Fantasy Football

WELL, it was bound to happen at some stage.With Manchester City on the brink of a treble, Game Week 34’s best XI features no fewer than TEN of Pep Guardiola’s troops.
The gaffer who benefited from an extreme approach to the tune of 167 points was Chris Taylor, a fan of the Citizens as it happens.
Let’s take a detailed look at how he topped the pile…
The inception of the Callum Wilson to Man City transfer rumour
Dream Team bosses may have been frustrated by Rodrigo’s (£3.5m) consolation goal for Leeds against City in Game Week 33 but Ederson (£4.8m) and company more than made up for that this past week.
The champions elect kept Everton at bay at Goodison Park on Sunday before making it back-to-back clean sheets with an emphatic performance against Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Ruben Dias (£6.8m), Kyle Walker (£4.3m) and Manuel Akanji (£4.7m) all featured in both games and registered consecutive 7+ ratings too.
The former incurred minus one point for a booking against the Spanish giants by that was more than offset by the latter’s headed goal in midweek.
Chris’ goalkeeper and three defenders combined for 68 points!
Bernardo cashed in on a favourable fixture in midweek…
The main reason Chris eclipsed the many, many other gaffers who adopted a City-centric approach was his specific midfield selections.
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Both Riyad Mahrez (£6.4m) and Jack Grealish (£5.2m) have provided plentiful points in recent months but between them they mustered just seven points this past week, 33 fewer than the combined returns of Bernardo Silva (£3.2m) and Ilkay Gundogan’s (£3.9m).
The experienced German ran the show against the Toffees, finishing with two goals and an assist for a 20-point return while the Portugal international cashed in with two goals during that dominant first half at the Etihad in midweek.
With 126 points to his name, Gundogan is the 15th-best asset in his position overall but just the sixth-best midfielder in City’s squad, such is scale of his side’s dominance.
Erling Haaland’s (£10.2m) presence in the Team of the Week goes without saying though Thibaut Courtois’ damage-limiting saves forced the Norwegian poacher to settle for 11 points in Game Week 34.
Not a Man City player!Credit: GETTY
Julian Alvarez (£4.6m) applied the cherry on top of City’s Champions League semi-final triumph with his 15th goal in all competitions this season – not bad for an understudy.
Despite relative limited minutes, the World Cup winner is the ninth-best forward in Dream Team at the time of writing.
Last but by no means least, the only man to reside outside Manchetser, Callum Wilson (£5m)!
Newcastle’s No9 bagged a brace at Elland Road on Saturday thanks to two penalties before he cashed in late against Brighton on Thursday evening with a goal and an assist in the final two minutes of normal time.
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The 31-year-old banked 27 points when all was said and done to finish the Game Week as the top performer among all assets.
Well played, Chris, good luck to you and all other gaffers ahead of Game Week 35! More

FILE this under: classic end-of-season content.With all eyes on the Premier League as the campaign draws to a close, with fierce competition for European places and a desperate relegation scrap seemingly destined to go down to the wire, we’ve created an alternate league table, one based purely on Dream Team points.
That is the real quiz, after all.
Only Manchester City have produced more Dream Team points than Manchester United this season
PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE DETERMINED BY DREAM TEAM POINTS

Manchester City – 2,727 pts
Manchester United – 2,224 pts
Arsenal – 1,901 pts
Liverpool – 1,664 pts
Newcastle – 1,552 pts
Brighton – 1,459 pts
West Ham – 1,432 pts
Tottenham – 1,351 pts
Brentford – 1,126 pts
Chelsea – 1,118 pts
Fulham – 999 pts
Aston Villa – 935 pts
Leicester – 893 pts
Wolves – 828 pts
Crystal Palace – 811 pts
Nottingham Forest – 684 pts
Leeds – 617 pts
Everton – 604 pts
Southampton – 594 pts
Bournemouth – 552 pts

