THE Dream Team spotlight is often hogged by the superstars who represent teams included in the so-called ‘big six’.
Your Kevin De Bruynes (£7.3m), your Mohamed Salahs (£7.5m), your Harry Kanes (£7.6m), etc.
However, Game Week 3 may see a host of underappreciated players come to the fore thanks to the Carabao Cup second round.
The Premier League’s top seven don’t enter the secondary domestic cup until the third round so Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United have just one fixture each this Game Week.
West Ham don’t have any Carabao Cup commitments just yet but Game Week 3 is a double for them (just as Game Week 2 was) because of their Europa Conference League play-off against Viborg.
The Hammers beat their Danish opponents 3-1 in the first leg at the London Stadium last night with Jarrod Bowen (£4.4m), Michail Antonio (£4m) and Gianluca Scamacca (£2.6m) all on the scoresheet.
It’s entirely possible David Moyes will rest some of his first team regulars in Denmark on Thursday night having established a two-goal lead in the tie but that remains to be seen.
Let’s take a closer look at the double headers awaiting the Premier League teams who will be active in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
- Aston Villa: Crystal Palace (h), Bolton (a)
- Bournemouth: Arsenal (h), Norwich (a)
- Brentford: Fulham (a), Colchester (a)
- Brighton: West Ham (a), Forest Green (a)
- Crystal Palace: Aston Villa (a), Oxford (a)
- Everton: Nottingham Forest (h), Fleetwood (a)
- Fulham: Brentford (h), Crawley (a)
- Leeds: Chelsea (h), Barnsley (h)
- Leicester: Southampton (h), Stockport (a)
- Newcastle: Man City (h), Tranmere (a)
- Nottingham Forest: Everton (a), Grimsby (a)
- Southampton: Leicester (a), Cambridge (a)
- Wolves: Spurs (a), Preston (h)
The very nature of the Carabao Cup means all the Premier League teams will start as favourites in midweek but upsets are likely, especially as rotation is inevitable.
That being said, Brentford and Leicester have particularly appealing doubles but Dream Team bosses can’t be sure of how many minutes the likes of James Maddison (£5.3m), Ivan Toney (£4.5m) and Jamie Vardy (£4.3m) will be given.
Truth be told, there’s no real need to centre your strategy on a handful of relatively unpredictable cup fixtures but if you’ve got a three or more of your August transfers remaining then partially tailoring your XI to the double Game Week is, at the very least, an option.
Gaffers will have their transfers replenished ahead of Game Week 5 on Friday September 2nd.
The third round of the Carabao Cup – when City, Liverpool and company enter – won’t commence until November this season but those clubs will have double Game Weeks before then because of European commitments.
Remember, the more fixtures your players have, the more opportunities they have to score points.
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