Fantasy Football

SHREWD Dream Team bosses are always on the look out for potential bargain differential options.The likes of Erling Haaland (£8.4m), Gabriel Jesus (£5.6m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£7.4m) are all thriving but they’re also widely owned so chances are your mini-league rivals will also benefit from their returns.
Lowly-owned players often make the greatest impact and if they’re affordable then all the better.
But identifying such assets is easier said than done.
Overlooked for England?Credit: getty
One such avenue worth considering leads to Elland Road where a pair of wingers have made some ripples throughout the first seven Game Weeks of the campaign.
Leeds have been the definition of a mixed bag so far this season having won two league games, drawn two and lost two.
Jesse Marsch’s side still have their vulnerabilities in defence but they pack a decent punch going forward, led by the industry and ingenuity of Jack Harrison (£3.5m).
The 25-year-old can perhaps count himself as rather unlucky not to have been included in the recent England squad given his form since the turn of the year.
He scored seven goals in the second half of 2021/22 as the Whites just about preserved their top flight status.
In fact it was Harrison (3.4% ownership) who scored in stoppage-time at Brentford on the final day to confirm his side’s relegation escape.
And Leeds’ No11 has picked up where he left off this term with three assists and a goal in six outings so far.
Only Kevin De Bruyne (£7.4m) and Bukayo Saka (£3.9m) have provided more Premier League assists at this early stage of the campaign.
Harrison’s creative stats are among the best in the league so far this seasonCredit: getty
These stats reinforce what many have observed, Harrison looks lively and threatening.
He’s racked up 28 points for his efforts at an average of 4.7 per outing – Martin Odegaard (£3.2m), Alexis Mac Allister (£2.7m), De Bruyne and Pascal Gross (£3m) are the only midfielders who have accumulated their points at a better rate.
However, Harrison is only Leeds’ second most in-form winger as Luis Sinisterra (£3.3m) has plundered 25 points across his last four appearances.
The Colombia international has scored three goals in his last 216 minutes of action and has put his hand up to be considered by Dream Team managers at the very least.
The 23-year-old scored 12 goals and provided seven assists in 30 league appearances for Feyenoord last season and has a style that lends itself to Dream Team returns.
It’s a tough ask to replace Raphinha but Sinisterra has started well at Elland RoadCredit: getty
With that Harrison and Sinisterra’s attacking ability in mind, let’s take a look at Leeds’ October fixtures:

Aston Villa (h)
Crystal Palace (a)
Arsenal (h)
Leicester (a)
Fulham (h)
Liverpool (a)

Naturally, the Gunners and Jurgen Klopp’s mob stick out there but the other four fixtures look ripe with potential – Villa, Palace and Leicester are all currently among the bottom six in the table.
Harrison or Sinisterra (who features in just 0.3% of teams) may be worth a whirl for a short-term gains after the international break.

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WE take no joy in digging out players but Dream Team gaffers need to be just as aware of under-performing assets as they of the successful gems.While the likes of Ivan Toney (£4.6m), James Tarkowski (£3.2m) and Thiago Silva (£5.7m) are racking up plentiful points for a small minority of backers, these five players are all immensely popular but have fewer than 20 points to their name after seven Game Weeks…
Alisson (£3.9m)

13.6% ownership
14 points

Last season’s top keeper has started slowlyCredit: getty
It’s been a mixed bag from Liverpool so far this season.
The thrashing of Bournemouth, late winner against Newcastle and spirited showing against Ajax were all typical of Jurgen Klopp’s reign but the dismal effort in Naples, defeat to Manchester United, and draws to Fulham, Crystal Palace and Everton were uncharacteristic of the Reds under the German tactician’s watch.
Only Brighton have conceded fewer Premier League goals than Liverpool this term but that’s only translated to two clean sheets for Alisson, limiting his returns.
The Brazilian is the third-most popular goalkeeper in Dream Team but just the 12th-most successful at this stage – his compatriot Ederson (£4.7m) has twice as many points.
Reece James (£5.3m)

