Bryan Mbeumo and six other overachievers who have ripped up Dream Team’s blueprint this season

THE 2024/25 Dream Team campaign is halfway complete.

Now is a great time to take stock of the season so far and who better to highlight than the heroic overachievers?

Mohamed Salah (£8.1m), Erling Haaland (£8m) and Bukayo Saka (£6.6m) are leading the way in terms of overall points but the truth is that gaffers expect nothing less from the game’s most expensive assets.

The following players are those who have defied the odds and made a real difference to the overall leaderboard.

Bryan Mbeumo (£4.8m)

Brentford’s main man has punched well above his weight with 13 goals from his first 20 league outings.

At the time of writing, Salah and Haaland are the only players ahead of him in the race for the Golden Boot.

Mbeumo has racked up 197 points to put him third among Dream Team midfielders with only Saka and Cole Palmer (£6.1m) above him in the rankings.

That the Cameroon international has outperformed the likes of Bruno Fernandes (£6.2m), James Maddison (£4.1m) and Luis Diaz (£4m) without European fixtures to pad out his schedule is testament to his electric domestic form.

Matz Sels (£3.4m)

No list of surprise packages would be complete without a Nottingham Forest representative.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have performed well above expectations and find themselves third in the table at the halfway stage – a remarkable effort from the club that finished 17th in 2023/24.

Chris Wood (£3.9m), Ola Aina (£3.5m) and several others are worthy of individual praise but it’s Sels who makes the cut by virtue of the fact he currently ranks fourth in his position.

The 32 year-old Belgian is one of just four goalkeepers to have reached the 100-point mark.

Sels has registered nine clean sheets this season, a tally only bettered by David Raya (£4.4m).

Matheus Cunha (£4.9m)

Some gaffers wouldn’t have been surprised by the Brazilian forward’s returns as he flourished in spells last season.

Even so, few would have predicted Cunha would be averaging 8.6 points-per-game at the halfway stage – a rate bettered by Salah, Haaland and Alexander Isak (£6m) among strikers (minimum three appearances).

His efforts appear especially admirable when measured against Wolves’ season as a collective.

The Molineux residents are languishing in 17th having conceded the most league goals (45).

Cunha has notched ten goals and four assists but that only tells half the story.

He also ranks in the top three in his position for bonus points and big chances created.

Lewis Hall (£4.4m)

Dream Team bosses have flocked to Isak and Anthony Gordon (£5.2m) amid Newcastle’s upturn in form, with good reason, but the Magpies’ tireless left-back deserves plenty of credit too.

Hall has amassed 67 points from eight outings since the start of Gameweek 15.

This productive burst has propelled him up to sixth in the defensive rankings – he’s now just three points shy of Gabriel (£5m) and six short of William Saliba (£4.9m).

Among defenders, the ex-Chelsea youngster ranks joint-fourth for clean sheets, joint-fifth for assists, and sixth for bonus points.

Brennan Johnson (£3.7m)

The Wales international would have been well down the list of viable Tottenham assets ahead of Gameweek 1 but his current ownership of 21.5% makes him the tenth-most popular player in the game.

Johnson has found his scoring boots this season with 12 goals to his name in all competitions.

He scored in six consecutive games earlier in the campaign during a particularly fruitful run that resulted in a massive popularity surge.

The aforementioned Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski (£4.3m) have provided healthy returns this season but Dream Team bosses would have expected those two to provide their fair share of points.

Johnson’s success has come as a surprise, not least to the subsection of Spurs fans who were frustrated by the winger’s performances in the opening weeks of the campaign.

A total of 183 points places him fifth among midfielders.

Daniel Munoz (£4.2m)

Another player who has thrived despite a lack of European commitments and his team’s broader struggles.

Crystal Palace’s results have improved recently but they remain 15th in the table, such was their disastrous start.

Munoz is a threat going forward and a monster in defence.

The Colombian wing-back ranks first among players in his position for shots on target and second among all players for tackles.

Plus, he’s on track to reach double figures for goal involvements this season.

Munoz has been on a tear lately having banked 34 points in his last four outings.

Morgan Rogers (£3.5m)

Last but not least, one of the game’s best value-for-money options.

The Aston Villa midfielder started the campaign at just £2.5m, a reflection of the fact he was merely a bit-part player in 2023/24 following his transfer from Middlesbrough.

However, Unai Emery promoted the silky 22-year-old to first-team regular over the summer, a decision justified by a return of seven goals and five assists after 18 and a half Gameweeks.

Rogers has pocketed a cool 40 points from his last four fixtures, a profitable spell interrupted by an untimely suspension.

He is likely to be a popular recruit ahead of the Champions League fixtures in Gameweeks 20 and 21.