Dream Team’s most in-form defender deserves popularity spike after latest double-digit haul

DANIEL MUNOZ (£4.9m) is the Dream Team defender who refuses to drop down the rankings.

We tipped the Crystal Palace wing-back in last week’s transfer recommendations article and he delivered in spades with a 15-point haul against Doncaster on Monday night.

The Colombia international scored the opening goal and contributed to a clean sheet in the Eagles’ 2-0 win over their League Two opponents in the FA Cup fourth round.

At the time of writing, Munoz is the top-scoring asset in his position for Gameweek 23.

More broadly, he’s the most in-form defender in the game having plundered 35 points from his last three outings.

But even that doesn’t tell the full story of his fruitful form of late.

Munoz has been on a tear since Boxing Day, banking a mighty 88 points across the last eight Gameweeks!

This surge has propelled the 28-year-old up to third in the defensive rankings.

TOP DREAM TEAM DREAM DEFENDERS THIS SEASON:

• 223 pts – Trent Alexander-Arnold (£6m)
• 195 pts – Pedro Porro (£4.5m)
• 189 pts – Daniel Munoz (£4.9m)
• 187 pts – Virgil van Dijk (£5m)
• 173 pts – Gabriel (£4.8m)

The fact Munoz is rubbing shoulders with the absolute cream of the crop without European fixtures to bolster his schedule is highly impressive.

One of the reasons he’s been able to amass such a high total is Oliver Glasner’s reluctance to rest him in the domestic cups.

Munoz has earned 42 points from six appearances split between the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in 2024/25.

And it’s this boon that makes him a particularly tempting option for the foreseeable future.

Palace have four fixtures to fulfil across the next three Gameweeks and Munoz should start them all so long as he remains fit: Everton, Fulham, Aston Villa, Millwall.

The ex-Genk defender is such a strong Dream Team asset because he has multiple routes to points.

Glasner’s side have tightened up in recent weeks with five clean sheets in their last six games in all competitions – half their tally for the season.

Munoz is also one of just two players to have made 100+ tackles in 2024/25, with Noussair Mazraoui (£2.9m) being the other.

In fact, he’s earned a whopping 45 points from tackles alone this season.

Factor in three goals plus five assists and it’s recipe for sustained success.

Amazingly, only Alexander-Arnold (7.2) averages more points-per-game than Munoz (6.8m) among defenders this season.

Palace’s No12 features in 3.3% of teams right now but he deserves a steep popularity spike this month.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk