Fantasy Football

IF you’ve tuned into a Leicester game recently and wondered when David Luiz had returned to the Premier League then you’re almost certainly not alone.Wout Faes (£2.4m) shares the same position and distinctive hairstyle as the ex-Brazil international but he is very much his own man – the Foxes’ man of the moment in fact.
Tasked with filling the gap left by Wesley Fofana (£3.2m), the Belgian centre-back has single-handedly transformed his side’s defence in recent weeks.
Brendan Rodgers’ side conceded 22 goals in their first seven league games of the season and looked a total mess but they have let in just one goal in their most recent five outings.
This dramatic turnaround has coincided almost exactly with Faes’ introduction to the starting line-up.
Leicester’s defence has improved considerably since Faes became a regular starterCredit: getty
We say almost because the 24-year-old’s debut came at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where Leicester shipped six after a late hat-trick from Son Heung-min (£5.7m).
However, since then Faes has contributed to four clean sheets in five fixtures, a run that has lifted the Foxes off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone.
Naturally, this upturn is mirrored in Dream Team returns.
Faes has banked 33 points across the last four Game Weeks at an average of 6.6 per game, making him one of the most in-form assets in his position.
Of course, his overall tally is harmed by that painful hammering at Spurs where he incurred minus five points but still his season average of 4.7 points-per-game is only bettered by five other defenders (minimum three appearances) at this stage.
The list of assets in the ex-Reims defender’s position currently averaging fewer points-per-game includes Ruben Dias (£6m), Gabriel (£3.9m), Reece James (£5.7m) and several other popular options.
Similarly, Timothy Castagne (£2.6m) has racked up 30 points in his last five games and could also be considered a potential Dream Team bargain if Leicester’s transformation into a tight defensive unit is to be a permanent one.
Not David Luiz – okay?
That’s a big if though as even this improved run of form has featured defeat at Bournemouth and a drab draw at home to Crystal Palace, two results that irked the King Power faithful.
Even this weekend’s 4-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux was not quite as it seemed – the hosts registered 21 shots to the Foxes’ five.
Looking forward, Faes’ impressive defensive record is under serious threat this coming Saturday as Leicester welcome Manchester City to the midlands.
Erling Haaland (£9.4m) rarely leaves an opponents’ sheet clean but the Belgian can get through that daunting encounter without suffering severe punishment then he may be able to make up some ground against Everton, Newport and West Ham before the World Cup.
At the very least it’s worth monitoring the returns of Faes and Castagne seeing as they are both so reasonably priced right now.

