BRYAN MBEUMO (£4.2m) is at it again.
Brentford’s No19 quickly became a popular Dream Team asset at the start of the last season when he burst out the blocks with four goals in his first four Premier League outings.
His output increased to seven goals and three assists in 15 league games before a nasty ankle injury sidelined him for three months – his ownership never really recovered after that.
This season, the Cameroon international has posted even more impressive numbers to make a serious statement of intent for the campaign ahead.
Mbeumo has scored six goals in seven league games so far, a tally only bettered by Erling Haaland (£9.1m).
In fact, Manchester City’s prolific No9 is the only man with more goals in all competitions – a remarkable statistic given the Bees aren’t involved in Europe and Mbeumo has played just 14 minutes in the Carabao Cup to date.
Things could have easily gone awry for Thomas Frank’s side this term following the departure of Ivan Toney and several injuries, including to key forwards Yoane Wissa (£3.2m) and club-record signing Igor Thiago (£2.5m).
As it is, Brentford are perfectly content in mid-table with ten points to their name having already faced Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham away from home.
And Mbeumo deserves huge credit as his team’s inspirational talisman.
Naturally, the 25-year-old’s efforts have translated to Dream Team success.
Bukayo Saka (£6.5m) and Mateo Kovacic (£3.1m) were the only midfielders who earned more points in Gameweek 7 with Arsenal’s No7 and Cole Palmer (£6.5m) being the only players overall to have taken more points from their last three fixtures.
A spree of 36 points from three outings (against Spurs, West Ham and Wolves) has propelled Mbeumo up to sixth in the midfield rankings, with 72 points in total.
He ranks joint-fourth in his position for shots on target and joint-fourth for big chances created too.
It could be argued that he deserves to be another place higher in the rankings as his team-mates are yet to convert any of his chances into a goal, denying him a single assist despite his relatively strong underlying creative numbers.
It will be interesting to see what goal tally Mbeumo can achieve given a full campaign (fingers crossed) as he’s well on course for the best return of his career as it stands.
From a Dream Team perspective, the usual caveats apply in regards to the viability of non-European assets.
It can be difficult for players not involved in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League to maintain their lofty ranking when the midweek fixtures come thick and fast.
That being said, Mbeumo has provided fantastic returns so far and Brentford have a juicy double header of their own coming up in Gameweek 9: Ipswich (h) and Sheffield Wednesday (h).
BetMGM: Get £40 in free bets — HERE*
*New cust only. 7 days to opt in by placing a £10 qualifying bet at 1/1 (2.0) odds or greater to receive 4x Free Bets: 1 x £10 horse racing, 1 x £10 Bet Builder, 1 x £10 Acca and 1 x £10 football. 7 day expiry. Exclusions apply. Stake not returned. 18+. T&Cs apply.
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. 18+. T&Cs apply. gambleaware.org
