As last night’s Capital One Cup ties brought October to a close, we now look ahead to a new month in the Sun Dream Team, with yet another opportunity to pocket a share of the £10,000 prize pot.
The Sun dangle a £5,000 top prize to the Dream Team manager who can muster the top monthly score. While every team is entered automatically, if you’re really serious on chasing the prizes, it makes sense to create a new team to take on the month’s fixtures and give you the best opportunity to be in the shake-up.
The Dream Team Premium-In-Play package allows us to build and enter two teams for just £5.
The fixture list is all-important when it comes to narrowing your team selection for the month. With European matches adding further opportunities to score, the trick is to identify those players who can benefit from added appearances.
With November’s scoring starting at 12.45 on Saturday, we examine the strategies available, whilst assessing some key names to consider.
The Fixtures
While there’s yet another international break to contend with, most teams are still treated to four league matches in November. Ironically, all except those who are involved in Europe.
While the Champions League and Europa League normally offer two additional fixtures for those involved, in November, the European ties in the final week force five of the participants to play their fourth league fixture on December 1, outside of November’s scoring. That also causes three other Premier League teams to miss an October fixture – leaving them with just three.
To make things a little simpler, the Capital One Cup is not a factor. This week’s Fourth Round ties signal a break, with Round Five not taking place until mid December.
With that in mind, let’s look at the breakdown of fixtures for November:
Arsenal – six fixtures (four PL, two CL/EL)
Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Swansea – five fixtures (three PL, two CL/EL)
Aston Villa, Cardiff, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Newcastle, Norwich, Stoke, Sunderland, West Brom, West Ham – four fixtures (four PL)
Hull City, Liverpool, Southampton – three fixtures (four PL)
As we can see, the advantage for teams playing in the European competitions is lessened this coming month. With five of the six missing a league fixture, this could be the month to opt for those players dedicated to domestic duty. However, we also need to consider that the trio of Hull City, Liverpool and Southampton enjoy just three matches in the month ahead.
The Player Picks
Manchester City’s squad remains a key source of Dream Team talent. Of their five matches in November, four come at the Etihad – as we’ve seen this season, City are far more formidable in front of their own fans.
With this in mind we have to consider both David Silva (£5.5m) in midfield and Sergio Aguero (£7.0m) up top. The latter has soared to the top of the Dream Team striker rankings having fired nine goals in his last seven starts in all competitions and is now second only to Aaron Ramsey (£2.5m) in the overall rankings. Rotation is perhaps a concern with Aguero but, while there’s every chance that he could be taken out of the firing line in league matches around key European ties, he looks likely to be in the mix for all five of City’s November fixtures. Given his current scoring rate, that guarantees further returns.
As for Silva, his rotation risk is perhaps not as a severe and, at just £5.5 million, he represents strong value for our midfields. While the Spaniard suffered a disappointing season last time out, this is a player who previously topped the Dream Team midfield rankings in 2010/11 and ranked second to Clint Dempsey the season after. His propensity to draw 7+ ratings and Star Man awards shouldn’t be underestimated.
At the back, City are a more risky proposition. With Vincent Kompany’s season continually blighted by injury, investment in Manuel Pellegrini’s back four comes with a huge caveat. Even so, with four November home matches we may do worse than consider Matija Nastasic (£4.5m), who looks safe from rotation while Kompany remains sidelined.
Of the other Champions League contenders, Chelsea offer up the kindest run of November opponents. They’ll face Newcastle, West Brom and West Ham in the Premier League, with a home Champions League tie with Schalke and a trip to Basel thrown in. Again, rotation is a consideration here, although a series of “untouchables†have emerged this season – notably Branislav Ivanovic (£6.5m) at the back, Eden Hazard (£6.5m) in midfield and, to a lesser extent Oscar (£4.5m). All seem worthy of consideration when compiling our November lineups.
With United away from home for four of their five matches in November and Arsenal tested by league meetings with Liverpool, United and an away trip to Dortmund, it looks wise to dismiss the other Champions League outfits. Similarly, we need to approach Swansea and Tottenham with caution given the rotation they’ve shown for Europa League matches.
It’s become very difficult to predict the European lineups chosen by Michael Laudrup and Andre Villas-Boas and, aside from that, the goalscoring form of both teams is in question. While defensively they’ve both excelled, Spurs scored in just two of their October matches, while Swansea also struggled, relying on the 4-0 win over basement dwellers Sunderland to boast their tally which otherwise saw them notch just twice in their other four fixtures.
Our interest is likely to be limited to defensive assets, then, and, having returned from injury to bolster a solid Swans rearguard, Ashley Williams (£3.5m) has to be considered. The most popular Dream Team defender going into the season – he could now be set to justify that faith. For Spurs, Jan Vertonghen (£5.5m) remains the jewel in their defensive crown and the top scoring defender in the game with 74 points. Hugo Lloris (£4.0m) also continues to offer exceptional value and, like Vertonghen, he tops the current Dream Team rankings for his position. We could see both relinquish that position in the coming month, however, as trips to Everton and City test their resolve.
Looking beyond those involved in Europe, Aston Villa have a schedule that could play into the hands of the returning Christian Benteke (£5.5m). Having started the season on fire with five goals in eight Dream Team appearances, the Belgian’s flame has been doused by injury but, with matches against West Ham, Cardiff, West Brom and Sunderland in November, he looks primed to deliver once again. The Villa man could be an option over the Liverpool strike pairing who, despite their blistering form, may be best overlooked given that they have just three matches in the month to come – two of which are away from Anfield at Arsenal and Fulham.
In midfield, West Brom’s Stephane Sessegnon (£3.5m) could provide a handy differential given his home matches against Palace and Villa in the month. West Ham’s Ravel Morrison, priced at just a million, has already provided outstanding value with 46 points thus far and has the fixtures to build on that next month, with Villa, Norwich and Fulham in his sights.
For defensive bargains, the aforementioned West Ham, with Razvan Rat (£1.0m) the value pick, are standouts. Stoke City and Norwich are also worthy of consideration. Both have plum home fixtures in the coming month which should see them boast their modest clean sheet tallies. Robert Huth, at £3.0 million, and Seb Bassong, at £2.5m, would be our picks given their goal threat from set-plays.
You can enter teams for The Sun Dream Team monthly prize via the Premium-In-Play package which gets you two teams for just £5.
The Sun Dream Team Scout League
A reminder that we also have our own Fantasy Football Scout League with a £1,000 top prize on offer to the winner.
Simply use the following PIN and password to enter your teams into the running:
League Name: Fantasy Football Scout
Password: ReWOZhn1T1
PIN: 8061654
