Dream Team bosses quickly crawling back to Aston Villa stars ahead of Gameweek 29

MANY Dream Team managers have wasted no time in bringing Aston Villa players back into the mix after their annoying blank.

There’s still an entire international break to navigate before the Gameweek 29 deadline but at this early stage, Morgan Rogers (£3.9m), Marco Asensio (£4.1m) and Ollie Watkins (£5.2m) are the three most popular recruits.

The schedule has conspired to force gaffers into a hokey-cokey with Unai Emery’s favourites.

The Villains were immensely popular in Gameweeks 26 and 27, when they played Cardiff and Brentford around a Champions League last 16 tie against Club Brugge in consecutive double headers.

But Dream Team bosses were forced to get rid ahead of Gameweek 28 as Rogers and company blanked, a knock-on effect of the Carabao Cup final.

The reason gaffers are now eagerly crawling back is that Villa are the only team with six fixtures across the next three Gameweeks, starting with Preston and Brighton immediately after the break.

However, two of the upcoming fixtures come in the form of PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Based on the Parisians’ impressive performance over two legs against Liverpool, Villa assets may find points hard to come by but there’s no doubt the calendar broadly favours them for the next month or so.

Watkins is the top performer among his team-mates with 250 points to his name.

The 29 year-old striker will not feature for England over the international break as he’s resting his troublesome knee but he is expected to be available in Gameweek 29.

Watkins has scored 14 goals and provided 13 assists this season – only Erling Haaland (£7.8m) and Mohamed Salah (£8m) have registered more shots on target in all competitions.

At a more affordable price, Rogers is the most popular Villa player at present.

The former Middlesbrough midfielder ranks fifth in his position having amassed 231 points via 12 goals and nine assists.

Asensio is an interesting one as it’s not all that easy to predict his minutes but his impact since joining on loan in January has been sizeable.

The Spain international has scored seven goals in his first eight games for the club at a strike rate of one every 54.7 minutes!

Asensio averages 8.3 points-per-game since arriving on these shores.

Among midfielders, only Bukayo Saka (£6.6m) and Cole Palmer (£5.4m) boast superior averages this season.

Dream Team bosses should be aware that Asensio is allowed to play against parent club PSG in the Champions League next month as Uefa’s ruling on such matters differs to the Premier League.

ASTON VILLA’S THREE CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE HEADERS:

• Gameweek 29: Preston (a) & Brighton (a)
• Gameweek 30: Nottingham Forest (h) & PSG (a)
• Gameweek 31: Southampton (a) & PSG (h)