Dan Burn & Julian Alvarez feature in Gameweek 7’s best XI – one Dream Team gaffer now £100 richer!

IMAGINE earning 249 Dream Team points in a single week.

An unrealistic dream for most gaffers but reality for Stuart Hanson, who achieved this massive tally in Gameweek 7 to earn himself £100!

Let’s take a closer look at how he racked up such an imposing total…

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To get the boring part out of the way, gaffers who activate Park the Bus would generally be better off reverting to a formation with five at the back for that Gameweek to maximise the Booster’s effectiveness.

Consider that general advice for the masses and not a criticism of Stuart’s undeniably epic performance in Gameweek 7.

Stuart doubled his back four’s collective haul of 59 points to 118 with Park the Bus, mostly thanks to Newcastle’s near-perfect double header against Burnley and PSG.

The Magpies kept their fifth consecutive clean sheet with victory over the Clarets and while they did concede to the French champions, the emphatic 4-1 win at St James’ Park yielded more returns.

Dan Burn (£3.8m) scored past Gigi Donnarumma to propel himself up to third in the defensive rankings while Kieran Trippier (£5.5m) continued his majestic form with assists in both fixtures.

The England full-back has been on a tear of late, notching 55 points across the last three Gameweeks!

Needless to say, Trippier is Dream Team’s outright best defender at this stage having amassed 70 points in total.

Ben White (£4.3m) is the defender sandwiched between the Newcastle pair at the top of the rankings.

Arsenal’s No4 only played 19 minutes against Lens in midweek for a single point but by then he’d already enjoyed himself against Bournemouth to the tune of 15 points.

The 25-year-old scored his side’s fourth goal against the Cherries in stoppage time to add to his clean sheet.

William Saliba (£3.5m) is the most-popular defender in Dream Team right now but White has outscored his team-mate by 15 points after seven Gameweeks.

It was a relatively modest week for Kyle Walker (£3.6m) as Manchester City failed to keep their sheets clean against either Wolves or RB Leipzig – the speedy right-back did earn three bonus points at Molineux as partial compensation.

In midfield, Stuart predicted that Mikel Arteta would pick Bukayo Saka (£6.4m) if available despite injury concerns.

The Gunners’ No7 limped off against Bournemouth and Lens but still he managed 14 points in Gameweek 7 via a goal and an assist.

However, it was Martin Odegaard (£5m) who benefited most from what should have been a favourable pair of fixtures for Arsenal – their Champions League defeat came at the hands of a team currently 15th in Ligue 1.

The Norway international scored 16 of his 20 points at the Vitality Stadium where he scored one goal (from the penalty spot) and assisted two others.

Given that Stuart activated Park the Bus, Odegaard proved to be the perfect choice for the captain’s armband.

James Ward-Prowse (£4.1m) was the most transferred-in player prior to Gameweek 7 and he justified his popularity with a 16-point return over two fixtures.

Shots on target, big chances created, tackles, assists, goals, bonus points… the West Ham midfielder does it all!

Phil Foden (£4.5m) mustered four points at Molineux but came good with a fine showing in Germany in midweek.

The treble winner scored City’s first goal against RB Leipzig and he was unlucky not to register an assist as well having created two big chances.

Stuart was happy to tackle Gameweek 7 without Erling Haaland (£8m) – who appears in 88.2% of teams – and this bold tactic proved to be a masterstroke.

While the prolific Norwegian had to settle for seven points, Julian Alvarez (£4.5m) added another 20 to his overall tally.

The World Cup winner scored a pinpoint free-kick in the defeat to Wolves and he came off the bench to finish the job in the Champions League with a goal and an assist during the final minutes of the game.

Alvarez actually leapfrogged Haaland in the overall rankings this past week – he’s level with Saka on 85 points at the top of the tree.

Finally, Alexander Isak (£3.8m) continued his resurgence with a 17-point haul spread over two outings.

The Swedish forward scored against Burnley and registered a further three shots on target in a threatening display, before being credited with an assist against PSG.

Having clobbered together just nine points between Gameweeks 2 and 5, Isak is firmly back on track having pocketed 34 points across the two Gameweeks since.

Magnificent work, Stuart – good luck to you and all gaffers ahead of Gameweek 8!