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EVERYONE knows the Premier League’s so-called ‘big six’ receive a disproportionate amount of attention from the media.And to be honest, plenty of Dream Team gaffers are guilty of overlooking assets from the other 14 teams too.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at this season’s best XI not including players from Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham or Manchester United.
GOALKEEPER: Nick Pope (£3.5m)
Spoiler alert: Newcastle are well represented in this XICredit: getty
Newcastle’s first-choice custodian is currently the joint-third best asset in his position but he’s just one point off leaders Alisson (£4m) and Ederson (£5m).
Pope has 48 points to his name and is the last line of defence for the most frugal back line in the top flight – Eddie Howe’s side have conceded just ten goals in 12 games.
The England international’s tally is also helped massively by three Star Man awards, achieved through some impressive displays of shot stopping.
With an ownership of 16.1%, Pope is the second-most popular keeper in the game – Aaron Ramsdale (£3.1m) leads the way in that regard with an ownership of 20.3%.
DEFENDERS: Kieran Trippier (£4.3m), Fabian Schar (£3m), James Tarkowski (£3.1m)
Yet more evidence of Newcastle’s tight defence here.
Too late for an England call-up?
Schar’s total of 53 points is only bettered by four defenders, one of which is Trippier who has amassed 79 thanks to four Star Man awards – no player has more this season.
The right-back is pushing for a place in England’s starting line-up for the World Cup and while Dream Team points will be the last thing on Gareth Southgate’s mind, the form of Newcastle’s fan favourite can’t be denied.
Tarkowski is the 12th-best asset in his position having put in a serious effort to iron out the creases in Everton’s defence.
Only four teams have conceded fewer league goals than the Toffees at this stage and the ex-Burnley centre-back, who has 41 points, has been the leader in steadying what was previously a wobbling ship.
MIDFIELDERS: Miguel Almiron (£2.4m), James Maddison (£5m), Philip Billing (£2.9m), Jarrod Bowen (£4.4m)
Our fourth and final Newcastle representative comes in the form of the man who has gone from a Jack Grealish (£4m) punchline to one of the league’s most in-form players.
Almiron has scored five goals in his last five games, exhibiting a range of finishes to propel the Magpies into the top four.
The Paraguay international is averaging a goal every 167.8 minutes in the Premier League this season and 2022/23 is already his best-ever league campaign in terms of goals for the Toon.
Incredibly, Bukayo Saka (£4.5m), Phil Foden (£5.8m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£7.2m) are the only midfielders with more points than Almiron’s 50 at the time of writing.
Who is laughing now?Credit: getty
Leicester have clawed their way up to 17th after a truly disastrous start and Maddison’s six goals and two assists form the basis of everything the Foxes have done well going forward.
The 25-year-old has been one of the league’s best attacking midfielders for a year now and so his tally of 49 Dream Team points, at an average of 4.5 per fixture, should come as no surprise to gaffers.
Billing has been a huge surprise package this term.
The Danish midfielder fulfils a more advanced role than he did during his Huddersfield days and a spell of three goals and an assist in five games led to an influx of 44 points (he has 46 overall).
After a breakout season in 2021/22, Bowen’s average of 2.6 points-per-game may seem slightly underwhelming but it’s worth noting he’s averaged 7.8 points-per-Game-Week in October.
West Ham’s No20 has 44 points overall, a total that owes plenty to the Hammers’ Europa Conference League exploits.
FORWARDS: Aleksandar Mitrovic (£4.8m), Ivan Toney (£4.6m), Leandro Trossard (£4.2m)
No prizes for predicting our front three – this trio have earned plenty of plaudits this season.
Nine goals in eleven league gamesCredit: getty
Toney (67 points) has eight goals from 12 league outings while his west London rival Mitrovic boasts an even more prolific record of nine in eleven.
Established world-class strikers Harry Kane (£7.2m) and Erling Haaland (£9.4m) are the only players with more Premier League goals in 2022/223 than Fulham’s No9 – they’re also the only forwards with more than his 76 Dream Team points.
Brighton have slipped to ninth since Graham Potter’s departure but, if anything, Trossard’s form has improved.
The Belgium international plundered 28 of his 55 points with a hat-trick at Anfield and he scored his sixth goal of the season this past weekend as the Seagulls succumbed to Man City at the Etihad.
Trossard’s ability to provide returns in massively unfavourable fixtures has made him something of a cult hero among Dream Team bosses – he’s the tenth-best forward at this point.

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ARSENAL were held to a 1-1 draw at Southampton on Sunday but they still hold a two-point lead at the top of the Premier League table having tasted defeated just once this season.Granit Xhaka (£2.7m) scored the visitors’ lone goal at St Mary’s to underline his new role for the Gunners.
This season it has been noticeable how much more frequently the Switzerland international has occupied advanced positions and influenced play in the final third.
Previously an anchor who specialised in ball recoveries and safe possession, this term he’s operated as more of a box-to-box midfielder with a keener eye for goal.
In fact, the 30-year-old’s strike against Saints was his fourth in all competitions meaning 2022/23 is already his joint-best campaign in terms of goal returns since he moved to north London in 2016.
Xhaka has every reason to smile this season
One more goal would equal his best-ever career tally, achieved in 2014/15 with Borussia Monchengladbach, and with over half a year still to play it seems inevitable Xhaka will set a new personal best.
His reinvention is underlined by his tally of his three assists as well, giving him seven goal involvements in all.
Only Gabriel Jesus (£5.8m) and Bukayo Saka (£4.5m) have registered more goals and assists among Mikel Arteta’s squad so far this season.
Naturally this increased output has translated to Dream Team success.
At the time of writing, Xhaka is the seventh-best midfielder in the game having racked up 48 points.
He was named Star Man at St Mary’s for a 13-point haul, his biggest for a single fixture this campaign.
The list of midfielders currently trailing in Xhaka’s wake includes Bernardo Silva (£4.2m), Jarrod Bowen (£4.4m), Mason Mount (£4.6m), Bruno Fernandes (£4.9m) and Luis Diaz (£5.2m).
Offering Dream Team gaffers superb value for moneyCredit: getty
Even more notable is the affordable price of Arsenal’s No34 – at £2.7m he’s cheaper than Willian (£2.8m) and Daniel Podence (£2.8m).
The Gunners are flying high and there’s certainly no need for Arteta or Xhaka (3.6% ownership) to mess with a successful formula so Dream Team gaffers can expect the latter to continue in a more advanced role, one he’s often occupied at international level.
Whether he’s able to maintain his current rate of scoring is another matter altogether but he certainly deserves praise for his efforts so far.
Arsenal face PSV on Thursday night before hosting Nottingham Forest on Sunday – Steve Cooper’s side are currently bottom of the league so more returns for Xhaka are not out of the question.

