Why Dream Team favourite Antoine Semenyo is this season’s Bryan Mbeumo

ANTOINE SEMENYO (£4.9m) had the honour of getting Gameweek 7 underway on Friday night and boy did he make the most of the occasion.

The Ghana international was involved in all of his side’s goals as Bournemouth beat Fulham 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries went 1-0 down in the 70th minute but that only motivated Semenyo to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

First he produced a fine bit of skill near the byline and an acute finish to equalise in the 78th minute for an excellent solo goal.

Soon after, Justin Kluivert (£3.3m) fired home from distance to give Andoni Iraola’s side the lead.

Truth be told, the Dutchman did all the hard work himself but he gained possession from a Semenyo pass and so the latter registered an assist — they all count.

Not to be overshadowed by his team-mate’s long-range effort, Semenyo sealed the deal in stoppage time with a confident left-foot strike to complete a classic breakaway goal.

When the referee called time on the south coast, the 25-year-old banked 20 points, his best haul of the campaign so far.

No other Dream Team asset was able to match his return over the weekend and so Semenyo finished as Gameweek 7’s top performer.

Not only that, he will spend the duration of the international break as the game’s outright best midfielder.

MOST POINTS AMONG DREAM TEAM MIDFIELDERS THIS SEASON

• 72 pts – Antoine Semenyo
• 69 pts – Moises Caicedo
• 60 pts – Enzo Fernandez
• 59 pts – Jack Grealish
• 59 pts – Diego Gomez
• 59 pts – Mohammed Kudus
• 57 pts – John McGinn
• 56 pts – Bruno Guimaraes

Semenyo leading the way in his position is even more impressive given the context of his comparatively limited schedule.

Bournemouth are without European commitments and were eliminated from the Carabao Cup upon entry in the second round.

Consequently, their talisman has made just eight appearances whereas some of his rivals – the likes of Fernandez, Tijani Reijnders (£4.5m) and Joao Palhinha (3.8m) – are already into double figures.

If this all sounds rather familiar then you’re probably remembering Bryan Mbeumo’s (£5.3m) 2024/25.

Last season, the Cameroon international scored 20 goals and provided 10 assists in Brentford colours on his way to a massive total of 337 points, which put him third among all midfielders.

Without European games or a domestic cup of note, he simply maintained an incredibly high level throughout the Premier League campaign to make a mockery of his fixture deficit.

Generally speaking, more games means more points but some players defy this trend.

Mbeumo did last season and it’s looking like Semenyo will do the same this time around.

Bournemouth are scheduled to fulfil just four fixtures before the November international break while some other clubs will be in action SEVEN times.

It’s not the easiest run for Iraola’s troops either: Crystal Palace (a), Nottingham Forest (h), Manchester City (a), Aston Villa (a).

If Semenyo is still the leading midfielder come the end of Gameweek 11 then we would have witnessed something very special indeed.

But what’s clear is that Dream Team bosses underestimate him at their peril.

He currently features in 28.4% of teams and gaffers who traversed Gameweek 7 without him were harshly punished.