THE following five players all currently appear in less than 1% of Dream Teams.
And yet they have all produced respectable returns this season – more than respectable in some cases.
In fact, the below assets are all above Jack Grealish (£4.2m) in the overall rankings and the Manchester City midfielder has an ownership of 22.5%!
Roman Saiss (£4.1m) – 92 points
Wolves’ No27 is outperforming Ruben Dias (£4.4m) at the time of writing, albeit by just a single point.
His ownership was above 1% before he departed to represent Morocco at Africa Cup of Nations, now at 0.9%, but he’s still been massively overlooked by the majority of Dream Team gaffers given his huge returns in recent months.
Bruno Lage’s side have the second-best defensive record in the Premier League this season and Saiss is good for the odd goal too – a combination that has allowed him to mix it with the popular defenders of Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City.
Since leaving for AFCON, he’s been overtaken by Max Kilman (£3.9m) whose ownership is almost at 3%.
What will it take for more Dream Team managers to hop aboard the Wolves clean sheet train?
Gabriel (£3.5m) – 70 points
Ben White (£4.0m) and Kieran Tierney (£3.7m) are both among the top 20 most-popular defenders but Arsenal’s Brazilian centre-back has not been as fancied this term.
With 70 points he’s within a touching distance of the likes of Andy Robertson (£3.9m) and Aymeric Laporte (£3.9m) which makes his ownership of 0.9% rather inexplicable.
Granted, Gabriel’s red card against Man City hurt his case but let’s not forget he scored against Leicester and Southampton earlier this season, welcome boosts.
The Gunners’ No6 held firm alongside his team-mates last Thursday to register a clean sheet at Anfield despite Granit Xhaka’s (£1.3m) red card.
It’s possible Gabriel’s popularity is being hindered by the fact those who fancy backing Arsenal have, perhaps wisely, opted for White (79 points) or Tierney (attacking potential).
Neal Maupay (£3.3m) – 69 points
Brighton’s French forward isn’t the most clinical finisher in the league by any stretch of the imagination but there’s no doubting his work rate or competitiveness.
He’s rescued a few points for the Seagulls this season and is on course for his best-ever season in terms of goals for the club – he’s on eight in all competitions currently.
With 69 points to his name, Maupay is above the likes of Mason Greenwood (£3.3m), Alexandre Lacazette (£4.5m) and Kai Havertz (£3.8m) in the rankings and yet his ownership sits at a modest 0.6%.
In fairness, while most are aware of the 25-year-old’s positive attributes it’s understandable why so few would consider him worthy of a spot in their XI – there are certainly better options available.
However, a couple more goals in the coming weeks may change the landscape in Maupay’s favour.
Bryan Mbeumo (£2.5m) – 67 points
The Brentford man could be considered the unluckiest player in the Premier League this season as he’s hit the woodwork seven times in 2021/22 – no other player has been denied by the frame of the goal more than three times.
A hat-trick against Port Vale in the FA Cup provided some compensation last Game Week but still the Frenchman must be wondering what his campaign would look like had his finishing been more precise by a couple of inches here and there.
He’s scored seven goals in all competitions and is therefore on course for a respectable year but he could so easily be in double figures already and among Dream Team’s top ten midfielders.
His ownership of 0.6% makes relative sense because, well, you don’t get any points for rattling the post every other game…
Manuel Lanzini (£2.7m) – 66 points
The Italian is something of a flavour-of-the-month option while West Ham contend with injuries and AFCON departures.
36 of his 66 points have come in the last four Game Weeks but just 0.7% of Dream Team bosses have benefited from that fruitful spell.
Predominantly used as a substitute this season, Lanzini may yet have his minutes reduced once more at some stage but the fact is he’s outscored some big names in his position in the last month.
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