Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli bounces back from blanks with 43 Dream Team points in his last six outings
ARSENAL took another step closer to the Premier League title on Sunday.
A trip to Craven Cottage has proved to be a stern test for visiting teams this season with Fulham still in contention to qualify for Europe but the Gunners made light work of Marco Silva’s side.
Leandro Trossard (£3.8m) was the star of the show with all three assists in the 3-0 victory, an effort that earned him a Star Man award, but Dream Team bosses would have noted Gabriel Martinelli’s (£3.7m) goal with considerable intrigue.
The Brazil international was phenomenal at the start of the campaign, racing to 52 points by Game Week 9, but he recently suffered a dip that resulted in five consecutive blanks.
During this time, Martinelli was among the most transferred players in Dream Team as gaffers looked elsewhere for healthy returns.
Mikel Arteta also recognised the need for change and dropped the 21-year-old to the bench, or withdrew him around the hour-mark for the aforementioned Trossard.
However, that proved to be all the motivation Martinelli needed to rediscover his best form.
His close-range header on Sunday was his fifth goal in his last five Premier League games, a run that has moved him back up to sixth in the rankings among Dream Team assets in his position.
Arsenal’s No11 has registered 43 points in six outings across the last four Game Weeks with a second against Sporting CP to come before the current Game Week is complete.
At £3.7m Martinellii is once again one of the best value-for-money forwards Dream Team has to offer.
It will be interesting to see how Arteta will use his attacking players now that Gabriel Jesus (£5.3m) has returned from injury.
The former Manchester City striker was a key component prior to the World Cup but the north Londoners have hardly been hindered by his absence, thanks to a fruitful spell from Eddie Nketiah (£3.4m) before Trossard came to the fore.
Bukayo Saka (£5.4m) is a lock on the right flank and that leaves two spots in the front three remaining for the Belgian, Jesus and Martinelli to compete for in the coming weeks.
Rotation is inevitable so it’s likely all of them will get their fair share of minutes – depending on Thursday night’s result there may also be more Europa League knockout fixtures to juggle.
Dream Team managers probably don’t need favourable fixtures to convince them of the viability of Arsenal players at this stage of the campaign but, for what it’s worth, their schedule looks relatively friendly.
Arteta’s men host a Crystal Palace side without a win since December in Game Week 27 and after the international break they take on Leeds, Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.