Dream Team

YESTERDAY, we published the best possible Dream Team XI of the season using only players from the bottom half of the Premier League table.Today, we present the best XI with a new restriction: that no club can have more than one representative.
Let’s get into it…
GOALKEEPER: Emiliano Martinez (£4m)
World Cup winnerCredit: GETTY
Goalkeeper is the lowest-scoring position in Dream Team so it doesn’t make sense to select Nick Pope (£3.9m) or David de Gea (£3.7m) here because there are other Newcastle and Manchester United assets we need to make use of to ensure this XI is optimised.
Argentina’s No1 slots in nicely because with 94 points to his name he’s the seventh-best asset in his position, a ranking he could easily improve by two or three places before the season’s end.
Aston Villa’s significant upturn under Unai Emery has resulted in Martinez keeping eleven clean sheets in the league this term – only four keepers have more to their name at this stage.
DEFENDERS: Kieran Trippier (£5.4m), Ben Mee (£3.6m), Thiago Silva (£5m)
The Magpies’ first-choice right-back is in a league of his own among Dream Team defenders with 216 points overall, 63 more than his closest rival, Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.7m), who doesn’t make the cut because Liverpool’s best-performer (you know who) has over 100 more points.
Trippier was ever-present throughout the first two thirds of the campaign when Newcastle racked up loads of clean sheets and his creative output (mostly from set-pieces) has ensured a tide of 7+ ratings and Star Man awards.
Most read in Football
The Bees’ MeeCredit: GETTY
Generally speaking, it’s been a disappointing season for defenders so there’s no sense in using up a precious Manchester City, Manchester United or Arsenal allocation in this position, which leaves the door open for Brentford’s reliable centre-back.
Mee has churned out 109 points to date, the same tally as John Stones (£6.2m), and his consistent performances have helped the Bees to a comfortable top-half finish.
Chelsea’s troubles in attack help us out in this exercise as it means we can confidently select their best defensive asset without missing out on substantial points elsewhere.
The Blues actually boast a very respectable defensive record this season; their total of 39 goals conceded is equal to Arsenal’s and is only bettered by Man City and Newcastle.
Prior to his injury, Silva was a class act amid faltering team-mates and he only dropped out of the top ten Dream Team defenders while sidelined – he’s now on 103 points.
MIDFIELDERS: Bruno Fernandes (£6.9m), Martin Odegaard (£4.5m), Solly March (£4.8m), Jarrod Bowen (£4m)
Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) has the second-highest points tally among all players this season but we crunched the numbers and found the optimum combination featured Man United’s midfield maestro instead – tough break for the England international.
Fernandes is one of only two players in his position on 200+ points and his battle with Kevin De Bruyne (£8.4m) for supremacy looks set to go down to the wire – you don’t need us to tell you why the Belgian isn’t present in this XI.
A massively impressive season
Arsenal’s captain has exactly the same number of points (187) as Bukayo Saka (£5.4m) at this stage and the only reason we opted for Odegaard is because he averages more points-per-game than his team-mate.
The Gunners had strong candidates for this team in defence but ultimately it had to be one of their two standout midfielders, who have both been among the top five assets in their position for the majority of the season.
Brighton’s enterprising midfield makes March (153 points) an easy selection, he edges out Kaoru Mitoma (£4.6m) by eight points, although the Japanese winger is likely to overtake his team-mate soon as it looked as if the Englishman pulled his hamstring in Game Week 33.
Just six midfielders are above the Seagulls’ No7 is the rankings: De Bruyne, Fernandes, Riyad Mahrez (£6.3m), Saka, Odegaard and Phil Foden (£5.3m).
West Ham’s No20 completes our midfield having earned 137 points despite his side’s underwhelming domestic campaign.
Bowen has taken full advantage of favourable match-ups in the Europa Conference League with over a third of his points having been registered on Thursday nights.
FORWARDS: Erling Haaland (£10.5m), Mohamed Salah (£8.8m), Harry Kane (£9.2m)
It takes someone special to deny De Bruyne a spot
De Bruyne and all of City’s other successful assets never stood a chance when pitted against Haaland.
The prolific Norwegian’s tally of 419 points is 126 clear of his nearest competitor among all players – a ludicrous margin.
Read More on The Sun
In truth, our forward line more or less takes care of itself with tried-and-tested goalscorers Salah (259 points) and Kane (256 points) once again delivering the goods despite their respective clubs’ problems in 2022/23.
Our team may be a tad top-heavy but that’s only because we followed the points! More

