacher. The goal scorer. El zorro en la caja. In these days of false nines and wide forwards, there is a crop of men - so manly, so dashing, so cool - that they could only be center forwards. It's on these players that a team will rest their goal scoring hopes.

• Robert Lewandowski
• Romelu Lukaku
• Harry Kane
• Luis Suarez, and Uruguay blessed with not only an easy group, but also with...
• Edinson Cavani
• Sergio Aguero
• Timo Werner
• Andre Silva
• Olivier Giroud
• Diego Costa
• Javier Hernandez, or...
• Oribe Peralta
• Radamel Falcao
• Marcus Berg
• Paolo Guerrero
• Aleksandar Mitrovic
• Odion Ighalo
• Blas Perez

You're probably getting at least one of the top five or six names in that group on to your fantasy team. If you bring in an OMAC, you're probably looking down the list for value. Falcao is particularly interesting to me. He's in teammate James Rodriguez's shadow this summer, but is back to form in Monaco after a few years of injury recovery paid for by some of England's bigger clubs. If Colombia can live up to their well-earned entertainers reputation, Falcao will be banging them in.

World Cup 2018 Fantasy: Ten

The OMAC is the player you build around - in real life, and in fantasy. The nine is your Golden Boot hopeful. But the ten... the ten is something magical. The attacking midfielder. The small, skillful player directing his teams forward play, taking set pieces, and finishing moves. They may play off a striker, or behind a pair. They may be a false 9, but especially come the World Cup, these are the players the hipsters love, and at whom scouts can't throw enough money.

• Antoine Griezmann (he's part 9, part 10, and almost an OMAC, and will get a mention in each of those posts)
• David Silva (he's part 10, part wide-forward. In fact, half the Spain side fits that bill, so let's add...)
• Isco
• Luka Modric
• Mesut Ozil
• James Rodriguez
• Gylfi Sigurdsson
• Carlos Vela (listed as a forward, and probably starting)
• Giovanni Dos Santos (listed as a midfielder, and probably not starting)
• Hakim Ziyach
• Shinji Kagawa
• Christian Cueva
• Joao Mario
• Giorgian De Arrascaeta

I'm all-in on De Arrascaeta. He's hopefully a cheap in to a Uruguay attack that should score buckets in a historically bad group. He counts against a forward spot, but if he can set-up Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani - or be set up by them, as happened in their most recent friendly - he could be a productive player in his own right, and enable you to afford big hitters elsewhere in your squad.

Hakim Ziyach and Christian Cueva, would complete my bargain tens. My (playing at the tip of the) diamonds in the rough.

World Cup 2018 Fantasy: OMAC

My first category, and the one you should look at first, is OMAC: One Man Army Corps. These are the players around whom their national teams are established. These are the rare few players who coaches construct systems around and who will be expected, indeed needed, to lead their teams. Needless to say, these players will be the most expensive, but still the most heavily owned players in the game.

• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Lionel Messi
• Neymar
• Christen Eriksen

Probably no surprises here. Eriksen is interesting. He's the only one on the list classified as a midfielder, and by far the cheapest of the lot. As such, I think he's a must own. If you want to squeeze one of the big fish into your team, I would suggest Neymar. Hopefully he's fit. He's definitely rested. I think Brasil are the most balanced team of the three (Brasil, Argentina, and Portugal) and there seems to be an enthusiasm in that side that the others are lacking.

Mohamed Salah might have made the cut were he healthy, and maybe he is. We just can't take the chance in round one. I would have also considered James Rodriguez, Sadio Mane, Robert Lewandowski, and Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann especially has a Golden Boot ceiling, and would have made the list if I thought Deschamps was a little more committed to him.