AFTER all the excitement and drama of the first ever winter World Cup, Dream Team gaffers need to refocus on the classic Season game.
You may not be able to earn points from Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappe any longer but look on the bright side, Erling Haaland is defrosting from his cryogenic chamber at this very moment.
Manchester City take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup tonight and once the Premier League fixtures resume on Boxing Day there’s barely a day without one for a fortnight.
With the games coming thick and fast, Dream Team bosses need to ensure their XIs are fully-equipped to take advantage of the bountiful points on offer.
Mini-league are often determined by which gaffers negotiate the festive period the best and that is likely to be especially true this year as some individuals may have a hard time readjusting to club football in the wake of the World Cup.
One player who could make hay in the coming weeks is Marcus Rashford (£4.5m).
In fact, the 25-year-old wasted no time in adding returns following his bright campaign in Qatar having scored an impressive solo goal against Burnley in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
An eight-point haul has moved the Man United No10 onto 90 overall, a tally currently bettered by just four other forwards: Ivan Toney (£4.7m), Harry Kane (£6.9m), Mohamed Salah (8.6m) and Erling Haaland (£8.9m).
Perhaps most relevant is the fact Rashford is now clear of Gabriel Jesus (£5.3m) in the rankings.
Arsenal are expected to be without their first-choice striker until late-February/early-March which has caused a HUGE problem for Dream Team managers.
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The Brazil international remains one of the most-popular players in the game with an ownership of 45.2% at the time of writing – hordes of gaffers need to act fast!
Swapping Jesus for Rashford looks like a natural transfer, a wise one too.
Not only would this free up an additional £0.8m to invest on improvements elsewhere, it’s seemingly a great time to back the Red Devils forward.
Rashford has scored 12 goals and provided three assists in his last 23 appearances for club and country, which boils down to a goal involvement every 97.7 minutes.
During this time he’s averaged 4.9 points-per-game in club colours and the Cristiano Ronaldo saga now behind Erik ten Hag, the Old Trafford pecking order in the forward positions should favour the Englishman.
Man United have lost just one of their last 13 games in all competitions although how much ‘form’ matters post-World Cup remains to be seen.
What’s clear is that Ten Hag has made significant progress after a wobbly start to life in Manchester and with two opponents currently in the relegation zone up next (Nottingham Forest, Wolves) it’s reasonably to expect positive results and, hopefully, plentiful points for Rashford.
Even if you’re not convinced by the Man United man, it goes without saying that if you’ve still got Jesus in your XI then you need to find a replacement you do believe in as soon as possible.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
