Dream Team

DREAM TEAM managers have a whole host of injury concerns to negotiate ahead of Gameweek 12.There are question marks over several of the game’s most-popular assets and so many gaffers may have their hand forced this week in terms of which players to ditch.
However, there are several tempting options in regards to potential recruits, allow us to highlight a few.

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Arsenal have injury concerns but Martinelli is ready to take on Burnley this weekendCredit: Dream Tea
Gabriel Martinelli (£4.3m)
Gameweek 12 simply consists of ten Premier League fixtures ahead of the international break so there’s no need for gaffers to take midweek exploits into account when setting up their XIs this time around.
Saturday’s meeting between Arsenal and Burnley at the Emirates has to be considered a mismatch on paper.
The Gunners have taken 24 points from their first 11 league fixtures this season while Vincent Kompany’s side have earned just four points since promotion.
Bukayo Saka (£6.3m) remains the primary threat having scored five goals and provided seven assists already this term but the England winger continues to be hampered by injury niggles to some degree.
Gabriel Jesus (£5.2m) is sidelined and Martin Odegaard’s (£4.9m) availability is also uncertain at this stage and so it seems as if Martinelli may be best placed to benefit against the Clarets’ leaky defence – only Sheffield United have conceded more goals in the top flight.
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The Brazil international has registered 35 points in three and a half Gameweeks since returning from injury.
Or it may be that Dream Team bosses target an Arsenal clean sheet in Gameweek 12, given that Burnley are the league’s lowest scorers.
Ben White (£4.3m) and William Saliba (£3.6m) are the two best options if such a tactic appeals.
Anthony Gordon (£3.5m)
A popular recruit in Dream Team this weekCredit: Getty
Newcastle travel to Bournemouth this weekend in what is expected to be another one-sided contest.
The Cherries lost 6-1 to Manchester City last time out and currently find themselves in the relegation zone whereas Eddie Howe’s side are undefeated in their last nine domestic games.
Only Pep Guardiola’s troops have scored more league goals than the Magpies in 2023/24 so it would be reasonable to expect healthy attacking returns from the visitors on Saturday.
Gordon leads the way among Newcastle assets in terms of goal involvements – he’s scored four goals and provided four assists.
The quick winger has also made more tackles than any of his team-mates.
At the time of writing, Gordon is Dream Team’s fifth-best midfielder having amassed 89 points.
Jarrod Bowen (£5m)
108 Dream Team points and countingCredit: Reuters
West Ham’s form has fallen off a cliff of late but their No20 continues to prosper individually.
Recruiting Bowen as a midfielder is something of a Dream Team hack as he’s more of a forward in reality – he’s even led the line at times in recent weeks.
This is reflected in his tally of eight goals in all competitions, the most among midfield assets at this stage.
Granted, he’s generally performed better away from home this season but that’s probably more of a quirk than a long-term pattern.
The Hammers host Nottingham Forest on Sunday and while Steve Cooper’s men will have taken confidence from their 2-0 win over Aston Villa at the City Ground last weekend, their away record remains a concern – they’ve taken four points from a possible 18 on the road.
Bowen has registered 17 shots on target in all competitions this season – the four players above him in this metric are all categorised as strikers.

Jeremy Doku (£3.9m)
Man of the momentCredit: Reuters
A quick one to finish – and quick is the right word.
Dream Team bosses shouldn’t chase points that have already been distributed but they should look to jump upon in-form players if they believe more returns will follow.
Doku’s 24-point haul in Gameweek 11 is in the record books but the scintillating nature of the tricky Belgian’s performances suggest he’ll continue to make headlines throughout his first season at Man City.
The 21-year-old’s electric dribbling has seen him race to 20 bonus points – only James Maddison (£4.4m) and Eberechi Eze (£3.6m) have more at this juncture.
The only caveat with this suggestion is the ever-present threat of Pep Roulette.
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Doku probably will start against Chelsea on Sunday but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Jack Grealish (£4.1m) got the nod at right wing either.
Dream Team managers need to lock in their transfers for Gameweek 12 before the 11:30am deadline on Saturday.

