5 players who could rack up plenty of Dream Team points in April
TRANSFERS are set to be refreshed on Friday morning and that’s not an April Fool’s Day prank.
Gaffers have had the entire international break to strategise but, for those still debating, we’ve assembled a list of five players who could rack up plenty of points in April for your perusal.
Raheem Sterling (£5.0m)
Manchester City have a whopping eight fixtures to fulfil in April.
Some may be perturbed by the fact 50% of them come against Liverpool and Atletico Madrid but we’re here to put your mind at ease.
There’s no doubt the double header against Jurgen Klopp’s troops will be highly competitive but City have home advantage in the Premier League encounter before the FA Cup semi-final takes place on neutral soil.
As for Diego Simeone’s mob, they may be Europe’s ultimate sh*thouses but they’re not as effective as they were last season.
In fact, the Spanish side have already conceded 11 more league goals this term than did in the whole of 2020/21.
Granted, their form has improved in the last month or so but repelling Pep Guardiola’s side over two legs would take a gargantuan effort.
Sterling looked in fine touch during the international break and he’ll resume at club level having banked 13 points in Game Week 29.
Riyad Mahrez (£7.2m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£7.0m) remain the premium options but their price tags may be problematic for gaffers who have already stretched their budget to the limit.
The England international is more affordable and has 14 goals in all competitions to his name.
City’s other April fixtures? Burnley, Brighton, Watford, Leeds.
Andy Robertson (£5.9m)
Liverpool are similarly busy this coming month with the aforementioned FA Cup semi-final and two legs against Benfica to complete around their league commitments.
Rumours are already rife that Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) may have recovered from the injury that prevented him from joining up with the Three Lions.
It goes without saying that the playmaking right-back is a must-have when fit as only Mohamed Salah (£7.9m) has more points to his name at this juncture.
But we’re backing Robertson to make hay in April as well.
The Scotland skipper is a phenomenal full-back in his own right having already provided 13 assists this season – a statistic most creative midfielders would envy.
Robertson appears in 14.1% of teams but with the Reds having been handed a favourable Champions League draw, he will surely be a popular recruit once transfers are refreshed.
Liverpool start the month at home to Watford and finish it with a Merseyside derby at Anfield before a trip to Newcastle – points aplenty to be had.
Harvey Barnes (£4.2m)
Something of an alternative suggestion here as the Leicester winger’s ownership currently rests at just 3.2%.
Only the most attentive Dream Team bosses will have identified the Foxes’ potential this April, facilitated by their Europa Conference League campaign.
Brendan Rodgers’ side face PSV twice among six league fixtures, making them the joint-busiest team in the coming weeks.
Barnes was sidelined with injury for four months so it’s understandable that it’s taken him some time to work his way up the gears this season but 41 points in the last six Game Weeks suggests he’s back to his best.
James Maddison (£4.2m) remains the mainstream option if you’re keen to back Leicester but we’ve tipped him so many times this season that we’re in danger of repeating ourselves to a demented degree.
Reece James (£6.0m)
This one is dependent on recovery time as, like Alexander-Arnold, Chelsea’s rampaging right-back was withdrawn from England’s latest squad because of an injury setback.
However, Thomas Tuchel has hinted that James could feature against Brentford this weekend or, failing that, he will be in contention to play against Real Madrid in the pick of the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Spanish giants are the historical kings of Europe and the manner of their victory over PSG served as a reminder of their ability to pull something out of the bag on the continental stage.
But the Blues will take heart from the fact they beat Los Blancos in last season’s semi-final – they would also have gleefully watched how Barcelona dismantled Madrid so comprehensively before the break.
James averages 6.3 points-per-game this season – a rate superior to that of Joao Cancelo (£7.4m), Virgil van Dijk (£7.0m) and Thiago Silva (£5.4m).
Generally speaking, Chelsea can be relied upon for a steady supply of clean sheets and the fact their 22-year-old wing-back averages a goal or assist every 108 minutes in the Premier League this term simply can’t be ignored.
Aymeric Laporte (£5.4m)
We finish as we started, with a Man City asset.
With Ruben Dias (£4.5m) expected to be out for at least another week and John Stones (£5.7m) nursing a niggle, Laporte is nailed on to begin April as the bedrock of City’s defence.
The Frenchman-turned-Spaniard is the eleventh-best player in his position right now and his ownership of 7.1% is surprisingly low.
The 27-year-old has chipped in with three league goals this season and is a persistent threat from set pieces.
With Liverpool breathing down his neck, Guardiola can’t afford to rest players in the league even as he hunts trophies on two other fronts – Laporte has started 24 of City’s 29 league games.
Even when all centre-backs are available, Laporte and Dias has been the preferred pairing this season.
Two games against Liverpool in quick succession isn’t ideal but there should be plenty of compensation on offer elsewhere.