Analysing the Dream Team XI in pole position to win the £75,000 jackpot – featuring six Manchester City players
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…
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.
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).
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.
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!