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DREAM TEAM gaffers are constantly being reminded of the value of a busy schedule.The more fixtures a player features in the more chances they have to score points and so assets participating in Europe are particularly appealing.
However, it’s also worth looking at which players are purely the most efficient.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the individuals who have produced the most points-per-game so far this season (among those to have played at least three times).
Joao Cancelo (£7.8m)

Total points: 85
Points-per-game: 6.1

King of defenders
We start with Dream Team’s outright best defender.
Manchester City’s full-back suffered a rare blank at the weekend as Pep Guardiola’s side fell 1-0 at Anfield but still he holds a 20-point lead over the nearest rival in his position, Thiago Silva (£6.2m).
By now everyone knows that Cancelo spends most of his time acting as an additional midfielder/winger and the fact he has four assists and two goals to his name in all competitions this term comes as no surprise.
At £7.8 the Portugal international is eye-wateringly expensive but can you really put a price on an asset who is in a bracket of their own?
Ivan Toney (£4.7m)

Total points: 67
Points-per-game: 6.1

Only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane have more league goals this season
Brentford’s top scorer doesn’t have European fixtures to fulfil but he’s a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League.
A truly elite penalty-taker, Toney’s brace against Brighton on Friday night took him to eight league goals for the campaign.
Add in two assists and he’s averaging a goal involvement every 90 minutes – no wonder his points-per-game average is so impressive right now.
The Bees’ striker deserves a higher ownership than 5.7% – he’s been a reliable performer for a long while now.
Anthony Martial (£3.5m)

Total points: 25
Points-per-game: 6.3

Many Man United fans are hoping Martial will be fit for a long run of starts soonCredit: getty
Manchester United’s No9 has been limited to just 134 minutes of action this season but boy has he been efficient with his playing time.
The Frenchman has scored three goals and provided two assists, filling fans of the Red Devils with hope that he may be capable of substantial run of good form when fully fit and selected.
Martial was a relatively popular selection ahead of Game Week 1 after a promising pre-season and his brutal economy will have kept some Dream Team bosses intrigued.
It will be interesting to see what he produces if he gets a long run of starts once he’s unhindered by his back injury.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (£4.5m)

Total points: 60
Points-per-game: 6.7

Proving his critics wrongCredit: getty
Similarly to Toney, Fulham’s target man has been able to mix it with the premium forward options despite a lack of European commitments to bolster his schedule.
Mitrovic has scored seven goals in nine appearances and is undoubtedly the Cottagers’ talisman.
Those who thought the Serbian wasn’t cut out for the top flight have been made to look foolish in rapid time this season, only one asset averages more points-per-game – no prizes for guessing who…
Erling Haaland (£9.3m)

Total points: 174
Points-per-game: 13.4

Top of the pileCredit: getty
We’ve highlighted the obscenity of the Norwegian cyborg’s stats many times already this season but they truly can’t be underlined enough.
The 22-year-old has scored 20 goals at a rate of one every 52.6 minutes in all competitions – he’s 89 points ahead of his nearest Dream Team rival, the aforementioned Cancelo.
Haaland has achieved 45+ points in a Game Week twice already in his debut Dream Team campaign.
His overall tally was bettered by only seven forwards in 2021/22 – it’s mid-October for crying out loud.

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ARSENAL made it eight wins from nine Premier League games with a 1-0 win at Elland Road on Sunday.The Gunners showed admirable resilience to bag the three points as Leeds piled on the pressure without success.
Mikel Arteta’s side benefited from Patrick Bamford’s (£2.5m) rustiness as the No9 pulled a penalty wide of the post but credit still has to go to the visitors’ defensive unit for their effort in securing a clean sheet.
From a Dream Team perspective, it was a very prosperous weekend for those gaffers with more than one Arsenal defender in their XI.
In fact, with four representatives in the top 15 defenders at the time of writing, block-picking assets from the league leaders at the back looks like a smart option.
Only Newcastle have conceded fewer league goals than Arsenal this seasonCredit: getty
Aaron Ramsdale (£2.8m) produced his first double-digit haul of the campaign on Sunday, an 11-point influx has boosted him up to eighth in the goalkeeper rankings.
Ben White (£3.4m) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (£2.8m) both combined the clean sheet with 7+ ratings to bank eight points each.
The former, who is really playing out of position at right-back this season and doing a tremendous job, now has 38 points overall and is on the cusp of the top ten defenders.
Centre-backs Gabriel (£3.6m) and William Saliba (£3.2m) are ranked sixth and seventh in their position respectively with the former leapfrogging the Frenchman with a 12-point haul in Yorkshire.
It nearly all went wrong for the Brazilian at the death but his red card for a kick out on Bamford was overturned upon VAR review, perhaps fortuitously but that won’t matter to the 10.5% of Dream Team gaffers currently backing him.
In fact, Gabriel was named Star Man when all was said and done.
Arsenal players have every reason to smile right now
Saliba had to make do with four points having given away the penalty with a handball, an infringement that also saw him booked.
Substitute Kieran Tierney (£3.5m) picked up his share of the clean sheet points too and it’s the Scotsman who is the fourth Emirates resident to reside within the top 15 defenders – making Arsenal the most represented team in this field.
And what’s most appealing to Dream Team bosses is the reasonable price tags attached to the players in questions.
Gabriel is the most expensive of the lot and he can be recruited for £3.6m – no fewer than 22 other defenders are more costly currently.
It’s all well and good analysing what has already happened but the key question for Dream Team gaffers is: how likely is it that these players will continue to provide healthy returns?
Block-picking Arsenal defenders is a viable strategyCredit: getty
Arsenal face PSV (twice), Southampton and Nottingham Forest before Halloween and on current form it seems logical to expect more clean sheets from that run of relatively favourable fixtures.
Chelsea and Brighton should provide stiffer competition in November but Arteta’s side also face Zurich and goal-shy Wolves before the World Cup.
Backing any combination of White, Saliba and Gabriel could be a shrewd move – some managers may even be thinking of fitting all three into their XI.