AS the season draws to a close, it’s only right we shine a light on the Dream Team assets residing in the unfashionable half of the Premier League table.Here we’ve assembled the best possible Dream Team XI, as determined by total season points, using only players who represent clubs currently in the bottom half.
GOALKEEPER: Kepa Arrizabalaga (£3.2m)
We promise this article isn’t just an elaborate reminder that Chelsea are in the bottom halfCredit: GETTY
The Blues’ No1 is possibly the only Stamford Bridge resident who can call 2022/23 his best season on English shores.
Only four goalkeepers have more points than the Spaniard’s 97 at this stage.
Arrizabalaga has kept 12 clean sheets this season and deserved to usurp Edouard Mendy (£3.2m) as Chelsea’s first-choice custodian.
DEFENDERS: Thiago Silva (£5m), James Tarkowski (£2.6m), Kalidou Koulibaly (£4.4m)
Here’s the thing, while Chelsea have been wasteful and unimaginative in attack, their defensive record is actually rather good.
Even after a flurry of disappointing defeats since Frank Lampard was appointed interim manager, only Newcastle and Man City have conceded fewer league goals this season, hence Koulibaly and Silva’s presence in this XI.
The latter stood out in the first two thirds of the campaign as an unflappable buoy of class amid floundering castaways and held his position among Dream Team’s top ten defenders before an injury caused him to slide down the rankings – he’s currently 18th.
Most read in Football
Captain of our bottom-half XICredit: GETTY
Everton have struggled all season but they haven’t conceded anywhere near as many goals as the likes of Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Leicester and Bournemouth.
Tarkowski is very much a traditional centre-back in that he specialises in penalty-box defending: headers, blocks, clearances.
The 30-year-old has been fighting an uphill battle this campaign but 17 match ratings of 7+ are evidence that his individual efforts have been recognised even though it’s been a mostly miserable year for the Toffees.
MIDFIELDERS: Jarrod Bowen (£4m), Said Benrahma (£3.5m), James Maddison (£5.5m), James Ward-Prowse (£3.4m)
The value of European fixtures on display here.
West Ham have only recently trudged out of the relegation quagmire but they’re still active in the Europa Conference League, a competition both Bowen and Benrahma have utilised superbly.
In fact, the former has earned 37.2% of his points in Europe this term while the latter owes a quarter of his returns to his Thursday night adventures.
West Ham face AZ Alkmaar in a European semi-final first leg on Thursday night
Maddison averages four points-per-game this season which puts him above the likes of Solly March (£4.8m) and Jack Grealish (£5.1m) in the same metric.
Leicester’s No10 has 115 points overall by virtue of ten goals and nine assists – imagine the scramble for his signature if the Foxes are relegated later this month.
And the same could be said for Ward-Prowse with Southampton nailed on for the drop having mustered just 24 points to date.
Saints’ skipper is the Premier League’s ultimate set-piece specialist and 112 points represents a noble effort given his side’s collective performances.
The England international has almost three times as many points as Carlos Alcaraz (£1.6m), Southampton’s next-best midfielder.
FORWARDS: Michail Antonio (£4.1m), Kai Havertz (£3.5m), Rodrigo (£3.3m)
The Hammers’ bullish forward has scored 13 goals in all competitions, a decent return in a side that have struggled in the final third domestically.
Antonio’s tally of 120 points is equal to that of Leandro Trossard (£4m), the pair are joint-13th among forwards in the rankings.
Rodrigo has scored 12 league goals this season
Havertz and Rodrigo are one place back on 102 points each.
The former is clearly a good footballer but he’s simply not prolific enough to lead the line for a club of Chelsea’s ambitions and as he approaches the end of his third season at Stamford Bridge, his role at the club remains loosely defined.
Leeds are now odds-on to return to the Championship having dropped down to 19th place in the table after the latest round of fixtures.
Read More on The Sun
Much like Leicester, it’s the defence that has caused all the problems as their tally of 44 goals scored is superior to almost every other side in the bottom half – Rodrigo has 12 of those.
From an individual perspective, 2022/23 has been the Spaniard’s best Premier League campaign by a comfortable margin but it seems as if his efforts will be undermined by significant flaws elsewhere in the team. More