As you would expect, Man City’s treble quest puts them in a league of their own – it helps that Erling Haaland (£10.4m) has plundered 430 points on his own.
The big story at the top of the table, however, is that Man United are comfortably the second-most successful team in the realm of Dream Team this season.
Arsenal held top spot in the Premier League for the majority of the campaign but Erik ten Hag’s side have made hay in the additional competitions – they lifted the Carabao Cup in February and are due to meet Pep Guardiola’s side at Wembley in the FA Cup final in a fortnight’s time.
Marcus Rashford (£7.2m) and company also fulfilled four more European fixtures than the Gunners by virtue of their Europa League knockout play-off and quarter-final.
A cursory glance at the Dream Team rankings underlines how the best-performing Old Trafford assets have edged out their Arsenal counterparts across every position.
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David de Gea (£3.6m) is 57 points ahead of Aaron Ramsdale (£3.3m); Luke Shaw (£4.2m), Diogo Dalot (£3.7m) and Lisandro Martinez (£4.7m) are all above Mikel Arteta’s best defenders; Bruno Fernandes (£6.7m) reigns supreme among midfielders, while Rashford is second only to runaway leader Haaland up front.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have been excellent but Bruno Fernandes is Dream Team’s top midfielderCredit: GETTY
Elsewhere, West Ham are the team most flattered by our alternative table.
In reality, the Hammers have only just crawled away from the relegation dogfight in the last few weeks but we’ve got them nipping at the heels of Brighton, a whole eight places above their actual position!
Once again, this illustrates the potential returns available to Dream Team gaffers prepared to squeeze the schedule for all it’s worth.
David Moyes’ side may have underwhelmed domestically but they’re on the brink of the Europa Conference League final with the likes of Jarrod Bowen (£4m) and Said Benrahma (£3.8m) having regularly cashed in on Thursday nights.
Don’t underestimate the Europa Conference LeagueCredit: GETTY
Looking ahead, one wonders what the Seagulls and Newcastle can achieve next season with European fixtures to bolster their schedule.
If Dream Team points are anything to go by then Everton seem more likely to suffer relegation than Leeds or Leicester (the Foxes are up to a lofty 13th in our ranking) but, then again, we’ve got the Cherries dead last despite the fact they’ve already preserved their top-flight status.
For all the differences in our league table, there’s something strangely comforting about the fact Chelsea remain solidly in mid-table – surely the Blues will improve in 2023/24, right? More

WE’RE well and truly into squeaky bum time of the 2022/23 Dream Team season.And no gaffer will be as restless as Andrew Cadman, the man currently leading the overall leaderboard and therefore in pole position to win the £75,000 jackpot.
Let’s take a closer look at the Arsenal fan’s XI ‘Cobblers’, which has 2,725 points overall…
Andrew’s team complete with the current Game Week scoresCredit: DREAM TEAM
The vast majority of the top gaffers will be leaning heavily on Manchester City players as the season draws to a close.
Pep Guardiola’s side remain active in the Champions League and the FA Cup in addition to their final Premier League commitments – more importantly, they’re in imperious form.
Andrew is backing six Etihad assets right now but his specific selections make for interesting reading.
Jack Grealish (£5.4m) is generally considered a more reliable starter than Riyad Mahrez (£6.6m) at the moment but the Algerian winger tends to make the most of his minutes when given a chance and his overall tally of 194 points put him third among midfielders in the rankings.
At the back, Ruben Dias (£6.5m) and Manuel Akanji (£4.4m) are guaranteed plenty of minutes and the latter is a smart option because he’s been relatively affordable this term.
Nathan Ake (£5.4m) is nursing a minor injury at the minute and he missed out on some easy clean sheet points against Everton at the weekend – a possible weakness?
Kevin De Bruyne (£8.7m) and Erling Haaland (£10.4m) are bankers that need no justification but Andrew may be concerned what damage Grealish, John Stones (£6m) and the in-form Ilkay Gundogan (£3.6m) could do in the coming weeks.
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Man City defenders are popular at the back end of the campaign
David de Gea’s (£3.6m) goalkeeping has been under the spotlight of late but the fact remains the Spaniard is Dream Team’s top performer in his position.
Manchester United’s long-serving custodian has earned 147 points thanks mostly to his record of 24 clean sheets in 2022/23 – he’s on track to win the second Golden Glove of his career having registered 16 clean sheets in the top flight.
The Red Devils boast two position-leading assets as Bruno Fernandes (£6.7m) is currently edging out De Bruyne in the two-horse race for midfield supremacy, with 246 points to the Belgian’s 238.
The Portugal international claimed his tenth Star Man award of the campaign at the weekend, making him the outright leader in the metric.
Andrew has recognised that Liverpool’s strong end to the season is producing lorry-loads of points.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£6m) has amassed 85 points across the last eleven Game Weeks, a fruitful spell that has featured seven assists, seven clean sheets, two Star Man awards and a goal.
As for Mohamed Salah (£9.1m), two quickfire assists against Leicester on Monday night meant he became just the second player this season to reach double figures for goals and assists in the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Bukayo Saka (£5.4m).
Leading lights in the realm of Dream Team
Interestingly, Andrew has zero Arsenal players in his XI, a reflection of the Gunners’ dip at the back end of the season – although Martin Odegaard (£4.8m) achieved 31 points in his two games before Brighton’s visit to the Emirates.
There is some north London representation in top XI, however, in the form of Harry Kane (£9.5m).
Tottenham’s No10 is second only to Haaland for Premier League goals this season and he’s been on a tear of late despite his side’s broader problems.
The England captain has banked 84 points in his last ten outings.
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It’s clear that Andrew has monitored his budget superbly this season, buying low and selling high at opportune times and eventually ending up with mega team capable of landing him £75,000.
Good luck to Andrew and all other gaffers in contention for prize money – hold your nerve! More

