Dream Team bosses wisely crossing North London divide ahead of Gameweek 28

PLENTY of Dream Team managers are switching their North London allegiance from red to white this week.

At the time of writing, Bukayo Saka (£5.8m), William Saliba (£3.3m) and Gabriel (£4m) are among the most transferred-out players ahead of Gameweek 28.

Conversely, Son Heung-min (£4.6m), Pedro Porro (£3.6m) and James Maddison (£4m) are among the most-popular recruits.

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On the surface, this may seem strange as Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League but gaffers crossing over to Tottenham are actually following sound logic.

The Gunners are one of just six teams without a fixture to fulfil in Gameweek 28 – Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Everton and Sheffield United being the others.

This scheduling quirk is down to the fact six top-flight clubs are due to compete in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-finals, meaning their league games have been postponed.

Mikel Arteta’s side are comfortably the most significant absentees from the upcoming Gameweek with four players among the 20 most selected right now – Saka and Saliba rank third and fourth respectively.

After their blank, Arsenal are due to face Manchester City at the Etihad in their first match after the international break.

While they will feel confident of a competitive contest against Pep Guardiola’s side having beaten them 1-0 at the Emirates in October, it’s clearly a difficult match-up.

Saka and company will also face Luton (at home) in Gameweek 29, which is a more promising fixture but it’s understandable why Dream Team bosses are moving away from Arsenal assets this week.

Spurs’ league meeting with Fulham at Craven Cottage will go ahead as planned in Gameweek 28 and the smart money has to be on the visitors following their 4-0 over Aston Villa.

Son is currently the top performer this Gameweek having plundered 16 points at Villa Park and so it’s no wonder he’s an early favourite for Gameweek 28.

Porro banked eight points against the Villains but the truly telling statistic regarding the Spanish full-back is his season average of 6.4 points-per-game – the highest rate among all defenders in 2023/24.

In midfield, only three players average more points-per-game than Maddison’s 7.2 this campaign while only top-tier strikers Erling Haaland (£7.9m) and Mohamed Salah (£6.5m) boast better averages than Spurs’ South Korean superstar (7.5).

Postecoglou’s side have a relatively favourable run of fixtures after the international break too with Luton (home) and West Ham (away) in Gameweek 29 and Nottingham Forest (home) in Gameweek 30.

It may well be the case that Arsenal players come back into favour after the international break, especially if they’re still active in the Champions League, but for now it certainly seems sensible to pivot to Spurs stars.

A successful Dream Team manager knows there’s little room for loyalty in this game.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk