FEW players in world football enjoyed themselves as much as Noah Okafor (£3.3m) last week.
Last Monday, the Switzerland international scored a brace to help Leeds United register their first league win at Old Trafford since 1981 and then on Saturday he scored again as the Whites beat Wolves 3-0 at Elland Road.
Fine form Credit: Reuters
Having played the leading role in the first back-to-back wins for Daniel Farke’s side in the Premier League since their most recent promotion, Okafor is statistically the (joint) most in-form player in Dream Team right now.
The 25-year-old has banked 39 points from his last three outings, the same tally as Everton striker Beto (£2.6m), who is on a similar hot streak.
Okafor notched eight points via an assist against West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-finals in Gameweek 30 before his crucial goals against Manchester United and Wolves, which have gone a long way to securing the Whites’ top flight status.
He also registered an assist for James Justin’s (£2.8m) opener against Rob Edwards’ Championship-bound troops on Saturday.
Okafor was sidelined with injury for a month across February and March but his performances either side of that disruption have caught the eye.
In fact, he’s scored five goals in his last five league games.
Okafor bagged a brace against Man United Credit: Getty
More broadly, he averages a goal or assist every 54 minutes in all competitions since the start of February.
A statistic like that should, at the very least, pique the interest of Dream Team managers hoping to finish the season strongly.
The truth is that Okafor’s healthy returns have gone unclaimed for the most part.
Even now, after 31 points in the space of six days, his ownership remains a minuscule 0.6%.
We included Okafor and strike partner Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£3m) in our ahead of Gameweek 32 but it seems very few gaffers were convinced.
Calvert-Lewin and Okafor have scored 19 goals between them this season Credit: Reuters
If the ex-Milan forward continues his good form away to Bournemouth on Wednesday night then perhaps a few more Dream Team bosses will be tempted to take a punt on him for Gameweek 33, when he will face Chelsea at Wembley.
The Blues will surely start as favourites in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final but Leeds may feel it is a good time for such a match-up given Liam Rosenior’s side have lost five of their last six league games.
Another disjointed Chelsea performance away to Brighton this week would further boost Leeds’ hopes of making the cup final.
Looking further ahead, Okafor and company are scheduled to face Burnley, Spurs and West Ham before the end of the campaign — three favourable fixtures.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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