OUT of hundreds of thousands of Dream Team gaffers, just one registered 100+ points in Game Week 33.Donna Joyce finished on 103 points thanks to West Ham’s Europa Conference League exploits, beating the odds in a generally low-scoring week to reach three figures.
Let’s take a closer look at how the Liverpool fan achieved the feat…
Hang on, where’s Erling Haaland?
The first thing to note is that Joyce reigned supreme despite having Romain Perraud (£1m) in her XI.
Not only does the French left-back represent Southampton, a Championship-bound team with a poor defensive record, he’s currently sidelined with injury.
That misstep was offset by a return of 34 points from the Liverpool contingent at the back, Alisson (£4.4m) included.
The Reds beat Brentford 1-0 on Saturday with Virgil van Dijk (£5.2m) providing a rare assist on top of his clean sheet – he sweetened the deal with a Star Man award to notch 14 points in all.
It was the Dutchman’s second-best single-game haul of the season.
Dream Team bosses everywhere expected plentiful points from Manchester City’s meeting with Leeds at the Etihad but Rodrigo’s (£3.5m) consolation goal wiped out the hosts’ clean sheet and several popular assets were rested ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg.
Donna, however, was among the 4.3% of gaffers who benefited from Ilkay Gundogan’s (£3.6m) brace.
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A profitable week despite the penalty missCredit: GETTY
The German midfielder scored two near-identical goals against Sam Allardyce’s side but he did squander a golden opportunity to bag a hat-trick from the penalty spot, which meant he pocketed 15 points instead of 28.
The 32-year-old added another point at the Bernabeu as it was his pass that found Kevin De Bruyne (£8.7m) prior to the Belgian’s thunderbolt – though he failed to register a 7+ rating and received a yellow card.
Backing Gundogan was a brilliant ploy but Donna’s true masterstroke came in the form of Said Benrahma (£3.8m).
The Algerian winger, whose ownership is just 0.7%, scored the Hammers’ winner against Manchester United at the weekend before converting from the spot against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night.
Add in consecutive Star Man awards for 26 points in Game Week 33.
Suddenly, Benrahma is among Dream Team’s top ten midfielders, nipping at the heels of Jack Grealish (£5.4m) and Kaoru Mitoma (£4.5m) ahead of him.
Game Week 33’s top performer
While it was a great week for West Ham, Danny Ings (£3m) was a punt too far as the 30-year-old poacher blanked having been limited to just a ten-minute cameo in the Europa Conference League.
Both Mohamed Salah (£9.1m) and Harry Kane (£9.5m) went about their business in familiar fashion, scoring their respective teams’ winners for eight-point returns.
The pair are the very definition of elite-level Dream Team assets who deliver season after season.
But hang on, that means the best XI of the Game Week didn’t feature Erling Haaland (£10.4m) – remarkable!
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Man City’s No9 blanked against Leeds and Real Madrid for an ultra rare goose egg – one assumes he’ll compensate with a hat-trick in Game Week 34.
Excellent work, Donna, a massive total essentially achieved with nine men. More

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.
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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.
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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