Alexander Isak’s Dream Team viability sky-high having averaged a goal every 79 minutes since mid-September

NEWCASTLE came ever so close to an epic Champions League rearguard on Tuesday night.

Eddie Howe’s side were a minute away from a win over PSG in the French capital when the hosts were given a generous penalty, one that (probably) wouldn’t have been awarded in the Premier League.

Kylian Mbappe’s converted the spot-kick to break the hearts of many Dream Team managers who would have been delighted if the likes of Nick Pope (£4.2m) and Kieran Trippier (£5.2m) had held out for an improbable clean sheet.

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Partially lost among the chaos was Alexander Isak’s (£4.2m) goal but Dream Team bosses would do well to take note of the Sweden international’s efforts.

The former Real Sociedad forward was on hand to fulfil the role of poacher when Miguel Almiron’s (£3.4m) shot was parried into a dangerous area by Gigi Donnarumma.

Isolated for much of the game, Isak nonetheless pouched eight points at the Parc des Princes, doubling his tally for the Gameweek – he opened the scoring against Chelsea at St James’ Park on Saturday.

16 points has to be considered a particularly impressive return for Gameweek 13 considering Isak was an availability question mark right up until he was named in the starting line-up at the weekend.

The 24-year-old missed five games while injured and it’s because of his spell on the sidelines that many Dream Team gaffers will not be aware of his clinical conversion rate when available.

Isak has now scored seven goals in his last nine appearances at an average of one every 79 minutes – a run that began in mid-September.

This fruitful spell that has yielded 67 points at an average of 7.44 per outing since the start of Gameweek 6.

The stats paint a portrait of a striker in fine form who will provide healthy returns so long as he can avoid further injury setbacks.

Plus, Isak’s minutes are assured as along as Callum Wilson (£4.4m) is sidelined and, regardless, the pair have flourished even when forced to share game time in the last year.

The Magpies are in the midst of a chronic injury crisis but their convincing victory over Chelsea, who went toe-to-toe with Manchester City before the international break, proved they remain capable of impressive performances and results.

Their fixtures across the next two Gameweeks are far from easy – Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham, AC Milan – but Isak is certainly capable of extending his points-laden streak against such opponents.

Newcastle’s No14 has scored nine goals in all competitions this season – only Erling Haaland (£7.9m) and Mohamed Salah (£6.7m) are ahead of him among all Dream Team assets.

Isak’s total of 91 Dream Team points is hindered by his injury lay-off but he actually averages more points-per-game than Ollie Watkins (£4.8m) and Darwin Nunez (£4.5m).

Don’t underestimate him!