Said Benrahma & Ilkay Gundogan star in the best Dream Team XI of Game Week 33
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…
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.
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.
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!
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.