Hat-trick hero Eddie Nketiah features in just 2.1% of Dream Teams – more points likely in coming weeks

EDDIE NKETIAH (£2.4m) was Dream Team’s big winner this weekend.

The 24-year-old may not have featured at all at the Emirates on Saturday had Gabriel Jesus (£5.2m) not suffered a hamstring injury against Sevilla in Gameweek 9.

But with the Brazilian forward sidelined, Nketiah was selected to lead the line for Arsenal against Sheffield United and he obliged with an excellent hat-trick before the hour-mark.

Dream Team

Nketiah added a Premier League match ball to his private collection of memorabilia[/caption]

The Gunners registered a comfortable 5-0 victory over Paul Heckingbottom’s side and while there were plenty of Dream Team points to go around, nobody came close to the club’s homegrown poacher.

Nketiah took the Blades for 20 points when all was said and done, notching almost a third of his season total in one fell swoop.

It’s no surprise that Arsenal’s No14 currently features in just 2.1% of teams – he was a rotational player just a few days ago.

However, with Jesus expected to be out for “a few weeks” Nketiah is virtually guaranteed his fair share of minutes throughout November.

This neatly coincides with a relatively favourable run of fixtures for Mikel Arteta’s side, meaning there could be more points to come in the immediate future.

Getty

Easy as 1, 2, 3[/caption]

Granted, a trip to St James’ Park first up in Gameweek 11 has to be considered a tough test but Arsenal will feel confident of a home win over Sevilla in the Champions League having beaten the La Liga side in Spain.

Arsenal then face Burnley, Brentford, Lens, Wolves and Luton to take them into early December.

Given that Aston Villa and Newcastle are the only two teams that have scored more league goals than the Gunners this season, Nketiah should be assured a steady stream of chances in the coming weeks.

And if Gameweek 10 is anything to go by, he should convert those opportunities into healthy returns.

Bukayo Saka (£6.5m) remains Arsenal’s primary threat in the realm of Dream Team – he’s one of just four assets into triple figures (101 points) in 2023/24.

However, the England winger is expensive while Nketiah is cheap as chips at £2.4m right now, offering an affordable route into Arsenal’s attack.

Getty

Plenty of points to come for Arsenal in November?[/caption]

The main drawback is that Dream Team bosses may find it impossible to fit the striker into their XI.

Erling Haaland (£7.5m) and Mohamed Salah (£6.5m) are going about their elite-level business as usual with Julian Alvarez (£4.7m), Ollie Watkins (£4.7m), Son Heung-min (£4.8m) and Darwin Nunez (£4.2m) all thriving as well – not forgetting Newcastle’s strikers.

Gaffers are spoiled for choice up front at the moment and Nketiah’s hat-trick brings him into the mix.

Decisions, decisions…

---