Why Dominic Solanke could hold key to success for Dream Team bosses this month
GAMEWEEK 19 is only half complete with a full round of Premier League fixtures to fulfil this week.
But already thoughts turn to how Dream Team managers should approach Gameweeks 20 and 21, when the league phases of the Champions League and Europa League will reach a dramatic conclusion.
The resumption of the European competitions means gaffers should once again ensure they are suitably represented on the continental stage.
Cole Palmer (£6.1m), Bryan Mbeumo (£4.8m) and Alexander Isak (£6m) are just three popular names among those with just two fixtures to fulfil across the next two Gameweeks.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham will play four times in the same time period.
The latter are a particularly interesting prospect given the relatively favourable nature of their January fixtures once they’ve attended to the small matter of Wednesday night’s North London derby at the Emirates.
Ange Postecoglou’s side will play Everton and Leicester in the league, two sides in the bottom five of the table currently, alongside Europa League meetings with Hoffenheim and Elfsborg.
With all due respect to the German and Swedish teams, Spurs will be heavy favourites against both – Hoffenheim are 15th in the Bundesliga right now.
Postecoglou has rotated his squad in Europe but he can’t afford to take anything for granted this month if he’s to progress to the last 16 of the competition without having to endure the stress of a play-off.
Spurs are currently ninth in the table with only the top eight guaranteed a place in the round of 16.
With all this mind, might Dominic Solanke (£4.6m) hold the key to success for Dream Team bosses in the next fortnight or so?
The England international has 186 points to his name this season, making him the leading asset among his team-mates at the time of writing.
And yet he’s just the fifth-most selected Spurs player with Brennan Johnson (£3.7m), Dejan Kulusevski (£4.3m), James Maddison (£4.1m) and Pedro Porro (£4.2m) all boasting superior ownership percentages.
MOST POPULAR SPURS PLAYERS IN DREAM TEAM RIGHT NOW (% OWNERSHIP):
- 21.4% – Brennan Johnson
- 17.6% – Dejan Kulusevski
- 14.8% – James Maddison
- 14.4% – Pedro Porro
- 14.1% – Dominic Solanke
It’s not that Solanke is being totally overlooked; an ownership of 14.1% makes him the fourth-most popular striker in the game.
But it’s notable that Isak (30.6%) is more than twice as popular given the upcoming fixture deficit between the two.
Newcastle’s main man is in fantastic form and his chances of banking healthy returns against Bournemoth and Southampton are strong but will he outscore Solanke, who may be deployed against Everton, Hoffenheim, Leicester and Elfsborg in the same time frame?
It’s worth noting here that for all his success in recent weeks, Isak is just three points ahead of Solanke overall.
Tottenham’s No19 has scored 11 goals and provided eight assists this season which works out at a goal involvement every 113.6 minutes.
Spurs have their weaknesses, hence why they’re 12th in the Premier League at present, but they pack a punch in attack and only league-leaders Liverpool have scored more goals in the top flight this term.
There’s plenty to be said for backing Solanke in combination with either Kulusevski, Johnson or Maddison in search of bumper points this month.
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