14% ownership
17 points

Patience could be a virtue wit this one
We’re going to stick our neck out here and say that the Chelsea right-back’s owners should stick by him.
His underlying numbers are healthy and he should be a vital cog for Graham Potter, who utilised wing-backs effectively at Brighton.
Saying that, there’s no getting away from the fact that 17 points is a disappointing total from seven outings given that James averaged over five points-per-game throughout 2021/22.
The 22-year-old burst out the blocks with 13 points from his first two games but his last three appearances (West Ham, Dinamo Zagreb, Red Bull Salzburg) have resulted in minus two points.
Pascal Struijk (£1.4m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£3.1m) and Lloyd Kelly (£2.4m) are just three of the defenders with more points than James right now.
Virgil van Dijk (£5m)

16.4% ownership
17 points

Dropping standards
Much of what applied to Alisson is also relevant for Liverpool’s No4.
Usually an imperious, consistent figure, Van Dijk has looked considerably more vulnerable in recent weeks, as evidenced by the fact he’s given away two penalties.
The Dutchman’s tally would be disastrous had he not cashed in with a 13-point haul against the Cherries during that 9-0 shellacking.
His horror show against Napoli cost him four points (ouch) and he’s dropped a full £1m in price since Game Week 1.
Aaron Ramsdale (£3m)

21.3% ownership
15 points

Arsenal are excelling but Ramsdale is lagging in the rankingsCredit: getty
Perhaps something of a surprise inclusion here given Arsenal are currently top of the table.
The Gunners have undoubtedly started very well but their 3-0 win over Brentford at the weekend was actually their first clean sheet since Game Week 3 when they beat Bournemouth by the same scoreline.
So while the likes of Gabriel Jesus (£5.6m), William Saliba (£2.7m), Gabriel Martinelli (£3.3m) and Martin Odegaard (£3.2m) have all delivered the goods, Ramsdale hasn’t justified his popularity so far.
The England gloveman is comfortably the most-selected asset in his position and yet he’s been outscored by ten of his peers to date.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (£3.7m)

27.3% ownership
17 points

Zinchenko started with a 15-point haulCredit: getty
It’s a similar story for Arsenal’s new Ukrainian although injury setbacks are the main factor here.
Zinchenko has been limited to 345 minutes this season – compare that to Gabriel’s (£3.2m) 720 minutes – which explains why his returns don’t match up to ownership.
Things started very brightly indeed when he banked 15 points on debut for the Gunners but it’s been slim pickings around the injury niggles since then.
Over a quarter of Dream Team gaffers need to evaluate whether the former Manchester City left-back is worth sticking by, especially when Saliba and Gabriel are guaranteed more minutes and are available at cheaper prices.

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THE international break means Game Week 7 is already wrapped up.It was something of a reduced service at the weekend as just 14 of the 20 Premier League teams were in action due to fixture postponements.
Manchester United fan Stephen Jarvis was the gaffer who mastered the disrupted schedule most impressively as he amassed 116 points.
Let’s take a closer look at the best XI of Game Week 7…

