CONSIDER this a timely reminder that transfers can be reversed.
At the time of writing, Hugo Ekitike (£4.5m) is the second-most transferred-out player ahead of Gameweek 20 but that will surely change after he marked his return from injury with an 11-point return.
The French forward needed just over half an hour off the bench in the FA Cup third round to get back in the swing of things with a goal and assist as Liverpool beat Barnsley 4-1 on Monday night.
Ekitike assisted Florian Wirtz (£5.5m) with a deft heel flick before the German playmaker returned the favour with a square ball to give the former a simple finish in stoppage time.
A minor hamstring issue prevented the 23-year-old’s involvement against Fulham and Arsenal in Gameweek 18.
Consequently, many Dream Team managers sought a replacement but Ekitike’s double-digit haul upon his return will force gaffers to think twice.
Suddenly, he looks a strong option for Gameweek 20 when the Reds will host Burnley in the Premier League before flying to Marseille for midweek Champions League commitments.
Arne Slot will be wary of overworking his No22 but resting his top scorer isn’t much of an option at present.
Liverpool are much closer to dropping out of the top four in the domestic table than they are to joining Aston Villa, Manchester City and Arsenal in the title race.
And they are in need of positive results in Europe if they are to qualify for the knockout phase without the stress of a two-legged play-off.
With Alexander Isak (£5.5m) sidelined and Mohamed Salah (£6.3m) going deep at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, Ekitike is clearly Liverpool’s main goal threat for the time being.
He’s scored 11 goals in all competitions this season, a tally only bettered by Erling Haaland (£8m) and Igor Thiago (£4m) among all Dream Team assets.
His closest competitors among team-mates are Cody Gakpo (£4.1m) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£4.6m) on six goals each.
Despite an embarrassing error for Adam Phillips’ goal, the Hungarian midfielder was the main beneficiary of Monday night’s victory over the Tykes.
Szoboszlai banked 16 points when all was said and done and he too must be considered a good option for Gameweek 20 — he ranks fourth among midfielders right now with 175 points to his name.
Marseille are no mugs but Saturday’s meeting with Scott Parker’s troops at Anfield is a match-up begging to be targeted.
Burnley have mustered just three points from their last ten league games, the lowest total among all 20 clubs in the same time frame.
Looking further ahead, Gameweek 22 appears similarly favourable.
Liverpool will travel to Bournemouth (17th in the aforementioned form table) before hosting Qarabag in their final league phase fixture of this season’s Champions League campaign.
The Azerbaijani side are currently 22nd out of 36 in the table.
Forget ditching Ekitike, it might be wise for gaffers to recruit him ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
He currently features in 20.4% of teams.
Dream Team in association with Midnite
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