GAMEWEEK 23 is a tricky one for Dream Team managers to negotiate.
Not least because several of the game’s most popular players are without a single fixture.
Dream TeamTake the weekend off, lads![/caption]
The FA Cup fourth round makes up the bulk of the action with 17 of the 20 Premier League clubs set to play in the competition from Friday until Tuesday.
However, as the three top-flight teams eliminated in the third round, Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham have ZERO fixtures between them this coming Gameweek.
Mikel Arteta, Thomas Frank and Graham Potter may be privately thankful for the chance to recharge their troops but this twist of fate has left plenty of Dream Team bosses with problems to solve.
Bryan Mbeumo (£4.7m) is the most selected player among those set to blank in Gameweek 23.
The Bees’ talisman is currently the most transferred-out player this week but he still features in 20.3% of teams at the time of writing, making him the fifth-most popular midfielder in the game!
GettyMbeumo still features in over a fifth of teams[/caption]
The Cameroon international has been one of the Premier League’s best players this season and his tally of 14 goals is unsurpassed among players in his position.
But his owners will either have to find a replacement before Friday’s 6:30pm deadline or make their peace with a zero-pointer.
Mbeumo is by far and away the most popular asset in Brentford’s ranks but Nathan Collins (£2.7m), Yoane Wissa (£3.2m), Mark Flekken (£3m) and Mikkel Damsgaard (£3.5m) also appear in a smattering of teams.
As for the Gunners, William Saliba (£4.8m) and Gabriel (£5m) are the fifth and sixth most selected defenders in the game respectively.
While only Emi Martinez (£3.8m) features in more teams than David Raya (£4.5m) among the goalkeepers at present.
GETTYGabriel and Saliba will have their feet up this weekend[/caption]
Up top, Kai Havertz’s (£4.6m) ownership of 10.6% puts him sixth among strikers.
Martin Odegaard (£4.9m), Declan Rice (£4.5m), Gabriel Martinelli (£4.1m) and Jurrien Timber (£4.1m) are all relatively popular too.
There are some gaffers out there loaded up on Arsenal players who enjoyed a fantastic Gameweek 22 that will come crashing back to Earth in Gameweek 23 unless they’ve saved up some transfers.
West Ham’s blank is less relevant as their most popular asset is Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£3.4m) with an ownership of 2.6%.
Some onlookers would have been impressed Jarrod Bowen’s (£5.4m) return from injury against Chelsea on Monday night, which earned him 12 points, but now is certainly not the time to recruit the reliable 28-year-old.
RexPatience is a virtue[/caption]
In contrast to Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham’s time off, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton all have two fixtures to fulfil in Gameweek 23.
GAMEWEEK 23 FIXTURES BY CLUB:
ARSENAL – BLANK
ASTON VILLA vs Tottenham
BOURNEMOUTH vs Everton
BRENTFORD – BLANK
BRIGHTON vs Chelsea
CHELSEA vs Brighton
CRYSTAL PALACE vs Doncaster
EVERTON vs Bournemouth & Liverpool
FULHAM vs Wigan
IPSWICH vs Coventry
LEICESTER vs Manchester United
LIVERPOOL vs Plymouth & Everton
MANCHESTER CITY vs Leyton Orient & Real Madrid
MANCHESTER UNITED vs Leicester
NEWCASTLE vs Birmingham
NOTTINGHAM FOREST vs Exeter
SOUTHAMPTON vs Burnley
TOTTENHAM vs Aston Villa
WEST HAM – BLANK
WOLVES vs Blackburn
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