DREAM TEAM managers love a sneaky trick.
And that’s why we feel compelled to highlight Maxim De Cuyper (£3.1m) at this moment in time.
Kaoru Mitoma (£3.7m) has been struggling with injury since September and so Fabian Hurzeler has tried out several alternative options on the left flank.
Three games ago, the young tactician decided to deploy De Cuyper as a makeshift winger against Nottingham Forest, with satisfactory results.
The Belgium international, a left-back by trade, scored a goal as part of an impressive 19-point haul.
Crucially, he also collected his fair share of the clean sheet points against Sean Dyche’s side because he is categorised as a defender in Dream Team, even when deployed in the front four.
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De Cuyper was limited to three points against Aston Villa because Unai Emery’s in-form troops put four goals past the Seagulls but he bounced back this past Sunday with an 11-point haul against West Ham.
With Brighton 1-0 up, the 24-year-old was replaced in the 72nd minute, one minute before Jarrod Bowen (£4.8m) equalised for the Hammers.
This meant that De Cuyper banked clean sheet points while the other defenders saw theirs go up in smoke.
This all adds up to a return of 33 points from three outings since he was pushed further up the pitch.
At the time of writing, Cristian Romero (£3.9m) is the only defender who has earned more points from his last three appearances.
What’s notable is that De Cuyper has received nine bonus points since being deployed as a winger, a significant tally.
Clearly this is something that should be on the radar on any gaffer worth their salt.
However, it may be the case that this particular ship has already sailed.
Mitoma is expected to return sooner rather than later having been pictured in training at the start of this week.
As well as De Cuyper and Ferdi Kadioglu (£3.3m) have done in tandem on the left, the Japan international is among the first names on the team sheet when available.
Even if Mitoma needs a bit of time to get up to speed, the schedule does not encourage Dream Team bosses to look towards the Amex when mulling over transfer options.
Brighton are not among the select group of seven clubs with at least one double header to fulfil across the next two Gameweeks.
They will double up in Gameweeks 17 and 18 but the viability of their assets is hindered by difficult match-ups against Arsenal and Manchester City, both away from home.
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Still, it’s always worth flagging a player who suddenly starts thriving when asked to play out of position.
Cheating the system in this way is often a shortcut to significant gains in the leaderboard.
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