Bukayo Saka overtakes Mohamed Salah to become Dream Team’s top point scorer but how long will he sit the throne?

WHEN Erling Haaland’s (£7.9m) foot injury coincided with Mohamed Salah’s (£6.7m) departure to the Africa Cup of Nations, the door was left ajar for Bukayo Saka (£5.6m) to sit the Dream Team throne.

And Arsenal’s No7 did just that last night when he leapfrogged the Egyptian superstar at the top of the overall rankings.

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Saka scored the Gunners’ second goal, ultimately a decisive one, against Nottingham Forest to bank nine points when all was said and done.

His efforts at the City Ground pushed his season tally to 218 points, six more than Salah at this stage.

The England winger now has ten goals and 12 assists to his name in 2023/24 but his impressive haul of 35 bonus points is also a key factor in his success – only four players boast superior tallies.

DREAM TEAM’S TOP SCORERS THIS SEASON:

• Bukayo Saka – 218 pts
• Mohamed Salah – 212 pts
• Joao Pedro – 204 pts
• Phil Foden – 201 pts
• Erling Haaland – 195 pts
• Jarrod Bowen – 195 pts
• Darwin Nunez – 181 pts
• Kieran Trippier – 179 pts
• Julian Alvarez – 175 pts
• Trent Alexander-Arnold – 172 pts

Saka’s ownership of 50.5% is evidence of the fact Dream Team managers have largely kept the faith despite some criticisms of the 22-year-old’s performances of late.

It’s fair to say he looked a tad fatigued before the winter break but the short rest seems to have done him good.

Plus, it’s a measure of Saka’s pedigree that his returns remained relatively healthy during his so-called ‘bad patch’.

Between Gameweeks 17 and 19, he registered a perfectly respectable 23 points across four fixtures at a time when Mikel Arteta’s side lost to West Ham, Fulham and Liverpool.

Simply put, Saka is a top-tier Dream Team asset.

But how long will be able to retain the crown?

Haaland is expected to return to action in some capacity against Burnley this evening.

Manchester City’s No9 has missed his side’s last nine fixtures and yet the gap to Saka is just 23 points – the Norwegian is capable of such a haul in one outing.

Haaland averages 9.8 points-per-game this season, a rate bettered only by Michael Olise (£3.9m).

HIGHEST POINTS-PER-GAME AVERAGE THIS SEASON (MINIMUM FIVE APPEARANCES):

• Michael Olise – 10
• Erling Haaland – 9.8
• Mohamed Salah – 7.9
• Bukayo Saka – 7.8
• Son Heung-min – 7.4
• James Maddison – 7.3
• Jarrod Bowen – 7.2
• Phil Foden – 7.2
• Pedro Porro – 6.9
• Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6.6

A home game against the Clarets has to be considered a favourable match-up for Haaland’s return fixture although he may be eased back in with a short cameo as a second-half substitute.

Looking forward, Pep Guardiola’s face Brentford, Everton and Copenhagen across Gameweeks 22 and 23 while Arsenal take on Liverpool and West Ham in the same time.

Not only is Saka at a numerical disadvantage in terms of the fixtures, the difficulty of his match-ups compared to Haaland’s also work against him – Liverpool are top of the Premier League table while West Ham currently sit sixth.

Plus, Salah is expected to be available again at some point in the coming weeks.

The battle for Dream Team supremacy this season is set to be very competitive throughout the second half of the campaign, although the smart money is on the imperious Haaland if he avoids another spell on the sidelines.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk