NO team has returned from the winter break as invigorated as Arsenal.
The Gunners have now won five consecutive games in a fruitful streak that has featured a huge win against title rivals Liverpool and crushing victories over Crystal Palace, West Ham and Burnley.
From a Dream Team perspective, there’s been no shortage of benefactors from this dramatic upturn.
Bukayo Saka (£5.7m) is the outright top scorer in the game with a whopping 257 points his name while Martin Odegaard (£4.1m) has re-entered the top ten midfielders having rediscovered his stylish mojo.
Back-to-back clean sheets have pushed both Gabriel (£3.9m) and William Saliba (£3.3m) into the top five defenders with Ben White (£3.4m) not far behind in joint-sixth.
Declan Rice (£3.6m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£3.9m) owners will also have been relatively satisfied with their returns of late.
Perhaps the most interesting element of Arsenal’s purple patch has been the form of Kai Havertz (£2.8m) and Leandro Trossard (£2.8m).
The pair are very affordable and both are categorised as midfielders despite the fact they predominately operate in the final third.
In fact, Arteta has used both as false nines with great effect while Gabriel Jesus (£4.8m) has been sidelined with injury.
Generally, the Belgium international has played up front with the 24-year-old German as an advanced midfielder.
What really matters is that both players scored and assisted against the Clarets on Saturday, banking ten points each in the process.
Havertz has produced 19 points in his last three outings while Trossard has earned 28 in the same frame via three goals.
The latter has now scored nine goals in all competitions, a tally bettered only by Saka among his team-mates.
Clearly, there’s considerable potential for Dream Team bosses to exploit here, especially with Arsenal in such great form.
However, how will Trossard and Havertz fit in once Jesus is available for selection again?
The Brazilian striker may even feature against Porto on Wednesday night if rumours are to be believed.
Arteta is fiercely loyal to his first-choice XI but there must be a temptation to retain Trossard in the starting line-up in some capacity given his recent performances.
It could be argued that the Gunners have played their best football of the Arteta reign while Jesus has been unavailable.
Dream Team gaffers should keep an eye on this situation closely because Trossard in particular has offered excellent value for money in recent weeks.
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