AGAINST all odds, Dwight McNeil (£3.5m) has become Dream Team’s top-performing midfielder.
Everton’s No7 opened the scoring against Aston Villa on Saturday with a pinpoint finish and it was his inviting cross that Dominic Calvert Lewin (£3.2m) nodded home to double the visitors’ lead in the midlands; a contribution that earned him 15 points in one fell swoop.
46 points and counting[/caption]
Unfortunately, the Toffees once again came away with nothing as Ollie Watkins (£5.6m) and Jhon Duran (£2.9m) inspired the Villains to a comeback victory.
If anything, the fact Sean Dyche’s mob are yet to earn a single point this season makes it even more impressive that McNeil now tops the midfield rankings, above the likes of Bukayo Saka (£6.4m), Eberechi Eze (£4.7m) and Luis Diaz (£5m).
The 24-year-old has amassed 46 points from five outings this campaign.
Only Mohamed Salah (£7.6m) and runaway leader Erling Haaland (£9.1m) have more points to their name among all assets at the time of writing.
McNeil started relatively slowly with nine points after his first two games but he’s plundered 37 points across his last three appearances against Doncaster, Bournemouth and Villa.
He’s scored two goals and provided two assists overall, plus eight bonus points.
Additonally, the former Burnley man, who currently features in 2.2% of teams, is the only player to have created five big chances for his team-mates at this stage of the season.
McNeil has delivered a whopping 20 accurate crosses; Fulham’s Andreas Pereira (£2.6m) is the only other player to have registered more than ten.
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McNeil is trying his best to reverse Everton’s fortunes[/caption]
Everton fans have endured a truly miserable start to the season.
Before the international break, the Toffees conspired to lose to Bournemouth after being 2-0 up in the 87th minute and so Saturday’s repeat (though not quite as farcical) has only worsened the sour mood at Goodison Park.
McNeil’s Dream Team excellence will come as little consolation to the fans but the midfielder’s efforts should be recognised – he’s doing everything he can to drag his side out of the mire.
In truth, McNeil’s reign as the game’s outright best midfielder may be short lived as it will be immensely difficult for him to keep pace with his main rivals once the European fixtures start coming thick and fast.
That being said, Everton are due to face Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night and passage to the next round would bolster McNeil’s schedule, improving his viability further.
Dyche’s side have a relatively favourable run of league games from Gameweek 5 until mid-November: Leicester, Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Ipswich, Fulham, Southampton, West Ham, Brentford.
Although of course Everton themselves will be considered a favourable opponent by others given their joyless start to the campaign.
Whether McNeil is able to maintain his market-leading form going forward is another matter but all Dream Team managers should be aware of what he’s achieved to date.
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