ERLING HAALAND (£10.5m) is one of the most prolific goalscorers in world football.And Kevin De Bruyne (£8.4m) is arguably the best pure creator in Premier League history.
When Manchester City paired the two with the signing of the Norwegian poacher, fans and pundits expected big things… and the duo have not disappointed.
The Etihad’s apex predator has already broken the record for most goals in a Prem campaign (35 and counting) while the strawberry-blonde playmaker is leading the way in terms of assists with 16 – he’s nailed on to win his third Playmaker of the Season award on these shores.
De Bruyne has assisted Haaland eight times in the league alone this term, the most prolific combination in the top flight, as most expected.
But which other Premier League players have linked up the most in 2022/23?
A dream duo
PREMIER LEAGUE ASSIST-SCORER COMBINATIONS 2022/23:

Kevin De Bruyne to Erling Haaland – 8
Bruno Fernandes to Marcus Rashford – 6
Bukayo Saka to Gabriel Martinelli – 5
Jack Harrison to Rodrigo – 4
James Maddison to Harvey Barnes – 4
Ivan Perisic to Harry Kane – 4
Dejan Kulusevski to Harry Kane – 4
Michael Olise to Eberechi Eze – 4
Jack Grealish to Erling Haaland – 4

It’s no surprise to see Manchester United’s two-best attacking assets on the podium.
Rashford and Fernandes have 529 Dream Team points between them and the Old Trafford faithful will be hoping the pair can get their side over the line in regards to Champions League qualification this month.
Most read in Football
What’s remarkable is that the Portugal international has provided seven league assists in total, meaning he’s only set up a team-mate other than Rashford once.
Arsenal’s first-choice wingers have both been brilliant this season and it’s incredible to think they’re both just 21 years old.
Martinelli has scored 15 goals and provided five assists in the league while Saka has 13 goals and 11 assists to his name – the latter is De Bruyne’s closest rival for the Playmaker of the Season award.
Fernandes has assisted Rashford six timesCredit: GETTY
It’s interesting that the list features two combinations from the opposite end of the table as well.
Leeds have been ultra reliant on Harrison for creativity and Rodrigo for goals so it makes sense the duo have combined four times this season.
And Maddison and Barnes’ presence is evidence of Leicester’s attacking pedigree, which makes it all the more ridiculous that they’re threatened by relegation.
Both the Yorkshire giants and the Foxes have been severely undermined by shambolic defences this season.
Dream Team managers eyeing up a specific team in hope of late returns would do well to study the top assist-scorer combinations.
There’s few better feelings for a gaffer than checking the app on a Saturday afternoon and seeing their players have been among the goals AND the assists – points galore! More

