Group A(budget heaven)

Group A or group of life as it has been called by many pundits, offers many great budget options. All groups have favorites and so does group A, but the odds of the underdogs are much greater than in any other group. And as no team in this group is expected to win the Euros, there are many budget options to go around. So lets started with the favorites.

Russia:

As you can see in the picture above the Russian lineup is a 4-1-2-3. In this formation both of the fullbacks get forward a lot and the 3 players in the middle of the field help out defending. This should see both fullbacks getting at least some assists despite the Russian defensive mindset. Also the 3 midfielders, one of them being the widely owned Shirokov, should collect plenty of RB points along with the offensive output. 

The Offense: 

In the McDonalds game Arshavin is classified as a forward and priced at a hefty 9.0, this makes him a overpriced option for this offense in a valuable striker spot. While Dzagoev at 7.5 is on the opposite wing and a classified as a midfielder. Dzagoev also scored 3 goals in 3 games and 1 sub appearance during the qualifying campaign, that is second highest to Pavlyutchenko who had 1 big game and is unlikely to start for Russia. Russian main striker Kerzhakov is priced at a affordable 8.0 and it seems likely that he will be the penalty taker for his nation. But given his poor goalscoring return of 0 goals in the qualifiers he is not someone I am exited about. The current crowd favorite Shirokov is the ultimate budget option for Russia, he has also been the highest scorer for Russia in the friendlies leading up to the tournament. I am not buying it dough, he is sitting fairly deep for the Russian side and to be honest his recent brace against Italy was fairly lucky. In qualifiers hes tally was also a measly 0 goals and 0 assist after playing 4 games. 

The Defense: 

This Russian side allowed the second fewest goals in qualifying of all the teams involved, they also had a fairly easy group. But as in the group they find themselves in today is not full of high scoring teams one could go out on a limb and say that a Russian defenders is a must have.

Given the low number of goals Russia score and the defensive nature of 2 of the 3 opponents they are facing, I would say there is no need to pay extra for a full back priced at 6.0(Anyukov or Zhirkov) but just go for the cheap 5.5 Alexei Berezutski and collect some extra RB points that center backs get you to make up for a lost assist or 2. The goalkeeper position seems to be undecided but weather it is Akinfeev or Malafeev in goal 5.5 and 5.0 respectively, both will be nice options to have.

Which players I would go for:For me a defender is a must and I probably will go for the cheap A.Berezutski, unless the goalkeeper job falls to Malafeev which will make me think if I need the added 0.5 I could use elsewhere. From the offensive options I favor Dzagoev to be the best value, he is furthest forvard from the midfielders, and cheaper than the strikers who will take away a valuable spot up top.  Arshavin and Kerzhakov have some value too, since they are both around 2% owned which makes them great differential picks.