Stephen’s success this week hinged massively on Arsenal’s clean sheet away to Brentford on Sunday.
William Saliba (£2.7m), Ben White (£2.9m) and Gabriel (£3.2m) combined for a whopping 34 points having denied the Bees in west London.
The former cashed in further as it was his header that opened the scoring in the 3-0 victory, his second goal of the season, and the Frenchman’s contributions at both ends of the pitch earned him the Star Man award.
Saliba now has as many points as Ruben Dias (£5.4m) and Thiago Silva (£5.7m) in 2022/23 – the Gunners’ centre-back costs half the price of those two premium options.
Manchester City also enjoyed a straightforward 3-0 victory on the road at the weekend with Ederson (£4.7m) earning a 7+ rating on top of his clean sheet.
Stephen was among the 3.2% of Dream Team gaffers who were rewarded for their loyalty in Jack Grealish (£3.8m) when the Citizens’ No10 scored after just 55 seconds against Wolves.
The England international ended with a match rating of 8.6 which was enough for him to edge out Kevin De Bruyne (£7.4m) and Joao Cancelo (£7.4m) to claim the Star Man award.
Grealish banked 13 points in Game Week 7Credit: getty
Grealish had mustered just six points prior to Game Week 7 and looked relatively ineffective – it will be interesting to see whether his goal at Molineux kickstarts his campaign.
In contrast, Phil Foden (£5.5m) has been productive from the off, his goal on Saturday was his third of the season and he’s registered two assists as well.
The 22-year-old is averaging a goal involvement every 126.6 minutes in 2022/23.
Leicester are in a right pickle currently and their 6-2 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday meant they’ve lost six of their first seven league games, with the other result being a draw.
The Foxes’ problems have predominately been in defence – they’ve conceded 22 league goals already – but they’ve looked threatening enough going forward.
James Maddison (£4.7m) scored his third goal in his sixth league outing to bank eight points despite the ultimately dismal result for his side.
Leicester’s No10 has 24 points overall which is very respectable, especially when compared to goalkeeper Danny Ward (£1.2m) who is currently languishing on -15 points – yes, that’s minus fifteen!
A tried-and-tested partnershipCredit: getty
The most noticeable thing about Stephen’s front line is that it doesn’t include runaway points leader Erling Haaland (£8.4m)!
The Norwegian striker’s omission wasn’t a problem this week, although he did score against Wolves, as Spurs’ familiar double act combined for 38 points.
Son Heung-min (£5.5m) paid the price for his stuttering form when he was dropped to the bench against Leicester but responded with astonishing swiftness when he scored a 13-minute hat-trick after coming off the bench in the second half.
Harry Kane (£7.3m) scored the hosts first goal and set up one of Son’s to pocket his first double-digit haul of the campaign.
Last but not least, Gabriel Jesus (£5.6m) added seven points to Stephen’s total by virtue of a goal and a 7+ rating at Brentford, he was also booked so incurred minus one point.
116 points represents a mightily impressive effort from Stephen, especially as Martin Odegaard (£3.2m) didn’t feature at all, but you wonder how well he’s been doing overall without Haaland in his ranks.
Game Week 8 gets underway after the international break and looks to be a humdinger – there’s the north London derby and Manchester derby to negotiate before a full allotment of European fixtures.
Make sure your XI is in the best shape possible in preparation for that generous serving of football.