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FANS of both Tottenham and Chelsea will be trying to piece together exactly what happened in North London last night.The Blues 4-1 win was one of the most uniquely entertaining games in Premier League history.
Amid what felt like an unprecedented volume of VAR reviews, the hosts went down to nine men and continued to persist with the highest of defensive lines.
Ange Postecoglou’s men shaped up in a 7-0-1 formation at times and the visitors were seemingly confused by the abnormality of it all as they fell into a frustrating pattern of offsides and over-hit throughballs before they eventually capitalised on the advantageous dynamic.

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The morning after the night beforeCredit: Dream Team
Let’s unpack the madness from a Dream Team perspective as there’s plenty for gaffers to mull over.
Nicolas Jackson (£2.7m) was the big winner when all was said and done as he bagged his first professional hat-trick for a 21-point return.
However, the Senegal international made hard work of what should have been easy pickings.
Usually, a hat-trick would trigger a tidal wave of transfers in Dream Team but viewers of the game are unlikely to have been impressed with what the saw from the striker – a remarkable sentiment for a player who took home the match ball!
Jackson is due to face Manchester City and Newcastle in his next two games and, unless those teams also go down to nine men in similarly catastrophic fashion, he’ s unlikely to benefit from such a fortuitous situation again.
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At the time of writing, the 22-year-old is the joint-top performer in Gameweek 11 alongside Jeremy Doku (£3.9m) but it’s probably fair to say the latter will be considerably more popular among Dream Team managers this week.
The easiest hat-trick he’ll ever scoreCredit: Alamy
It was a nightmarish evening for Spurs’ defence.
Cristian Romero (£3.7m) was among the best-performing assets in his position prior to Gameweek 11 but the Argentine centre-back’s red card meant he ultimately registered -5 points – yes, minus five!
And of course the World Cup winner will now be suspended for Spurs’ next three fixtures, meaning he won’t return until December 7th.
Postecoglou is likely to be without Van de Ven for even longer as the Dutchman pulled up with what looked like a serious hamstring injury.
The 22-year-old, who has been one of the best defenders in the league this term, could hardly walk as he left the pitch.
Destiny Udogie (£2.9m) joined Romero in an early bath for two blatant lunges worthy of yellow cards – Gary Neville on commentary said the young Italian was lucky to avoid a straight red for his first offence.
The energetic left-back will only miss one game through suspension but his Dream Team viability took a big hit when he registered minus four points on Monday night.
Van de Ven pulled up with a hamstring injury amid the chaosCredit: Getty
Then there’s the question mark over James Maddison’s (£4.4m) fitness.
Spurs’ No10 remains the third-best midfielder in Dream Team at the time of writing but he was forced off before half time with a knock.
Postecoglou talked down the issue after the game so it may be that the in-form playmaker is available to face Wolves in Gameweek 12 but gaffers await further updates.
This is a major plot point to monitor in the realm of Dream Team as Maddison is the game’s second-most selected player with an ownership of 43%.

Switching focus back to Chelsea, Cole Palmer (£2.8m) continues to impress for his new club.
Results have improved since Mauricio Pochettino installed the former Man City youngster as starting right winger with the 21-year-old also jumping the queue to become first-choice penalty taker.
He converted from the spot to equalise at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and he assisted Jackson’s third goal to pocket 12 points by full time.
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Having plundered 56 points across his last seven outings, Palmer represents a tempting value-for-money option.
Chelsea don’t have European fixtures to bolster their schedule this season but Palmer will certainly be a viable choice for gaffers in need of a cheap midfielder around the Christmas period.

