A reminder of the best Dream Team performers in each position last season
A strong performance from a given player the previous season doesn't guarantee success going forward in the world of Dream Team but it's certainly an encouraging sign.
With gaffers across the country now able to build their team ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, we thought it might be helpful to remind everyone of 2021/22's best performers in each position.
To what extent this information should affect your strategy ahead of Game Week 1 next month is up for debate but, generally speaking, the more informed you are the better off you'll be in the long run.
GOALKEEPERS
- Alisson - 185 points
- Ederson - 144 points
- Edouard Mendy - 142 points
- Jose Sa - 113 points
- Hugo Lloris - 100 points
The respective custodians for the teams that finished among the top three in the Premier League head up the pile but it's notable that Liverpool's keeper took the crown last term.
The Reds made the final of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals (successfully) as well as the Champions League final (less successfully) meaning Alisson racked up 53 appearances at club level last season.
Huge credit to Wolves' last line of defence for mixing it with the big boys without European fixtures to bolster his schedule.
DEFENDERS
- Trent Alexander-Arnold - 298 points
- Joao Cancelo - 275 points
- Virgil van Dijk - 249 points
- Andy Robertson - 238 points
- Joel Matip - 236 points
- Reece James - 209 points
- Antonio Rudiger - 197 points
- Thiago Silva - 195 points
- Marcos Alonso - 192 points
- Aymeric Laporte - 167 points
The sheer volume of Liverpool's fixtures is also evident here too but primarily we must heap praise on Alexander-Arnold and Robertson in particular for their attacking output.
The full-back pair combined for 34 assists between them last season with the England international contributing 19 - only disappointment against Real Madrid denied him a triple century of points.
Four Chelsea players make the cut but of course Rudiger has sought sunnier climes - still, the Blues have generally been solid at the back since Thomas Tuchel took charge.
James somehow managed to pass the 200-point mark despite missing 19 fixtures through injury.
What could the rampaging right-back achieve with an injury-free campaign?
MIDFIELDERS
- Kevin De Bruyne - 245 points
- Riyad Mahrez - 230 points
- James Maddison - 228 points
- Jarrod Bowen - 210 points
- Raheem Sterling - 196 points
- Mason Mount - 194 points
- Phil Foden - 183 points
- Bernardo Silva - 176 points
- Bukayo Saka - 160 points
- Bruno Fernandes - 151 points
Had Ilkay Gundogan mustered two more points then this list would have been 50% Manchester City assets.
De Bruyne's rampant final third of the campaign allowed him to overtake his Algerian team-mate at the death though it's worth remembering Mahrez only started 15 league games last term.
Maddison and Bowen were revelations in 2021/22.
Leicester's No10 stumbled out of the blocks but once he found his groove he rattled along at a rate that kept De Bruyne and Mahrez honest while the West Ham winger registered 30 goal involvements in all competitions when all was said and done.
Almost every gaffer will have one eye on how Sterling adapts to life at Stamford Bridge.
FORWARDS
- Mohamed Salah - 331 points
- Harry Kane - 291 points
- Son Heung-min - 243 points
- Cristiano Ronaldo - 225 points
- Diogo Jota - 225 points
- Sadio Mane - 211 points
- Gabriel Jesus - 179 points
- Ivan Toney - 171 points
- Michail Antonio - 146 points
- Romelu Lukaku - 130 points
There's nothing more to say about Anfield's Egyptian King, Dream Team's only triple centurion last season.
At £7.5m Salah will start the new campaign as the game's most expensive asset - but can you afford not to have him in your XI?
Similarly, Tottenham's prolific duo are impossible to ignore having recorded 49 goals and 27 assists between them last time out.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Mane has departed for Bayern Munich and Jota may be forced to share his minutes with new boy Darwin Nunez - a double century may be beyond the Portuguese this coming season.
Conversely, Jesus will surely get more minutes now he's swapped the Etihad for the Emirates - a full campaign as a No9 could result in his most profitable year yet.
