Is Bruno Fernandes really the only viable Manchester United player ahead of back-to-back double Gameweeks?
MANCHESTER UNITED have been a one-man team for much of the season.
This description is certainly fair in the realm of Dream Team, where Bruno Fernandes (£7m) is 125 points ahead of his closest team-mate.
The Portugal international has been on a roll of late having amassed 101 points from his last seven outings!
As a result, Fernandes has become the game’s leading midfielder by a wide margin with only superstar forwards Mohamed Salah (£7.7m) and Erling Haaland (£7.8m) above him in the overall rankings.
Any Dream Team manager worth their salt would have recognised the 30 year-old playmaker as an excellent option and he’s currently the third-most selected asset in his position.
Fernandes seems well placed to deliver further returns in the coming weeks.
The Red Devils travel to Nottingham Forest this evening and will then be one of just five teams to fulfil four fixtures across Gameweeks 30 and 31: Manchester City (h), Lyon (a), Newcastle (a), Lyon (h).
It’s not a favourable set of games by any means but the fact Ruben Amorim’s side remain active in Europe means they have more point-scoring opportunities than the vast majority of teams this month.
And so the question must be asked: is Fernandes really the only viable Man United player at this moment in time?
The next-best performer in the squad is Alejandro Garnacho (£3.4m) with 220 points to his name.
All things considered, that’s a good return from the Argentine winger, one that puts him 12th among midfielders at the time of writing.
However, the 20-year-old can be a frustrating asset to own at times.
Garnacho ranks first in his position for shots on target but just 14th for goals, evidence of inefficiency in front of goal.
In terms of playmaking, the opposite is true as he ranks joint-fourth for assists among midfielders but just joint-35th for big chances created, suggesting his team-mates really have made the most of his relatively limited creative output.
Garnacho is a curious player for sure, one who occasionally leaves points unclaimed, but it’s simply a fact that he returned 32 points in four appearances just prior to the international break.
This fruitful run featured a goal and three assists.
Fernandes is undoubtedly the best attack-minded option in Man United’s ranks but doubling up is a viable strategy for the next two Gameweeks at least and Garnacho seems to be best accomplice for such an approach.
It may surprise some Dream Team bosses to learn that Diogo Dalot (£3.4m) is among the top ten defenders in the game.
Despite Man United’s problems as a collective this season, the Portuguese wing-back has contributed seven goal involvements on top of ten clean sheets – he ranks highly for tackles too.
Not as highly as Noussair Mazraoui (£3.2m) though, who has racked up 131 tackles in all competitions – the highest tally among all players.
The Morocco international is just three points shy of Dalot overall.
Then there’s Andre Onana (£3.4m), who ranks third among goalkeepers despite the fact he’s conceded a whopping 52 goals in all competitions this season.
The former Inter custodian has made 107 saves, a total only bettered by Mark Flekken (£3.4m) and Emi Martinez (£3.9m).
It’s understandable if gaffers feel reluctant to back Man United’s defensive assets with Man City, Lyon (x2) and Newcastle in the diary but the Stats Centre suggest Dalot, Mazraoui and Onana are worthy of consideration.
Things might get really interesting if Fernandes and company progress to last four of the Europa League, especially if the other English clubs still active in Europe are eliminated at the quarter-final stage.
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