Ibrahima Konaté and other top defenders selected by less than 10% of Dream Team gaffers

DREAM TEAM managers must always be aware of potential differential options, players who appear on relatively few teams.

These individuals often make a difference, as their returns are more likely to impact the Mini League standings and overall standings than popular superstars.

With Manchester City on a losing streak and several other top defenders injured, many gaffers will want to freshen up their back line ahead of Gameweek 13.

Here, we’ve simply identified the defenders with the most points who currently appear on less than 10% of teams.

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Daniel Munoz

• £3.4 million
• 1.5% participation
• 68 points

The Crystal Palace winger has already made 55 tackles this season.

Only Noussair Mazraoui (£4.1m) has recorded more, but he is only ahead of Munoz because he has played extra European matches to fill out his schedule.

Additionally, Rico Lewis (£3.4m) is the only defender with more assists than the Colombia international at this stage.

The Eagles are struggling this season with just eight points from their opening 12 league matches, but scoring goals is their main problem – they have conceded the same number of goals as Manchester City.

Lewis Room

5

The fact that the Newcastle left-back has just been capped by England is a good indicator of his recent form.

Only six defenders have won more points in their last three outings – Hall even picked up a respectable five points on Monday night despite the Magpies’ 2-0 defeat to West Ham.

The former Chelsea youngster also ranks fourth in bonus points among active players in his position.

A meeting with Liverpool aside, Newcastle’s schedule looks pretty favorable between now and Boxing Day.

Destiny Udogie

• £3.5 million
• 5.6% stake
• 75 points

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Pedro Porro (£4.4m) is clearly Tottenham’s best defender, but his left-wing counterpart is considerably more affordable and ranks 11th among players in his position.

Udogie didn’t provide the same attacking threat as last season, but only the aforementioned Mazraoui and Munoz made more tackles (among defenders).

Ange Postecoglou’s side are frustratingly inconsistent, as evidenced by their 4-0 victory over Man City following a 2-1 defeat to Ipswich.

But the Spurs have a lot of potential and Udogie deserves more recognition in the Dream Team world.

Diogo Dalot

5

Manchester United’s No.20 has been a decent addition to the Dream Team for some time now.

He was one of the most reliable performers under Erik ten Hag and while that doesn’t mean much, he ticks a few useful boxes.

Dalot ranks fourth among defenders in big chances created, fifth in tackles and sixth in clean sheets.

The Portugal international was deployed as a winger in Ruben Amorim’s first match as Red Devils head coach and if he continues in that role his supporters could benefit from an increase in attacking returns.

Ibrahima Konate

• £4.8 million
• 8.9% stake
• 90 points

5

It’s easy to understand why more than 91% of coaches are currently neglecting the Frenchman.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.7m) and Virgil van Dijk (£5.5m) are the only defenders to have a century of points at the time of writing while left-backs Andy Robertson (4.1m £) and Kostas Tsimikas (£3.2m) offered a more affordable route to the top flight’s top defence.

Konate falls in the middle in terms of points and price and has therefore been underutilized.

The imposing 25-year-old is now just one point behind fourth-placed Josko Gvardiol (£4.6m) in the standings.

Arne Slot’s side are due to face Man City and Newcastle in Gameweek 13, but they have a relatively favorable run from Gameweek 14 into the new year.

Selecting two or even three Liverpool defenders for this period could be a profitable strategy.

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