Kevin De Bruyne feasts while Phil Foden rests as Pep Guardiola confounds Dream Team bosses again

Last week, Kevin De Bruyne (£5.7m) watched on as an unused substitute as Phil Foden (£5.9m) scored a hat-trick against Aston Villa to win the game for Manchester City.

On Saturday, the latter remained rooted to the bench as the brilliant Belgian scored two goals and provided an assist against Crystal Palace to secure all three points.

The incredibly high level of this particular rotation option is a priceless luxury for Pep Guardiola as his side seek to defend the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League at the back end of this dramatic season.

But for Dream Team managers, this shuffling of the deck can be immensely frustrating.

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Dream Team

De Bruyne produced a masterclass against Crystal Palace[/caption]

Foden is the third most-popular captain this Gameweek and so his unexpected absence at Selhurst Park came as a bitter blow for a sizeable chunk of gaffers – never mind the fact he features in 51.4% of teams overall.

As for De Bruyne, his workload has been carefully managed since his return from a relatively serious hamstring injury.

While this is a sensible move on the club’s part, Dream Team bosses generally prefer players who are guaranteed extensive minutes.

The temptation is to minimise such headaches by staying clear of Man City assets altogether, thus taking Guardiola’s rotation policy out of the equation.

The problem with such a strategy is that it means sacrificing a mountain of points.

EPA

Well rested for City’s trip to Real Madrid[/caption]

With 321 points to his name, Foden remains Dream Team’s top performer at the time of writing, despite being given the weekend off.

Erling Haaland (£7.1m) is currently second in the rankings having reached 310 points with his 30th goal of the campaign against the Eagles.

While De Bruyne’s 20-point haul makes him Gameweek 30’s top performer as is stands.

Annoyingly, gaffers almost have no choice but to submit to Guardiola’s unpredictable team selections as the returns provided by the cream of the crop at the Etihad are simply too great to ignore.

Those who captained Foden may yet have their Gameweek salvaged when City take on Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night.

The 23-year-old will surely start against Los Blancos having been rested at the weekend.

More pressingly, will De Bruyne drop to the bench or will Guardiola deploy both of his superstar attacking midfielders at the Bernabeu?

Alamy

The scourge of Dream Team gaffers worldwide[/caption]

If gaffers are able to predict Guardiola’s approach going forward to a relatively accurate degree then then the potential rewards are huge.

In Gameweek 31, the treble winners host both Luton and Real Madrid before Gameweek 32 brings a double header of Chelsea and Brighton.

They are one of just three sides with four fixtures across the next two Gameweeks, with fellow title challengers Arsenal and Liverpool being the others.

But those who fall foul of Pep Roulette risk losing momentum at the worst possible time.

It’s worth noting that Rodri (£4.1m) is close to being rotation-proof, such is his importance to Guardiola’s system.

The Spaniard, who has 204 points in total, may not be as explosive as De Bruyne but he will be near ever-present as the season reaches its conclusion.

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