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THE international break is the perfect time to reflect upon the Dream Team season so far.Gaffers will likely be aware of the best performers whose quality comes at a cost: Erling Haaland (£8.4m), Joao Cancelo (£7.4m), Harry Kane (£7.3m), etc.
Here we’re shining a spotlight on those who can still be recruited for under £4m.
These are the ten best performers of 2022/23 so far within the lower price bracket, in reverse order…
Fabian Schar (£2.8m) – 32 points
The first of three Newcastle players to make this listCredit: getty
Newcastle’s Swiss defender has lingered in the upper echelons of the rankings since Game Week 1 when he bagged 18 points against Nottingham Forest.
Schar scored a blistering long-range screamer on top of his clean sheet to claim the Star Man award.
Since then his returns have been fairly modest but clean sheets against Brighton and Crystal Palace means he’s currently the seventh-best asset in his position after seven Game Weeks.
Roberto Firmino (£3.4m) – 32 points
Liverpool’s No9 has blanked in five of his seven outings this season but he thoroughly enjoyed himself in Game Week 4 when he plundered all of his 32 points at the expense of Bournemouth and Newcastle.
The Brazilian forward directly contributed to five of the Reds’ nine goals against the Cherries, assisting three and scoring two for a 24-point haul.
Four days later he scored the equaliser at Anfield against the Magpies in what became a dramatic victory for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
However, Dream Team bosses would do well to avoid Firmino now Darwin Nunez (£4.8m) and Diogo Jota (£4.4m) are available for selection again.
Martin Odegaard (£3.2m) – 33 points
A popular asset in the realm of Dream TeamCredit: getty
Arsenal’s new captain has scored three goals in six league appearances this campaign and would probably be higher on this list had he not struggled with injury in the last fortnight.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping Odegaard is able to regain full fitness during the break, as will the 28.2% of Dream Team managers currently backing him.
The Norwegian playmaker is the fourth-most popular midfielder right now and only five assets in his position have more points.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£3m) – 35 points
Tottenham’s midfield enforcer is the kind of player we would usually advise Dream Team bosses to ignore.
Defensive midfielders simply don’t tend to provide enough points but Hojbjerg has bucked the trend at the start of this season as he’s scored two goals and provided two assists.
Whether the Denmark international is able to maintain this rate of attacking output remains to be seen but he deserves credit for his efforts in the first few Game Weeks.
Gabriel Martinelli (£3.3m) – 35 points
The exuberance of youthCredit: getty
A superb value-for-money asset here.
The 21-year-old’s three goals have been instrumental in ensuring Arsenal top the table come the end of September.
Martinelli has established himself as the first-choice option as the Gunners’ left-sided forward this term and has generally looked lively – he’s been rewarded with five 7+ ratings already.
William Saliba (£2.7m) – 36 points
The third and final Arsenal player to make an appearance in this list.
A standout potential bargain from the get-go, the Frenchman has delivered in spades and now has as many points as Ruben Dias (£5.4m) and Thiago Silva (£5.7m), two centre-backs who cost twice as much as Saliba.
The 21-year-old can still be picked up for £2.7m and has proved himself to be a threat at set-pieces.
Saliba has two goals and an assist on top of his defensive returns.
James Tarkowski (£3.2m) – 37 points
A surprising inclusion here as Everton only just registered their first league win of 2022/23 at the weekend.
Saying that, they’re also undefeated in their last six games in all competitions, a run which includes three clean sheets.
Tarkowski has quickly established himself as an automatic selection at Goodison Park and while the underlying numbers suggest the Toffees will concede their fair share of goals this season, the 2.1% of gaffers backing the ex-Burnley defender have been handsomely rewarded in recent weeks.
Kieran Trippier (£3.9m) – 37 points
Dream Team’s most-selected defenderCredit: getty
Only Cancelo has more points than Newcastle’s right-back at this interlude.
Eddie Howe’s side will be frustrated with just the one league win at this stage but they’ve been difficult to beat, with Fabio Carvalho’s (£2.2m) 98th-minute goal being the only strike that has condemned them to defeat.
Trippier has contributed to three clean sheets while also providing a goal and an assist going forward.
The England international was immensely popular prior to Game Week 1 and he’s living up to the hype at this stage.
Nick Pope (£3.6m) – 39 points
Much of what applied to Schar and Trippier also applies to Newcastle’s new goalkeeper.
However, the real key to Pope’s healthy points tally is the fact he’s earned three Star Man awards, the joint-most among all assets.
The former Burnley man thoroughly deserved his Star Man gongs as well – he’s noticeably been one of the league’s best shot-stoppers in 2022/23.
Pascal Gross (£3m) – 41 points
Gross misconductCredit: getty
Top of the pile is the man who has enjoyed an unusually productive spell at the start of this campaign.
With three goals and two assists, the German midfielder is on course to smash his previous best in terms of goal involvements in one season but history suggest he’ll slow down at some point, especially now Graham Potter has moved onto pastures new.
Still, let’s not worry about that for now.
Gross has played brilliantly in his six outings so far and the fact Kevin De Bruyne (£7.4m) is the only midfielder with more points at this stage is a remarkable achievement.

