Clean sweep for Premier League clubs in Europe a sign of things to come in Dream Team

EVERY Premier League club active in the Champions League and Europa League won their opening European fixture of the season.

And Dream Team managers should note this as a sign of things to come.

Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United all triumphed in the Champions League in Gameweek 3 before Europa League clubs Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth followed suit in Gameweek 4.

PREMIER LEAGUE CLEAN SWEEP

• Club Brugge 2 – 3 Aston Villa
• Porto 0 – 2 Manchester City
• Liverpool 2 – 1 Atletico Madrid
• Napoli 0 – 1 Arsenal
• Manchester United 4 – 0 Sabah
• Sunderland 1 – 0 AZ
• Crystal Palace 4 – 0 Lech Poznan
• Real Sociedad 1 – 2 Bournemouth

Brighton are missing from this list because the league phase of the Conference League doesn’t start until Gameweek 6 when they will face Lithuanian outfit Kauno Zalgiris.

In fact, Gameweek 6 is an important juncture in the Dream Team calendar as it will be the first time all nine clubs involved in Europe will play twice while the other 11 sides will have just one fixture to fulfil.

There’s a lengthy international break to navigate first, not forgetting Gameweek 5 of course, but if gaffers weren’t already aware of the importance of the European competitions then a perfect start by the English clubs has made it abundantly clear.

There will be a lot of points on offer.

Experienced Dream Team bosses will be accustomed to stocking up on Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool assets for high-profile Champions League nights but this season’s Europa League and Conference League quartet of Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Brighton opens up new possibilities.

Enzo Le Fee (£3.2m) banked 14 points against AZ on Wednesday night.

The French midfielder scored the Black Cats’ first ever European goal from the penalty spot (atoning for his miss against Arsenal) and fell just one PPM short of maximum bonus points.

Crystal Palace have struggled in the league under Pierre Sage but four of their players bagged double-digit hauls against Lech Poznan.

Chris Richards (£3.7m) and Yeremy Pino (£3.9m) were the biggest winners on the night with 16 points each but Jorgen Strand Larsen (£3.1m) demands serious consideration after a return of 40 points from the last two Gameweeks!

The Norway striker, who features in 2.6% of teams, has scored four goals in his last four outings and now ranks third among players in his position overall with 44 points — he leapfrogged Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£3.7m), Alexander Isak (£6.6m) and Joao Pedro (£5.2m) on Thursday night.

Bournemouth’s top performer, Marcus Tavernier (£3.4m), missed out against Real Sociedad but Rayan (£3.5m), Alex Scott (£3.6m) and Justin Kluivert (£3.4m) satisfied their backers.

There is certainly no guarantee that all the English clubs will sail through to the knockout stages of the three European competitions — that would be genuinely remarkable.

But it should be obvious that gaffers who underestimate the importance of the continental commitments risk being severely punished.