The new Dream Team season officially gets underway in just a few hours’ time when Crystal Palace take on Arsenal at Selhurst Park.
With the deadline looming, we’re inviting you on a whistle-stop tour of last-minute tips, tricks, stats and facts.
PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW – £100,000 IN PRIZE MONEY UP FOR GRABS!
Firstly, make sure you’re not destined for a false start by ensuring all of your players are available and likely starters.
There are fitness question marks over some popular players like Diogo Jota (£4.5m), Ivan Perisic (£3.5m), Jadon Sancho (£3m), Takehiro Tomiyasu (£2.5m), Anthony Martial (£3m), Kieran Tierney (£3m) and Ibrahima Konate (£4m).
While others such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£3m), Nayef Aguerd (£2.5m), Harry Wilson (£2.5m), Luis Sinisterra (£2.5m), Raul Jimenez (£3m) and Aymeric Laporte (£4.5m) will definitely be absent, some of them for several weeks.
And that’s not a definitive list of unavailable players so make sure you’ve completed a quick check of your XI – give yourself every chance of a flying start.
PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW FOR FREE WITH £100k IN PRIZE MONEY
It’s worth keeping an eye on who starts in goal for Leicester on Sunday.
The smart money is on Danny Ward (£2m) following Kasper Schmeichel’s transfer to Nice but it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see Daniel Iversen (£2m) between the sticks.
Whether it’s the Welshman or the Dane, the Foxes will have a first-choice keeper available for a bargain price.
Last season, Brendan Rodgers’ side conceded far too many goals, particularly from set-pieces, but if they show an improvement in that discipline then expect Ward/Iversen to experience a surge in popularity early doors.
Will Gabriel Jesus (£5m) overtake Erling Haaland (£7m) to become Dream Team’s most-selected player before he’s unleashed upon Crystal Palace tonight?
There’s just 2.1% between them at the time of writing with the Brazilian (52.3%) gaining huge amounts of ground thanks to his impressive pre-season form, which included a hat-trick against Sevilla.
In contrast, Man City’s new No9 (54.4%) was close to reaching 70% ownership before his unconvincing display in the Community Shield last weekend.
Those glaring misses at the King Power have caused plenty of gaffers to think again but let’s not forget the Norwegian forward averages roughly one goal per game over the last three years.
If Man City’s host of creative midfielders can feed Haaland multiple scoring opportunities against Liverpool then just think what kind of service he might receive in the coming weeks against the likes of West Ham, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
Marc Cucurella (£3m) is expected to sign for Chelsea any moment now.
Transfer such as this, when an impressive player makes the leap from a mid-table club to one of the top four, always cause a stir in Dream Team because the asset in question suddenly appears under-priced.
It’s not clear how the Spaniard will fit in at Stamford Bridge as Ben Chilwell (£5m) was in fine touch at wing-back before his long injury layoff.
There whispers Cucurella could fill in as the left-sided centre-back but Dream Team bosses would probably be wise to wait and see in this scenario even though the potential for cheap points should not be ignored.
Finally, if you’re looking for a big differential in Game Week 1 in hope of a blazing start then consider Jamie Vardy (£4.5m).
Leicester’s No9 averaged a goal every 120 minutes in the Premier League last season and he currently features in just 3.2% of teams created.
The experienced goalscorer has the luxury of a favourable fixture in the form of Brentford (h) to get his campaign underway.
Good luck, gaffers!
PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW FOR FREE WITH £100k IN PRIZE MONEY
Most read in Dream Team
VARD TO UNDERSTAND
NO EASY GAMES?
SNEAK PEEK
CHEAP AS CHIPS
BRING IT ON!
BEGINNER'S LUCK
Source: Read Full Article