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LAST week we published an article highlighting the contrasting fortunes of Richarlison (£4.1m) and Son Heung-min (£5.5m).The gist being, the Brazilian had made the most of limited minutes while the South Korean superstar had been unusually blunt.
And so we’d like to take partial credit for the mother of all turnarounds that took place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night – nothing works quite like a jinx.
Son emphatically responded to being dropped from the starting line-up when he came off the bench to score a 13-minute hat-trick and condemn Leicester to a 6-2 humiliation.
We can only assume Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has Son in his Dream Team
Having gone eight games without a goal prior to the Foxes’ visit to north London, last season’s joint Golden Boot winner had mustered just seven Dream Team points, a bitterly disappointing return for the significant chunk of gaffers backing him throughout.
But 13.7% of managers had their faith repaid with a whopping 28-point haul in Game Week 7.
At this early stage of the season, such a performance can propel an asset up the rankings and that’s exactly what has happened with Tottenham’s No7.
Suddenly Son is the joint-seventh best forward in the game – his overall tally of 35 points is matched by Marcus Rashford (£4m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£3.3m).
Harking back to our ill-timed article last week, we did mention that Son’s barren streak was unlikely to be a long one, citing his mightily impressive and consistent record in recent years.
But a 13-minute hat-trick represents a comeback of alarming efficiency and therefore one that changes the Dream Team landscape considerably.
Back in contentionCredit: getty
Those who may have planned to transfer the 30-year-old out of their XI during the international break will surely now think again.
Granted, he won’t have the luxury of facing Leicester’s disorganised defence again for a few months but when in-form he’s capable of taking points off any team.
Let’s not forget his final tally of 243 points last season was only bettered by Harry Kane (£7.3m) and Mohamed Salah (£7.7m) among assets in his position.
Spurs’ first fixture after the international break is a trip to the Emirates for a massive north London derby.
The fixture always feels significant but this edition is specially poised as Antonio Conte’s would go top of the table with a win while the Gunners would only need a draw to retain top spot, though they would then risk being leapfrogged by Manchester City on the Sunday.
Son struggled for form prior to Leicester’s visit to north LondonCredit: getty
Following the trip to their rivals, Spurs play Eintracht Frankfurt (twice), Brighton, Everton, Man United, Newcastle, Sporting CP and Bournemouth in what will be a busy October.
From Conte’s viewpoint, it would be a very helpful time for Son to rediscover the form that has earned him his reputation as a prolific goalscorer.
Dream Team managers may remember from the back end of last season that Son’s points flow very freely once he’s on a hot streak – no player could hang with him in the last two months of 2021/22.

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IN the past couple of weeks, we’ve made plenty of references to the fact Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.6m) is averaging 2.5 points-per-game this season.Liverpool’s No66 rightfully started the campaign as Dream Team’s joint-most-expensive defender having racked up 298 points in 2021/22 – a tally only bettered by Mohamed Salah (£7.7m).
And while the England international current season total of 20 points isn’t a disgrace by any means but it’s below what gaffers have come to expect from him.
Rather than chew out Alexander-Arnold further, we thought it would be better to celebrate the other full-back who started the campaign at £6.5m and who has lived up expectations and more during the first seven Game Weeks of 2022/23.
The man in question is, of course, Joao Cancelo (£7.4m).
A reliably brilliant Dream Team assetCredit: getty
The Portugal international pocketed another eight points at the weekend as Manchester City beat Wolves 3-0 at Molineux.
He earned another 7+ rating on top of the clean sheet to take his overall tally for the season to 54 points.
At the time of writing, only Erling Haaland (£8.4m) has more points among all assets – City’s cyborg has a frankly obscene 121 points.
Similarly, only the Norwegian striker has earned more 7+ ratings than Cancelo so far this season and it’s this ability to tick along with bonus points that makes the full-back such an incredible asset.
Anyone who has watched even a handful of City’s games in recent seasons will know that Cancelo is a ‘defender’ in the loosest possible sense.
Technically sound and positionally ambitious, he often occupies areas more associated with centre-midfielders and wingers.
Cancelo is consistently among the players to register the most touches on any given weekend – in fact he’s had the third-most in the Premier League this season – and his possession isn’t stale either, he is a key cog in Pep Guardiola’s system.
And it’s his influence on City’s build-up play that helps him bag so many 7+ ratings, meaning he accumulates points even when his attacking threat doesn’t directly translate to goals or assists.
Man City enjoyed another routine win over Wolves on SaturdayCredit: getty
Not that the 28-year-old is lacking goal involvements, he has three assists and one goal in all competitions already.
Strangely, all his assists have occurred across City’s two Champions League fixtures – he set up two of his side’s four goals against Sevilla and memorably provided a glorious outside-of-the-boot cross for Haaland’s acrobatic winner against Borussia Dortmund.
Cancelo has racked up 41 points in his last five outings to propel himself up the rankings and he’ll sit proudly in second place throughout the international break.
His presence on the podium should serve as reminder of his enduring quality to Dream Team bosses, not that they should need it with him having finished as the best defender in 2020/21 and the runner-up in his position last season.
Dream Team’s top two performers this seasonCredit: getty
Cancelo’s ownership of 20.9% makes him the 13th-most popular player in the game but perhaps he should be even more widely selected?
The aforementioned Alexander-Arnold features in 28.5% of teams by way of a comparison.
However, Cancelo’s current price of £7.4m makes him a difficult player to recruit – only Salah and Haaland are more costly at this stage – but his returns suggest he’s worth the investment.
Value-for-money bargains are great but sometimes in the world of Dream Team, you have to cough up the budget for serious quality.

