Vitaliy Mykolenko and four other Dream Team stars who should be far more popular this season

HERE at Dream Team HQ it's our duty to highlight players who are unfairly overlooked.

We've assembled a list of five brilliant assets who should be far more popular they than are right now.

5

Vitaliy Mykolenko (£3.5m)

• 130 points
• 2.2% ownership

Everton's defence has been genuinely excellent this season.

Only the current top four of Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Arsenal have conceded fewer league goals than Sean Dyche's troops.

The Toffees' intense left-back has been the main beneficiary, as evidenced by back-to-back clean sheets in Gameweek 20.

Mykolenko is now the fourth-best defender in the game, behind only Pedro Porro (£3.7m), Kieran Trippier (£5m) and top dog Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.7m).

The Ukraine international has contributed to nine clean sheets this season and he racks up plenty of tackles.

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See also: James Tarkowski (£3m), 122 points and 2% ownership.

5

Matheus Cunha (£3.6m)

• 149 points
• 2.1% ownership

We pushed the Wolves forward hard ahead of Gameweek 20 and he repaid our faith with a goal and an assist against Brentford in the FA Cup - fingers crossed for more returns against Brighton on Monday night.

The Brazilian's tally of seven goals in all competitions may seem modest but he's a well-rounded forward who dictates a lot of his side's build-up play as well as letting off his fair share of shots.

Cunha has provided six assists and his impressive dribbling stats have helped him claim 22 bonus points - the joint-most among assets in his position.

The former Atletico Madrid man averages 6.5 points-per-game in 2023/24, only Julian Alvarez (£4.3m) boasts a better rate among forwards currently available for selection.

5

Jordan Pickford (£3m)

• 100 points
• 4.6% ownership

This one links back to Everton's parsimonious defence but it's worth repeating as their No1 recently became just the third goalkeeper to reach three figures in terms of total season points.

In an unexpected reversal, Pickford is now underrated having historically been a Dream Team asset with a bloated ownership - usually as a knock-on effect of him being England's regular between the sticks.

Andre Onana (£3.6m) is the only keeper with more points at the time of writing and he's currently away on Cameroon duty.

Pickford has made 68 saves in total, the seventh-highest tally, which works out at 2.72 per game.

He's earned 29 points through saves to date.

5

Pascal Gross (£4.2m)

• 146 points
• 2.3% ownership

The 32-year-old is never going to be among the most trendy Premier League players but it would be a mistake to underestimate him.

Now a full Germany international, his adaptability and technical skills have made him a key cog in Roberto De Zerbi's machine at Brighton.

Whether he's playing as a deep midfielder, more advanced, or even as a full-back, Gross contributes both in and out of possession, hence his tally of 25 bonus points.

Only Bukayo Saka (£5.9m) and James Ward-Prowse (£3.9m) have registered more assists than Gross' nine this term.

The Seagulls' midfielders is currently eighth in his position, just ahead of Cole Palmer (£3.9m) who features in 21.1% of teams.

5

Richarlison (£3.1m)

• 102 points
• 2.4% ownership

This final suggestion is all about form.

Just over a hundred points is nothing more than respectable for a striker at this stage of the campaign but over half of them have come from his last seven games - that's the rub.

The Brazil international has scored six goals in his last six league games and has the luxury of spearheading one of the most attacking sides in the top flight right now.

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After a disastrous first season at Tottenham, Richarlison now has seven goals and three assists to his name in 18 league outings in 2023/24.

Dig deeper and that works out at a goal involvement every 101 minutes!

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