HEAVY hitters like Erling Haaland (£8.9m), Cole Palmer (£6.5m) and Mohamed Salah (£7.4m) are big players in the world of Dream Team but their immense popularity means their returns often have little impact on Mini League standings and overall rank.
Manchester City’s No9 appears in 72.6% of teams which means the majority of gaffers are in the same boat when he plays.
It’s often the case that the cheaper, lesser-owned players are the ones who actually make a difference.
Take Morgan Rogers (£3m) for example.
The Aston Villa midfielder is currently the top performer in Gameweek 8 having banked 18 points from two outings.
He scored against Fulham on Saturday, by virtue of a helpful deflection, but produced an even more impressive display against Bologna on Tuesday night.
Rogers assisted Jhon Duran’s (£3m) goal against the Serie A outfit and earned three bonus points as a useful cherry on top, largely because of his impressive dribbling statistics.
The 22-year-old registered SEVEN successful dribbles against Bologna to take his tally for the season to 31.
MOST SUCCESSFUL DRIBBLES THIS SEASON
- Morgan Rogers – 31
- Mohammed Kudus – 29
- Jeremy Doku – 24
- Adama Traore – 21
- Eberechi Eze – 20
- Iliman Ndiaye – 20
- Bukayo Saka – 18
- Omari Hutchinson – 18
- Savinho – 18
- Luis Diaz – 17
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There’s generally a positive correlation between the most prolific dribblers and bonus points and so Rogers’ supremacy in this department is hugely encouraging.
The England Under-21 star was used sparingly in the second half of 2023/24 following his mid-season transfer from Championship side Middlesbrough but he’s established himself as a regular starter this campaign.
In fact, Pau Torres (£3.5m) and Youri Tielemans (£4m) are the only outfield players to have played more league minutes for Villa at this stage.
Rogers’ overall tally of 61 points puts him joint-12th among Dream Team midfielders but the key to his viability is his affordability.
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Even now, after a spree of 41 points from his last five appearances, he’s available for just £3m prior to Gameweek 9 – although his price will inevitably increase when the next changes occur.
To put that into perspective, only two other players among the top 50 in the overall rankings are currently available at a lower price – Christian Eriksen (£2.8m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£2.7m), who both have fewer points than Rogers.
This is all to say Villa’s No27 offers exceptional value for money.
Rogers, who features in 9.7% of teams at the time of writing, has passed the eye test from the get-go but it was notable that his returns didn’t align with the impressive nature of his performances across the first few Gameweeks of the season.
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However, he’s reaped his deserved rewards more recently and looks a solid long-term selection.
Essentially, Rogers is a key player for a top-four side, one with European fixtures to bolster their schedule, and an excellent enabler at £3m.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