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THE latest Team of the Week is a strange edition as the best-performing XI is utterly dominated by Manchester United.Two managers achieved the exact same score by virtue of having the same team.
Even more confusing is the fact one of Game Week 6’s top gaffers, Simon Trubshaw, is an Arsenal fan!
Let’s take a closer look at the XI, also backed by Shaun Murphy, that racked up 83 points this past week.

It’s quite the sight, isn’t it?
Perhaps we should have anticipated a quirky Team of the Week given the Premier League fixture postponements last weekend following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
With only the midweek European fixtures eligible (and not even a full complement) it stands to reason that a team such as this would come out on top.
Erik ten Hag’s side were the only side to keep a clean sheet this past week with David de Gea (£2.9m), Raphael Varane (£4.2m), Lisandro Martinez (£3.3m), Tyrell Malacia (£3m) and Diogo Dalot (£2.6m) combining for 36 points against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night.
The latter banked ten points as he registered an assist and a 7+ rating as it was him who was fouled for the visitors’ penalty in Moldova.
Dalot is now the fifth-best defender Dream Team has to offer having moved onto 29 points overall – Simon and Shaun would do well to stick by the Portuguese right-back even if they move away from their ultra Man United focus.
Man United got the job done in MoldovaCredit: getty
Whisper it quietly but Jadon Sancho (£3.5m) is starting to show the Old Trafford faithful the kind of form his displayed at Borussia Dortmund.
The 22-year-old scored his third goal of the season on Thursday, a precise left-foot finish after some neat footwork in the box.
Sancho also swooped the Star Man award to take home 13 points.
Christian Eriksen (£2.8m) provided the assist for Man United’s opening goal and did enough to earn a 7+ rating, as did Bruno Fernandes (£4.9m), meaning Simon and Shaun earned 21 points from their midfield trio.
Cristiano Ronaldo (£5.5m) was the man who converted the spot-kick, pocketing his first points of the season, five of them to be exact, but that’s where the Man United monopoly finally ends as Mohamed Salah (£7.7m) and Erling Haaland (£8.4m) join the five-time Ballon d’Or winner in the front line.
Sancho has scored three goals in his last six games
Liverpool’s Egyptian King scored against Ajax on Tuesday night for an eight-point haul while Man City’s No9 scored a remarkably acrobatic effort to give his side the three points against Borussia Dortmund the following evening.
Haaland also claimed the Star Man award to add 13 points to his already mountainous tally.
The Norwegian poacher has plundered 113 points from just six Game Weeks and that’s even accounting for a postponed league fixture – extraordinary stuff.
Whether Simon and Shaun have an XI suited to long-term success remains to be seen but they’ll always have their Game Week 6 glory.
Good luck to all gaffers ahead of Game Week 7 – make sure you’ve got enough active players!

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