There’s probably a German word for the feeling a Dream Team gaffer experiences when they check the app and discover the forward who just bagged them a hat-trick also appears in every other XI in their mini-league.
At this late stage of the season, successful assets who have been overlooked by your mates/mortal enemies are worth their weight in gold.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the five best forwards (as dictated by total points) with an ownership currently below 10%.
Roberto Firmino (£4.0m)
Rather underwhelmingly we start with a player who is currently injured, hence his ownership of 2.1%.
The Brazilian remains a class act but the arrivals of Diogo Jota (£5.3m) and Luis Diaz (£3.7m) have drastically reduced his workload.
Famed for his world-class link-up play and pressing that makes Jurgen Klopp purr, Firmino has never been the most prolific goalscorer but he’s actually been relatively clinical this season.
The 30-year-old has scored ten goals from 1,194 minutes played in the Premier League and Champions League – you don’t need to be a maths genius to work out that averages out at one every 119.4 minutes.
Firmino’s overall tally of 108 points is enough for him to be the joint-11th best forward in Dream Team after 33 Game Weeks – a great effort considering he’s started just 16 games in all competitions.
Realistically, he’s not an option for Dream Team bosses but his efficiency deserves appreciation.
Timo Werner (£3.6m)
Chelsea’s No11 has rocketed up the rankings in recent weeks.
46 of his 108 points (42.6%) were earned in Game Weeks 31 and 32 when he plundered four goals and two assists at the expense of Southampton, Real Madrid, Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
Firmino may not be an option for Dream Team managers looking for a differential striker this very moment but Werner fits the bill nicely.
The German speedster is very much in favour and is likely to start most of the Blues’ remaining (mostly favourable) fixtures.
It doesn’t fit the narrative of Werner the wasteful finisher but the fact is he’s averaging a goal every 163.7 minutes at club level this term.
At the time of writing, his ownership sits at a modest 2.1%.
Kai Havertz (£4.1m)
An option here for those keen on a German Chelsea forward who doesn’t play like a six-year-old after two litres of lemonade.
Havertz is actually a relatively popular recruit in these circles, he features in 9.1% of teams.
The 22-year-old is not a true striker in the mould of a poacher but he’s probably been Thomas Tuchel’s best option at centre-forward in recent times.
12 goals is a respectable return but perhaps a tad underwhelming through the prism of Dream Team.
However, what works in Havertz’s favour is his habit of embarking on purple patches.
He provided healthy returns at the end of last season and he proved be a great short-term option between Game Weeks 25 and 31 this campaign – he banked 58 points in that time.
Circling back to Chelsea’s friendly fixtures, they face an out-of-sorts Man United this evening before taking on Everton, Wolves, Leeds, Leicester and Watford.
They also have an FA Cup final against Liverpool of course – a match-up which is most definitely unfavourable.
Gabriel Jesus (£4.3m)
A perfect example of how rolling the dice on a differential asset can pay off handsomely.
Imagine you were neck-and-neck with your best mate at the top of your mini-league heading into Game Week 33 but your teams were very similar and he’s marginally ahead.
If you had gambled on bringing in Man City’s No9 for, say, Diogo Jota (£5.3m), you would have potentially taken an insurmountable lead after Jesus’ remarkable 43-point haul.
The Brazilian scored four goals and assisted the other during City’s 5-1 win over Watford at the weekend before scoring against Real Madrid during the Champions League semi-final classic on Tuesday night.
Jesus has amassed 161 points overall at an average of 4.5 per game and his ownership currently sits at 5%.
Ivan Toney (£5.1m)
The least popular forward above Brentford’s top scorer in the rankings is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo (£7.4m), who features in 18.7% of teams – Toney appears in 5.5%.
The Bees’ target man has punched above his weight all season long and, with an average of 5.1 points-per-game, he scores his points at a healthier rate than Sadio Mane (£4.7m), Son Heung-min (£6.1m) and the aforementioned Jota.
With 14 goals and five assists in all competitions, Toney has ensured Thomas Frank’s first season as a Premier League coach has been an encouraging one – Brentford are set for a comfortable mid-table finish.
With just four fixtures remaining, Dream Team gaffers may feel as if Toney’s best returns are behind him but he’s defied the odds in 2021/22.
To be the seventh-best forward in the game (167 total points) without European fixtures or extensive minutes in the domestic cups is a tremendous effort.