We are making our way through the best sports competition on Earth (author's note: personal opinion) with two matchweeks gone. In our writer's league here at ESPN, I am currently sitting top of the table on 8 points, but things are far from over. If you have started off 0-2, not to fear, our differential picks for Matchweek 3 are here! We'll skip over the forwards and Tier 1 midfield, as those positions offer so few real opportunities for differential ... you want to get the stars who will carry you to huge point totals.
Tier 2 midfielder
There are a plethora of playable options here, and it makes getting your Tier 2 midfielder right pretty important this week. Lucas Moura tops the group in projected points, and for good reason. He has been vital to the Spurs attack without Christian Eriksen and with Son Heung-min not quite looking himself after playing nonstop for the last 18 months. Marco Asensio is also likely to be popular, but outside of Gareth Bale, we want to be avoiding Real Madrid, even in a cushy matchup against Viktoria Plzen. The Galaticos have been wildly off form and will be too popular given their current output.
Dusan Tadic at home to Benfica is an interesting play, as the former Southampton man is playing the famed Ajax No. 10 role, which gives him free roam to create on offense. Nikola Vlasic has been on the form of his life, scoring in both games for CSKA Moscow and is traveling away to a middling Roma team. Vlasic is probably my favorite differential play in this tier, as I think he will be truly unpopular among your leaguemates and has a very high ceiling.
Tier 3 midfielder
Manuel Fernandes again makes our list as an underrated player who can contribute in all fantasy scoring categories here on ESPN. This is the first week that I am going to move off Pizzi in my Tier 3 midfield slot in favor of Daniel Caligiuri of Schalke. Caligiuri takes every free kick for Schalke and can rack up 10 points just off of dead balls, not to mention that Schalke can separate themselves from Galatasaray with all three points. It is not for the faint of heart, but Hirving "Chucky" Lozano has been a fantasy points machine for PSV Eindhoven this season and last. He faces a tough Tottenham team, but either Ben Davies or Danny Rose will be tasked with keeping up with the tricky winger, and he is about five paces faster than either of them. If you want a goal that truly won't be in anyone else's lineup, Chucky is your man.
Tier 1 defender
The idea of Benjamin Mendy not playing for Manchester City is a real possibility, so we should be able to catch our opposition napping. Thomas Meunier is a phenomenal attacking right back for PSG, but his crosses have been way down this season. However, he has the ability to get goals and assists that not many defenders have. As such, he makes an intriguing play at home to Napoli. Andrew Robertson will be quite popular this week as Liverpool gets to play Red Star Belgrade at home (after the Serbians got thrashed by PSG), but we might be better off with Joao Cancelo of Juventus. Cancelo might be the most accurate crosser of the ball since Darijo Srna in his heyday, and the game against Manchester United should provide plenty of possession to the Juventus squad. Finally, Sergio Ramos always receives some consideration here because he will likely have penalty kick duties for Madrid, were one to be called.
Tier 2 defender
Yaroslav Rakitskiy is our man here for differential purposes as he is the rare center back who actually takes corner kicks for his team. I've been a hardcore soccer fan some time, and Rakitskiy and Daley Blind are the only two CBs I have ever seen take corner kicks, but that is neither here nor there. Alex Telles is the clear best option in this grouping of players, but his ceiling is not so amazing that you can't sacrifice for differential purposes. Presnel Kimpembe of Paris Saint-Germain offers decent peripheral points for a home favorite, as does Eric Bailly, but we are more interested in chasing goals and assists, which would come from Rakitskiy, Naldo or Mariano at a much more frequent clip.
Goalkeeper
The way I have been attacking goalkeeper is just to take the biggest home favorites in every slate. Wojciech Szczesny and Roman Burki top the fantasy-points-per-game list, and both have had mostly good matchups thus far. This week we have Anthony Lopes at home to Hoffenheim -- perhaps the worst team of the "big five" leagues to be in the tournament -- as a strong option. The best overall option is Allison Becker at home to Red Star Belgrade. Liverpool are massive favorites in the betting market and should handle the Serbians at home quite easily. Ederson against Shakhtar Donetsk on the road makes for an interesting choice as well, as the Citizens should not be too bothered playing against Shakhtar and should escape with a 2-0 win. But since they're Premier League goalkeepers, they might not represent the biggest differential.