Thiago Silva and Mason Mount suffering during Chelseas mid-season slump

FROM a purely football perspective, the correct thing to do after the 1-1 draw at the Amex last night would be to heap praise on Brighton.

Graham Potter continues to do a fantastic job with a squad sparse on big names but dense with diligent, intelligent players.

The Seagulls have drawn 11 Premier League games this season, which may frustrate some fans, but in the same breath they’ve only lost four of their 21 league fixtures – only Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have avoided defeat more often.

While we should continue to wax lyrical about Tariq Lamptey (£1.8m), Marc Cucurella (£2.7m) and co, our primary focus must be Dream Team and for that reason we need to address Thomas Tuchel’s troops, who are almost infinitely more popular than Brighton assets in the world of fantasy football.

The Blues are in the midst of a mid-season slump, having won two of their last nine league games – one of which was a partially fortunate 3-2 victory over Leeds at Stamford Bridge that required two Jorginho (£3.7m) penalties.

This stumble has coincided with Man City’s most imperious form of the campaign and suddenly Chelsea are 12 points behind Pep Guardiola’s side having played a game more.

There’s no need for an overreaction as the west London club are the reigning champions of Europe and have already booked themselves into the final of the Carabao Cup for 2022.

A favourable draw against Lille in the Champions League should ensure they progress to the quarter-finals of the competition that brought them such joy last term and they remain active in the FA Cup too.

All things considered, it’s still a happy time to be a Stamford Bridge season ticket holder.

But there’s no doubt the current wobble is causing headaches for more than just a few Dream Team managers.

Notably, two of their most-popular and previously ultra-reliable assets have provided limited returns in recent weeks.

Thiago Silva (£4.6m) hasn’t been playing badly by any means but since defenders rely on clean sheets, something that requires a concerted group effort, his points have tailed away in the last two months.

The experienced Brazilian has produced just seven points since the start of Game Week 17 – Chelsea have fulfilled eight fixtures in that time.

His overall tally of 116 points remains impressive of course, he’s level with Virgil van Dijk (£5.6m) as the joint-fifth best player in his position at this time.

However, if the Blues don’t get back to winning ways in the league soon then Silva will rapidly lose ground on the other top defenders.

It’s a similar story for Mason Mount (£4.3m).

If you were to look at the overall rankings you’d see the Cobham graduate with 103 points, sitting pretty as the fourth-best midfielder at this stage of the campaign.

However, a closer look at his stats reveals he’s mustered just two points from his last five outings.

Go back a bit further and he’s claimed just eleven points from his last nine appearances.

The 23-year-old is the third-most popular asset in his position with a sizeable ownership of 28.9%.

But with the likes of Jarrod Bowen (£4.2m), James Maddison (£3.6m), Lucas Moura (£3.7m), Kevin De Bruyne (£5.9m), Bukayo Saka (£3.0m), Raphinha (£4.3m), Bernardo Silva (£3.8m) and Conor Gallagher (£3.0m) accounting for a wealth of enticing options, it’s likely some Mount owners will jump ship.

Nobody is doubting the general quality of Silva or Mount but Dream Team is all about having the right players at the right time and the simple fact is those that may have replaced the Chelsea pair with, say, Aymeric Laporte (£3.9m) and Bowen in Game Week 15 would have been handsomely rewarded.

Most read in Dream Team

GET BACK

OVERLOOKED

KD-BEAUTIFUL

SAINTLY

DIER STRAITS

MIDDLE MEN

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Update on Kate Middleton and Prince William's Plan to Move Into the Queen's Secret Extra Home
Next post Joe Biden press conference today LIVE – President speaking at White House today as approval rating 'sinks to new low'