ALL GREEK TO ME
Kostas Tsimikas emerges as bargain route into Liverpool’s points-laden defence
The Greece international has seemingly leapfrogged Andy Robertson to become the Reds' first-choice left-back
DREAM TEAM managers desperately looking for an affordable route into Liverpool's starting line-up may have been presented with the perfect gift in the form of Kostas Tsimikas (£2.9m).
At the time of writing, the Greece international is the top-performing defender in Gameweek 10 having taken 19 points off Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen.
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Despite Ferdi Kadioglu's (£3m) goal at Anfield, Tsimikas banked nine points against the Seagulls through seven tackles, two big chances created, one shot on target and a bonus point.
He then earned ten points against the reigning Bundesliga champions via a clean sheet and three bonus points on Tuesday night.
Arne Slot has seemingly promoted the 28-year-old to first-choice left-back, which renders his current price of £2.9m very cheap indeed.
Andy Robertson (£4.1m) has long been the Reds' starting left-back but the Scotsman struggled against Noni Madueke (£3.1m) and Bukayo Saka (£6.7m) in high-profile league games last month.
The long-serving defender has been a great servant for Liverpool since his transfer from Hull in 2017 but it's perfectly reasonable for a head coach to drop a player who has fallen out of form.
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Robertson may earn his place back at some stage but for now it appears Tsimikas is above him in the pecking order.
The latter currently features in just 0.7% of teams but his ownership will surely increase considerably in the wake of his 19-point haul.
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Slot couldn't have asked for a better start to life on Merseyside with his side currently on top of both the Premier League table and Champions League table.
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It's no wonder Dream Team bosses are keen to back Liverpool to the hilt.
One downside is that the most viable players come at a significant cost.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£6m), Virgil van Dijk (£5.5m) and Ibrahima Konate (£4.7m) are ranked first, second and fifth respectively among Dream Team defenders but all three are also among the most expensive assets in their position.
Given that Tsimikas is available for less than half the price of Alexander-Arnold right now, he has to be considered a potentially smart selection.
Of course, this strategy would backfire if Robertson was chosen to start against Aston Villa this coming Saturday but Slot's team selections against Brighton and Leverkusen (two competitive match-ups on paper) were rather revealing.
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Tsimikas was far from the only Liverpool player to enhance his reputation in Gameweek 10.
Luis Diaz (£4.4m) bagged a hat-trick on Tuesday night to leapfrog Cole Palmer (£6.3m) and become Dream Team's second-best midfielder of 2024/25 - Saka holds top spot.
While Mohamed Salah (£7.3m) jumped to the very top of the mountain with a 22-point return, leaving Erling Haaland (£8.9m) in his wake.
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There were also double-digit hauls for Cody Gakpo (£4.3m), Curtis Jones (£3m), Caoimhin Kelleher (£2.1m) and Ryan Gravenberch (£3.4m), as well as the aforementioned duo of Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk.
It remains to be seen whether Liverpool can maintain their high standards but Dream Team bosses should make hay while the sun shines.
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