BRUNO GUIMARAES (£3.8m) reached a personal milestone amid the chaos at St James' Park on Saturday.
Newcastle's all-action midfielder earned five bonus points (the maximum available) for the second time to make it 50 overall for the season.
The Brazilian is the first Dream Team player to reach a half century of bonus points in 2023/24 and now holds an 11-point lead in the metric over James Ward-Prowse (£4.1m).
Guimaraes was one of four players involved in the entertaining 4-4 draw between the Magpies and Luton to bank a double-digit haul - he pocketed 11 when all was said and done via an assist and two big chances created on top of the aforementioned bonus points.
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As a result, he's the joint-ninth best midfielder in Dream Team at the time of writing having racked up 161 points in total.
A quick bit of maths reveals that almost a third (31.1%) of his points have come through the bonus system.
So how has Guimaraes racked up so many bonus points?
Firstly, it's worth remembering that bonus points are designed to recognise players who positively impact games outside of the aspects already covered by Dream Team's scoring process.
Actions such as goals, assists and clean sheets directly result in points, hence why they don't impact bonus points - bonus really is the key word in this equation.
Bonus points are determined by Player Performance Marks (PPM) which are impacted by the following stats:
- Successful dribbles +1
- Accurate crosses +1
- Pass completion rate (70-79%) +1
- Pass completion rate (80-89%) +2
- Pass completion rate (90%+) +3
- Interceptions +1
- Blocks +1
- Fouls won +1
- Goals scored from outside penalty box +1
- Offsides -1
- Fouls conceded -1
- Errors leading to goal -2
If a player accumulates between 5-7 PPM, they earn one bonus point, while 8-11 PPM results in three bonus points, with 12+ PPM leading to a rare maximum of five bonus points.
Against the Hatters, Guimaraes registered a pass completion rate of 80% (+2 PPM), three accurate crosses (+3 PPM), two successful dribbles (+2 PPM), one block (+1 PPM), one interception (+1 PPM) and four fouls won (+4 PPM) among his other contributions for a total of 13 PPM and therefore five bonus points.
The 26-year-old is suitably equipped to earn plentiful bonus points because he's a well-rounded midfielder who contributes both defensively and in possession.
He also wins A LOT of free-kicks for Newcastle - a useful trait with a set-piece taker like Kieran Trippier (£4.8m) as a team-mate.
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In fact, Guimaraes leads the way for fouls won among Premier League players this season by a comfortable margin.
Additionally, he ranks highly in his position for blocks, interceptions and successful dribbles - another illustration of his well-rounded nature.
Dream Team bosses can check all the relevant stats relating to PPM and bonus points in the Stats Centre at any time.
Gaffers are also now able to toggle between total points and PPM in the Match Centre for each fixture that's either completed or in-progress.