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WHERE Dream Team is concerned, we love to celebrate lowly-selected players who are able to match the big boys point-for-point.Unfortunately, it’s also our duty to highlight popular assets who aren’t pulling their weight.
These are the five most-popular players with fewer than 25 points at this stage…
Oleksandr Zinchenko (£3.6m)

20.5% ownership
17 points

It’s all been downhill since Game Week 1
A common theme here will be injuries which will explain a lack of points but not why so many Dream Team gaffers have stood by the players in question.
The Ukraine international was a smart selection prior to Game Week 1 and he instantly justified his popularity with a 15-point haul in his first outing.
However, Zinchenko has missed seven fixtures since then and has found points hard to come by when fit and involved.
Both Kieran Tierney (£3.5m) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (£2.8m) have fulfilled left-back duties for Arsenal in recent weeks and with the Gunners having taken a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League, the former Man City man may have to wait his turn even when he does regain full fitness.
Zinchenko will probably have an important role to play later in the campaign but Dream Team bosses can’t afford to carry him right now.
Dejan Kulusevski (£3.5m)

10% ownership
22 points

Kulusevski may return to action in midweekCredit: getty
Another asset hindered by injury troubles but one who will possibly return this week as Tottenham take on Man United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old midfielder has been an excellent Dream Team asset when available since his move to north London.
He’s registered one goal and three assists in 503 minutes of Premier League action so far this season, following up on the 13 goal involvements he achieved in just half a campaign in 2021/22.
With Richarlison (£3.8m) now sidelined, there should be plenty of minutes for Kulusevski going forward, assuming his body holds up.
Kyle Walker (£3.8m)

7.6% ownership
10 points

A World Cup doubt
It’s important to note here that the Manchester City defender’s returns were desperately lacking even before he underwent surgery on his groin.
Walker is averaging just 1.4 points-per-game this season compared to Joao Cancelo’s (£7.8m) 6.1 – that shows the value added by full-backs who offer plenty going forward.
The England international is just the eighth-best player in his position among Man City players!
Every Dream Team manager should make use of several Etihad residents throughout the course of the season but make sure you’re selecting the right ones.
David de Gea (£2.8m)

6.7% ownership
23 points

De Gea hasn’t competed with the top goalkeepers for a few seasons nowCredit: getty
Ten goalkeepers have amassed more points than Manchester United’s No1 at this stage.
In fairness, the outlook has brightened somewhat for De Gea in the last two Game Weeks with clean sheets against Omonia Nicosia and Newcastle but it wasn’t that long ago he incurred minus five points at the hands of Man City.
Dream Team bosses backing the Spaniard would do well to consider a switch to Kepa Arrizabalaga now the latter is Chelsea’s first-choice keeper – the Blues have won five games in a row this month.
Christian Eriksen (£2.6m)

6.6% ownership
11 points

Eriksen is averaging 0.9 points-per-gameCredit: getty
We finish with another of Erik ten Hag’s troops.
The Danish playmaker was a massively popular pick prior to Game Week 1 after a prosperous return to Dream Team in Brentford colours last season.
Eriksen has provided three assists for the Red Devils this term but he’s yet to score, mostly because he’s been deployed in a deeper midfield role than perhaps suits him.
The 30-year-old has blanked in eight of his 12 appearances so far – he simply doesn’t warrant being more popular than James Maddison (£5.3m) and Mason Mount (£4.6m).

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