Dwight McNeil and Cole Palmer start for our England XI determined by Dream Team points

THERE would be widespread outroar if Lee Carsley selected his latest England team based on Dream Team points.

But it’s a fun hypothetical to wile away the international break hours.

Dream Team

Before we get to the XI, a quick note to acknowledge a crucial limitation of our methodology.

Since Dream Team only covers Premier League players, we’re forced to omit English players who ply their trade abroad, such as Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham – it’s only a bit of fun anyway.

GOALKEEPER

• Nick Pope

Newcastle’s custodian edges out Dean Henderson by nine points with a total of 42 to the Crystal Palace man’s 33.

Pope ranks seventh overall among assets in his position but he’s fourth for saves with 32, just one behind joint-leaders Mark Flekken, Mads Hermansen and Robert Sanchez.

His clean sheet away at Everton in Gameweek 7 was just his second of the campaign.

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DEFENDERS

• Trent Alexander-Arnold
• Rico Lewis
• Tyrick Mitchell

Not only is Liverpool’s creative right-back the highest-scoring defender among his compatriots, he’s the outright top performer in his position overall with 72 points.

Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are the only players to have contributed to six clean sheets (as per Dream Team’s definition) and the former leads the way in his position with six big chances created.

It’s no surprise to see Manchester City’s teenage talent make the cut having plundered 64 points across the first seven Gameweeks via four assists.

Carsley may well select Alexander-Arnold and Lewis as starting full-backs against Greece this evening – it’s an exciting prospect.

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While the aforementioned inclusions are first and third respectively among Dream Team defenders right now, Crystal Palace’s diligent left-back is down in joint-13th with 44 points to his name.

Only three defenders have made more tackles than Mitchell this term.

The 25-year-old is the first player mentioned who doesn’t feature in the Three Lions’ actual squad this break – he was capped twice back in 2022.

Given the lack of specialist left-backs available to Carsley at present, Mitchell could count himself a tad unlucky.

No need to spend not too much time wondering how a back three comprised exclusively of fairly attack-minded full-backs/faux midfielders would work in reality.

MIDFIELDERS

• Bukayo Saka
• Cole Palmer
• Eberechi Eze
• Dwight McNeil
• James Maddison

Again, forget about balance and just enjoy the sheer fun of this combination.

Arsenal’s ‘Star Boy’ and Chelsea’s blooming superstar have a whopping 22 goal involvements between them already this season.

Saka is Dream Team’s top midfielder on 102 points with Palmer not far behind on 87.

The latter was recently voted England’s Player of the Year for the 2023/24 season despite his relatively limited involvement.

With every week that goes by, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the 22-year-old will be a pivotal figure for the Three Lions in the years to come.

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Remarkably, Eze completes an all-English podium of Dream Team midfielders.

Crystal Palace’s talisman has squandered a few chances in the league this season but he fully capitalised against Championship opposition in the Carabao Cup, taking Norwich and QPR for a combined 31 points – he’s amassed 75 overall.

McNeil has never played senior international football but the Dream Team Stats Centre suggests he should be starting at Wembley later today!

Everton’s No7 has been the brightest source of optimism for the Goodison Park faithful having scored four goals and provided two assists for a return of 73 points in nine outings this season.

The ex-Burnley midfielder has also earned 11 bonus points, mostly because he’s delivered 26 accurate crosses – only one other player (Andreas Pereira) has registered more than 16 at this stage.

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Tottenham’s playmaker-in-chief completes our midfield quintet with 68 points.

A few eyebrows were raised when Maddison was omitted from Carsley’s squad as he’s rediscovered something close to his best form at the start of this season – as evidenced by the fact he leads the way with 16 bonus points.

Given the 27-year-old’s undeniable talent, it’s notable that he’s played just 374 minutes for England at senior level.

FORWARDS

• Jarrod Bowen
• Marcus Rashford

With Kane out of the picture, the door is open for two players desperate to regain their place in real life – Dream Team have got your backs, lads!

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The reliable Bowen (65 points) has quietly notched three goals and three assists despite West Ham’s largely underwhelming results.

A 16-point haul against Ipswich last weekend helped him leapfrog several forwards to jump up to fourth in the rankings, including Ollie Watkins who consequently misses out.

As for Manchester United’s long-serving No10, he’s still a way off his blistering form of 2022/23 but he looks much more threatening than he did last season when he lost his place in the England squad.

Rashford has mustered a respectable 64 points via four goals and two assists – although he was rather fortunate not to suffer some minus points last time out when he narrowly avoided a second yellow card against Aston Villa.

A bonkers XI in reality but we’d happily have a look at it – over to you, Lee!

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