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JUST a few weeks ago, merely the notion of an Everton defender thriving in the world of Dream Team would have been laughable.Now it’s a reality.
Vitaliy Mykolenko (£2.7m) entered the top ten assets in his position this weekend with a 10-point return at Brighton’s expense.
Dream Team’s most in-form defender!Credit: Dream Team
The Toffees’ left-back would have risen to joint-sixth had his side held on for a win over the Seagulls but Ashley Young’s (£1.9m) late own goal meant even honours at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Mykolenko gave his side the lead early on when his strike deflected in off Lewis Dunk (£2.5m) and he played his part in a classic rearguard before the visitors eventually broke through with a slice of good fortune.
While the Ukraine international would have been disappointed with the result having led for so long, he continued his impressive turnaround in the world of Dream Team.
By the end of Gameweek 6, Mykolenko had just 16 points to his name.
However, after an upturn in form, emphasised by a burst of 40 points across the last four Gameweeks, he now boasts an overall total of 62.
Incredibly, he’s now above the likes of Kyle Walker (£3.5m), Virgil van Dijk (£4.5m) and Gabriel (£4.1m) in the rankings.
An unexpected gemCredit: Getty
Not that many Dream Team gaffers have benefited from this purple patch.
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Everton’s No19 currently features in just 0.1% of teams.
For perspective, he’s less popular than Daniel Sassi (£1m), Toti (£1.9m) and Ameen Al-Dakhil (£0.8m) – if those names don’t ring a bell, that’s the point!
Mykolenko’s lowly ownership is understandable as it wasn’t that long ago Everton looked as if they would spend the entire campaign battling relegation.
Sean Dyche’s side remain 16th even now but they do seem to have turned a corner of late.
Defeat in the Merseyside derby at Anfield is their only loss in five games since the start of October – a run that includes three victories and three clean sheets.
Everton’s results have improved in the last monthCredit: AFP

What’s particularly notable about Mykolenko’s recent success is his extraordinary tackle rate.
The 24-year-old has registered 37 tackles this season, the highest tally among defenders and fourth-highest among all players.
17 of his 62 points (27.4%) have come through tackles.
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Whether gaffers should be rushing to recruit Mykolenko is another conversation entirely but he deserves huge credit for his recent efforts.
He’s statistically the most in-form defender in Dream Team right now!

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THERE are several obvious reasons not to select Bruno Fernandes (£5.5m) in Dream Team.Firstly, as captain of Manchester United, he represents a team that have underwhelmed so far this season.
The Red Devils are eighth in the Premier League table having lost five of their 11 games.
Erik ten Hag’s have also lost two of their three Champions League games and were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Newcastle last week.
Problems to solveCredit: Getty
Secondly, it’s fair to say that Fernandes wouldn’t win many popularity contests.
Most elite-level athletes are ultra competitive but the Portugal international is particularly prone to adverse reactions when things don’t go his way – see the last ten minutes of the Manchester derby for the most recent example.
This unflattering habit tends to irk neutrals (and even a few Man United fans) which can negatively impact their perception of him as a player when weighing up potential Dream Team strategies.
Thirdly, Fernandes is undeniably expensive.
At £5.5m, the 29-year-old is the third-most costly midfielder in the game and the joint-fifth most expensive among all assets currently.
All that being said, the truth is that Fernandes remains an excellent option.
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An important figure for Manchester UnitedCredit: Dream Team
While it’s true Man United have been below par as a collective, individual performances are what really matter when measuring one’s Dream Team viability.
On Saturday, Fernandes spared his team further blushes with a stoppage-time winner at Fulham for an 11-point return.
And a quick look at his underlying numbers suggest he was owed a double-digit haul.
He leads the way among midfielders for big chances created this season and only Jarrod Bowen (£5m) has registered more shots on target.
His petulance may rub some fans up the wrong way but Dream Team bosses should remove personal feelings and judge each player on their sporting merit.
Fernandes is prone to a sulk and he spends plenty of time arguing with referees but in terms of attacking potency, both as a playmaker and a goal threat, there are few better in his position.

That last-gasp momentCredit: Rex
His match-winning effort at Craven Cottage took his overall total to 85 points – a tally bettered by only five midfielders at the time of writing.
Admittedly, Fernandes’ price is a legitimate concern for Dream Team managers.
With so many in-form options and just nine points separating the fourth and 11th-best midfielders right now, opting for a cheaper alternative to allow for improvements elsewhere is a perfectly reasonable tactic.
However, United’s skipper should not be underestimated, especially given his upcoming fixtures.
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Ten Hag’s men face Copenhagen on Wednesday night then play Luton, Everton and Galatasaray in their next three.

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