This season’s best possible Dream Team XI features twice as many Manchester United players as Arsenal stars
IT'S been a while since we checked in with the best possible Dream Team XI.
For the purposes of this exercise, all we care about is total points, nothing else matters.
GOALKEEPER: David de Gea (£4.1m) - 122 points
Nick Pope (£4m) led the way in his position for a long, long time but Newcastle's clean sheets have evaporated in the last two months.
The England international's red card against Liverpool didn't help his case either.
Manchester United's European exploits and their run to the FA Cup semi-finals have kept De Gea busy and all the additional fixtures have allowed him to claim top spot.
It's as tight as it can be though as the Spaniard is just one point ahead of Pope so a resurgence from the Magpies could bring the latter back into contention.
De Gea (16.1% ownership) is also now the second-most popular asset among keepers having overtaken Pope (15.5%) in recent weeks though Aaron Ramsdale (£3.6m, 19.7%) remains the most selected.
DEFENDERS: Kieran Trippier (£5.7m), Luke Shaw (£4.6m), Gabriel (£3.7m)
Nothing more needs to be said about Newcastle's right-back, even accounting for a mini drought of clean sheets he's on 195 points, 67 more than the other two names featured here.
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Trippier is in a league of his own among defenders and only Bruno Fernandes (£6.5m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£7.7m) have claimed more Star Man awards overall.
For the longest time Fabian Schar (£3.6m) played second fiddle to his team-mate and he's still within touching distance on 126 points but both Shaw and Gabriel have poked their noses ahead of the Swiss centre-back on 128 each.
Again, the Red Devils' busy schedule has boosted Shaw as it has De Gea while Arsenal's omnipresent centre-back has made his way to the podium through impeccable consistency.
The Gunners have kept the joint-most clean sheets in the league this term so Gabriel backers can expect more returns in the final two months of the season.
MIDFIELDERS: Bruno Fernandes (£6.5m), Kevin De Bruyne (£7.7m), Bukayo Saka (£5.6m), Phil Foden (£5.1m)
Foden's injury means he could slip out of this hypothetical XI soon but he's deserving of his place currently having racked up 53 points in four Game Weeks before the international break.
Manchester City's wonderkid has 152 total points to his name, 20 shy of Saka who is the only Premier League player into double figures for goals and assists this season.
Arsenal's No7 is a Player of the Year candidate and is probably more assured of his place in Team of the Year than any other midfielder.
But it's Man United's Portuguese playmaker who leads the way among Dream Team midfielders with 200 points having registered 80 in the last seven Game Weeks.
Fernandes has 12 assists, ten goals and eight Star Man awards and yet he's less than half as popular as De Bruyne, who is 20 points behind at this stage.
It's interesting that just two Arsenal players feature in this team given the state of the Premier League table but it's possible Martin Odegaard (£3.7m) will take Foden's place in the coming weeks.
FORWARDS: Erling Haaland (£9.3m), Marcus Rashford (£6.5m), Mohamed Salah (£8.7m)
A powerhouse front line led by Man City's prolific poacher who is on course to breach 400 points in his first Dream Team campaign.
Haaland has had one hand on the Golden Boot since August and it's not unthinkable he could notch half a century of goals in 2022/23 - ridiculous numbers.
Man United's No10 may have pushed the Norway international close had he not been merely average during the opening weeks of the campaign.
Rashford has been on a tear since the World Cup the likes of which Dream Team gaffers have rarely seen - 174 points in 13 Game Weeks is obscene by any measure.
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And no best Dream Team XI of the season would be complete without Salah who has been a permanent fixture for five years now.
Some gaffers are undoubtedly guilty of taking the Egyptian's brilliance for granted but the fact he's on 208 points despite Liverpool enduring an underwhelming campaign more generally is testament to the forward's quality.