EVERY Dream Team season contains all manner of surprises and this one is no exception.
When 20-year-old Max Alleyne (£2.5m) was loaned to Watford at the start of the campaign, few managers would have predicted that he would be a starter for Manchester City come January.
The England Under-21 international was recalled to the Etihad earlier this month amid an injury crisis in defence for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Ruben Dias (£4.8m) and Josko Gvardiol (£5.4m) have joined John Stones (£3.4m) on the sidelines, leading to an unexpected centre-back partnership of Alleyne and Abdukodir Khusanov (£2.9m).
Guardiola praised both players following City’s 1-1 draw with Brighton in Gameweek 18, describing their performances as “exceptional”.
The pair also started Saturday’s FA Cup third round game against Exeter City, which ended 10-1 to the hosts.
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It was Alleyne who opened the scoring (and the floodgates) with an opportunistic poke in the 12th minute.
He was substituted in the 64th minute, long before the visitors’ consolation goal, meaning he banked some clean sheet points for a total return haul of 15 points.
Add in the six points he earned against the Seagulls and that’s 21 points from the youngster’s first two outings in the world of Dream Team.
Very much a surprise package, Alleyne comes from strong sporting stock as son of former England cricketer Mark Alleyne, a legend at Gloucestershire CCC.
He has to be considered a potential difference-maker in the short term with Man City set to fulfil eight fixtures across the next four Gameweeks.
Having just been added to Dream Team, he is a massive differential with a barely perceptible ownership of 0.1%.
Such a punt comes with risk as it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Guardiola opted for the experience of Nathan Ake (£3.6m) alongside Khusanov for this weekend’s Manchester derby, with Nico O’Reilly (£3.1m) reclaiming his place at left-back.
Helpfully, Dream Team bosses will get a clearer read on the decorated tactician’s pecking order when City take on Newcastle in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals this evening.
If Alleyne starts a third consecutive game and impresses against the Magpies, he will be well placed to provide value-for-money returns across the next few Gameweeks.
MANCHESTER CITY FIXTURES
- GW20: Manchester United (a) & Bodo/Glimt (a)
- GW21: Wolves (h) & Galatasaray (h)
- GW22: Tottenham (a) & Newcastle (h)
- GW23: Liverpool (a) & Fulham (h)
Dias is expected to return towards the end of that busy run but Alleyne may have served his purpose by then.
Gameweeks 20 and 21 feature relatively strong clean sheet hopes, even accounting for City’s weakened back line.
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