ANTHONY GORDON (£4.7m) may well be the most confusing player in Dream Team this season.
Depending on your perspective, Newcastle’s No10 is either one of the best midfielders in the game or a gigantic frustration.
On the surface, Gordon is enjoying a prosperous campaign.
He has amassed 181 points via 17 goal involvements and ranks eighth among assets in his position.
Such are the fine margins at the top of the midfield rankings, he’s just eight points behind fifth-placed Enzo Fernandez (£4.5m) and 21 points adrift of leader Dominik Szoboszlai (£4.9m).
So what’s the problem?
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Gordon’s owners will know better than anyone that the vast majority of his success has come in the Champions League this season.
In seven European appearances, the England international has scored six goals and provided three assists for a return of 72 points!
He deserves immense credit for his contributions in the continent’s premier competition with the Magpies currently seventh out of 36 in the table ahead of tonight’s showdown with PSG.
Gordon also banked 17 points against Bournemouth in the FA Cup as recently as Gameweek 19.
But while he’s thrived in the additional competitions, he has struggled for rhythm in the Premier League.
Just 71 of his points have come in the league at an average of 3.9 per appearance.
In comparison, he averages a mighty 9.2 points-per-game across the domestic cups and Champions League.
It’s this glaring disparity that has contributed to Gordon’s confounding status this season.
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Regularly substituted between 55-70 minutes, the 24-year-old has under performed in the league for a while now.
But in any other environment he’s been one of the most productive assets in the game.
Gordon has scored two goals and registered three assists from 18 appearances in the league this season and all of those goal involvements came in December.
For additional context, both his goals came from the penalty spot.
In fact, he’s scored five spot-kicks in total this season.
First-choice penalty takers make for useful Dream Team recruits but gaffers should be aware that Gordon hasn’t scored a league goal from open play in over a year.
This duplicitous nature is causing headaches for Dream Team bosses.
Gordon ranks in the top eight midfielders for goals, assists, shots on target and big chances created but repeated failures in the league, the bread and butter of any campaign, are difficult to ignore.
What’s more likely, that Gordon will transfer his impressive European form to the top flight or his ineffective weekend performances will leak into the Champions League?
Tonight’s result in Paris will determine whether Eddie Howe’s side progress straight to the round of 16 or enter the play-offs as one of the seeded teams.
The latter outcome would add two fixtures to their busy schedule.
Given the Magpies are 2-0 down to Manchester City on aggregate in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and face a tough FA Cup fourth round draw in the form of Aston Villa (a), it’s not inconceivable that Premier League commitments are all that remains in the diary from late February.
What would that mean for Gordon’s viability?
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