GAME WEEK 32 was a high-scoring affair but no Dream Team gaffer outperformed Dean Jago.The Manchester United fan racked up 152 points when all was said and done thanks to some inspired selections.
Let’s take a closer look at how he did it.
152 points!
Brighton registered back-to-back clean sheets this past week, starting off with an emphatic 6-0 win over a disjointed Wolves at the weekend before a last-gasp 1-0 win over Man United on Thursday night.
As a result, Jason Steele (£3m) was by far and away the best-performing goalkeeper with 16 points – he averages an impressive 4.5 points-per-game this season.
Similarly, Pervis Estupinan (£4.1m) reigned supreme among defenders with 18 points having also provided an assist on Saturday.
The Ecuadorian left-back features in just 0.6% of teams so that has to go down as a masterstroke by Dean at this late stage of the campaign.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.7m) has been on a tear of late and while his assist streak came to an end against Fulham, he more than compensated by claiming the Star Man award on top of a clean sheet.
Liverpool’s homegrown hero added 13 points to his tally in Game Week 32 to take his grand total to 145 – only Kieran Trippier (£5.4m) has more among defenders!
Lastly in defence, Nathan Ake (£5.1m) returned from injury in fine style by scoring Man City’s opening goal against West Ham in a 3-0 victory for a 13-point return.
Most read in Football
A Dream Team gem in recent weeks
Bruno Fernandes (£6.9m) took full advantage of Kevin De Bruyne’s (£8.4m) absences to reclaim top spot among midfielders by virtue of an 11-point haul.
The Portuguese playmaker is in a league of his own when it comes to 7+ ratings, he’s earned 40 of them in 2022/23, seven more than his closest rival.
Arsenal’s title hopes may be dwindling but Martin Odegaard (£4.5m) continues to provide healthy returns.
The Gunners’ skipper enjoyed himself against a shambolic Chelsea outfit, bagging a brace and the Star Man award to bank 18 points in one fell swoop.
Jack Grealish (£5.1m) has been among the goal involvements since the World Cup and he kept that going in Game Week 32 with an assist against the Hammers.
Manchester City’s No10 also edged out his team-mates to claim the Star Man gong from that encounter – he earned 12 points from his two fixtures overall.
Dean is clearly a gaffer who stays up to date with injury news because he premeditated Luis Diaz’s (£5.1m) first starts since October to great avail.
Back among the points
The Colombian winger pouched 13 points thanks to Tottenham’s latest slow start (a generous phrase) before adding three more via 7+ rating at home to Fulham in midweek.
Dean may have employed some funky selections in defence and midfield but his front three was as mainstream as they come, with good reason.
Erling Haaland (£10.5m) is a no-brainer at this stage and the prolific poacher banked 16 points in a record-breaking week.
It’s ridiculous that 16 points from two games is statistically a below average return by Haaland’s standards – unbelievable.
Read More on The Sun
Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) mustered just three points this past week but Mohamed Salah (£8.8m) registered 16 courtesy of goals against Spurs and Fulham – Liverpool are finishing the season in style after an underwhelming campaign overall.
Excellent work, Dean, good luck to you and all gaffers ahead of Game Week 33! More

ONE way or another, Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.4m) always finds a way to finish among the Premier League’s top assist providers.Just a month ago, such a prospect seemed impossible.
Liverpool’s No66 had just two league assists to his name on April 8th and it looked as if his disappointing campaign from a defensive perspective would be compounded by a lack of concrete output in the creative department.
However, the 24-year-old flicked a switch and notched six assists in the space of five fixtures, a fruitful burst facilitated by Jurgen Klopp’s increasing inclination to give Alexander-Arnold minutes in midfield.
All of a sudden Alexander-Arnold has as many assists as James MaddisonCredit: GETTY
The Reds’ upsurge has probably come too late for them to make top four this season but plenty of Dream Team gaffers have enjoyed their renaissance of late.
Mohamed Salah (£8.5m) has banked 72 points across the last eight Game Weeks and the Anfield faithful have even been treated to a glimpse of an unhampered Diogo Jota (£4.4m) following some frustrating injury setbacks.
But it’s the form of Alexander-Arnold, who is now joint-fifth among Premier League assist providers for 2022/23, that has excited Dream Team bosses most as the England international is a top-tier asset when in the groove.
His assist streak came to an end against Fulham on Wednesday night but he swooped the Star Man award to continue his purple patch.
Liverpool’s local hero has now amassed 72 points in the last ten Game Weeks.
This is a remarkable run for a defender who has only contributed to one clean sheet in his last nine outings.
Most read in Football
Klopp has deployed Liverpool’s No66 in midfield latelyCredit: GETTY
No doubt many Dream Team managers will be thinking of using one of their May transfers (available from Friday morning) to bring Alexander-Arnold into their team.
And that may well be a smart move but it’s worth noting the main drawback: Liverpool’s fixtures.
It’s not that Klopp’s side face a difficult run-in (Brentford, Leicester, Aston Villa, Southampton) it’s that they have just four fixtures left to fulfil before the end of the season.
Six teams will be busier in the coming weeks and so assets from Manchester City, Newcastle, Manchester United, Brighton, Chelsea (not so much) and West Ham have an edge in terms of the schedule.
Saying that, Alexander-Arnold has the necessary pedigree to outscore some quality players despite a fixture deficit.
Something for gaffers to ponder when plotting their strategy for the season’s climax. More