Mousa Dembele’s performance against Juventus on Tuesday made many football fans take notice of the Belgian. Dembele has been a Tottenham player since 2012, when he joined the club from Fulham, and has been a regular in the side since arriving. The midfielder has played over a 160 times for Tottenham, but has tallied just seven goals.
It is Dembele’s goal production that makes him practically nonexistent as a Fantasy Premier League entity. The Belgian has tallied a mere 36 points in this seasons FPL. The total puts him behind the likes of teammates Eric Dier, Jan Vertonghen and even Moussa Sissoko.
Does Mousa Dembele have an FPL problem?
It is hard to believe that such a talented midfielder like Dembele could make such a minor mark on fantasy football. Dembele’s best match performance was against Watford in gameweek 15. He scored five points as Tottenham drew 1-1. But there lies the problem. Everything Dembele does great as a midfielder (high pass rate completion, ticking over the attack, breaking up an opponent’s attack) are things that aren’t rewarded by FPL.
Dembele hasn’t scored a goal or completed an assist this term. His positioning as a deep-laying midfielder keeps him from assisting Tottenham’s top goal scorer Harry Kane. Those assists are reserved for Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen. As was on Tuesday night, Dembele typically plays next to Eric Dier. The pair keep the team ticking and protect the back four. It works very well as Tottenham have given up the fourth fewest goals in the Premier League this term (24).
While Dembele’s positioning keeps him away from goal, it isn’t the only problem the Belgian has when it comes to FPL. Dembele’s career has seen him miss large swaths of time due to injury. He has missed seven matches this term, according to the Premier League’s official Fantasy Premier League website. In addition, Dembele has only recorded seven matches in which he has played 90 minutes.
Unfortunately, Dembele is a brilliant player that offers very little production to FPL managers. His performance against Juventus will have made many fans take notice of him. But FPL managers will continue to use him sparingly or not at all in their sides.
Is Mousa Dembele an underrated FPL player? Should managers add him to their teams for gameweek 28?