Erling Haaland (£7.9m) is currently the most transferred player heading into GameWeek 22.
Even during rare fallows, it is rare for Dream Team managers to turn their backs on Manchester City's prolific striker, so it may seem completely confusing why his popularity is dipping now that he is back among the most in-form players in the game.
Allow us to explain.
Firstly, it is important to note that Haaland has quietly regained his best form in recent outings.
The Norwegian poacher scored one and assisted another for a 15-point haul as Pep Guardiola's side came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 on Sunday.
This followed a profitable gameweek 20 when he scored against both Ipswich and PSG for a combined return of 21 points.
At the time of writing, only Justin KlUivert (£3.6m) and Alexander Isak (£6.1m) have taken more points than Haaland from their last three outings.
More broadly, goals in three consecutive matches mean the big no9 now has 24 in all competitions, the outright highest tally in the game.
It is clear that Dream Team bosses are not dumping Haaland due to form issues.
The reason he has already been removed from a few thousand teams is because of the schedule.
Man City have just one fixture to fill in Gameweeke 22 and a tough one on paper in the form of Arsenal at the Emirates – the Gunners are the only team to lose another home game in the top flight this campaign.
Naturally, Gaffers will be more interested in the four teams set to fill two matches in GameWeek 22 due to the Semi-Final second legs of the Carabao Cup: Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Newcastle.
Such is Haaland's pedigree, he can break down Mikel Arteta's defense well and continue his prosperous form, but the decision to replace him with a forward from better prospects in Gameweek 22 is an understandable one.
Mohamed Salah (£8m), Cody Gakpo (£4.7m), son Heung-min (£5m), Kai Havertz (£4.7m) and the aforementioned Isak all have 180+ points to their names plus two matches in the diary for Gameweek 22.
And that's just the strikers, Anthony Gordon (£5.3m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£4.4m) are among the strong midfield options ahead of the next deadline.
One thing to note is that while Man City currently only have one fixture scheduled for GameWeek 23 (against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup) that will change if they can secure a place in the Champions League play-offs -knock – outphase – a win at home Going to club Brugge on Wednesday will do the trick.
Should that happen, Guardiola will play the first leg of the play-off in Gameweek 23 and the second leg in Gameweek 24.
So as to why Haaland may disappear from a few teams this week, the shoe may be on the other foot soon enough.
Plus, GameWeek 21 isn't over yet with six matches left to complete – things can change very quickly in the world of Dream Team.
Comments