How to score in summary
How to score in full: 10 easy steps
More on SunSport's player ratings & Star Man awards
Last Season's Top 10s

HOW TO SCORE IN SUMMARY

HOW TO SCORE IN FULL: 10 EASY STEPS

1. Players who appear in the official Dream Team list score points in Premiership, Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Carling Cup matches from Saturday August 16 until the final game of the season. Qualifying rounds for the Champions League do NOT count - neither does the Intertoto Cup.

2. Three points are awarded to a player given a mark of seven or more in SunSport's individual ratings carried with match reports. A five-point bonus is awarded to our Star Man.

3. Five points are awarded for a goal scored. A player scoring three or more goals per game gets five additional bonus points. A player who has been awarded points as described above will retain those points regardless of whether a goal is attributed to another player at a later date. Any player who is subsequently awarded a goal will not receive the points.

4. A keeper or a defender who keeps a clean sheet scores five points. If they concede one goal, they score no points, two goals -1, three goals -2 and so on. Players not picked for any reason score 0 points for each game they miss.

5. Any keeper or defender who comes on as a sub scores points for a clean sheet or loses points for conceding goals as if they had played 90 minutes.

6. Any player who is booked loses a point. A player sent off loses three points in total. Any player that loses points for a booking or sending off will not have those points reinstated if the offence is rescinded on appeal.

7. The season's top individual scorer earns a 20-point bonus.

8. There will be TWO mid-season Transfer Windows. During each one you can swap up to three players providing you do not break any of the existing rules - making a total of six changes in total over the course of the game. The first window will be in October, the second in January. Details will be announced nearer the time.

9. Any player transferred from one Premiership club to another continues to score points. For the purposes of the game, he stays registered with his original club. If a player leaves the Premiership, his points are frozen until such a time that he returns.

10. The rules remain the same for games involving extra-time. A match that is 0-0 after 90 minutes must be 0-0 after extra-time for keepers and defenders to keep clean sheets. Penalty shootouts do not count. Replays are counted as separate games.

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MORE ON SUNSPORT'S PLAYER RATINGS & STAR MAN AWARDS

A unique component of Dream Team scoring is the points awarded based on the player ratings published with match reports in The Sun.

At the beginning of the season each reporter is issued with strict guidelines - and for the first time we publish them here.

Any player given a mark of seven or more by our reporters gets three points in Dream Team. And the Star Man (i.e. the reporter’s man of the match) picks up a five-point bonus.

But what are the criteria used by our reporters in calculating those all-important player ratings?

The player ratings are calculated taking both general and specific positional considerations into account.

The criteria are:

1. Involvement in the game. If during the overall course of a game a player does not make a positive contribution to his team, then he should not normally get a rating greater than 6.

2. Inspirational play. A positive effect on other team members merits a higher rating. Because Dream Team points are allocated for specific events - goals, cautions, clean sheets etc. - there is no need to take these into account in the player rating, unless they stem from the specific positional consideration given below. By way of example, a striker might score two goals in a single game and gets ten Dream Team points for doing so. However both goals could have been complete flukes and, those aside, the striker had no other material involvement in the game. In this case he would not merit a rating of seven or more.

3. Goalkeepers. Ratings for goalkeepers additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration:
· Confidence and concentration
· Command of the box and set piece control
· Aerial effect
· Shot stopping
· Minimising the goal as a target
· Building offence from defence

4. Defenders. Ratings for defenders additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration:
· Protection given to the goal
· Confidence
· Clearing the ball from the danger area
· Set piece performance
· Aerial ability
· Tackles made and possession won
· Building offence from defence

5. Midfielders. Ratings for midfielders additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration:
· Defensive contribution
· Winning and retaining possession
· Offence building and creation of goal scoring opportunities
· Work rate and work off the ball
· Attacking power
· Goal attempts

6. Strikers. Ratings for strikers additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration:
· Work rate and work off the ball
· Offence creation
· Positional awareness
· Creation of goal scoring opportunities
· Achieving one-on-one situations
· Attacking power
· Goal attempts

All criteria have both positive and negative elements and the final rating awarded by a reporter is a combination of these. The Star Man award goes to the player deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the performance of the team.

LAST SEASON’S TOP 10s

SUPERSTARS: Top 10 scorers overall

Player	Position	Club	Price	Points
Van Nistelrooy	Striker	Manchester Utd	£7.0m	359
Henry	Striker	Arsenal	£6.5m	335
Owen	Striker	Liverpool	£6.5m	265
Shearer	Striker	Newcastle	£5.0m	260
Hyypia	Defender	Liverpool	£6.0m	244
Scholes	Midfielder	Manchester Utd	£4.5m	219
Viduka	Striker	Leeds	£5.0m	217
Beattie	Striker	Southampton	£3.0m	204
Gallas	Defender	Chelsea	£3.5m	200
Murphy	Midfielder	Liverpool	£4.0m	193
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GOALKEEPERS: TOP 10 shot stoppers

DEFENDERS: Top 10 backline

STRIKERS: Top 10 marksmen

BARGAIN BASEMENT: 10 Best Buys
(Based on points scored divided by price-tag)

BOTTOM OF THE FORM: 10 worst flops of the season

COSTLY MISTAKES: 10 signings not worth the millions

EARLY BIRDS: Top 10 Scorers before 1^st Transfer Window

MIDDLEWEIGHTS: Top 10 Scorers between two Transfer Windows

LATE LATE SHOW: Top 10 Scorers after 2nd Transfer Window

LEAGUE TABLE
(based on average Dream Team points scored by each club�s players)

Pos	Club	Av. Points	Top scorer	Score
1	Manchester Utd	107.3	Van Nistelrooy	359
2	Arsenal	101.9	Henry	335
3	Liverpool	97.3	Owen	265
4	Chelsea	82.6	Gallas	200
5	Leeds	75.5	Viduka	217
6	Newcastle	69.6	Shearer	260
7	Blackburn	65.4	Friedel	157
8	Southampton	63.2	Beattie	204
9	Fulham	59.6	Malbranque	159
10	Charlton	55.9	Euell	154
11	Middlesbrough	52.2	Geremi	160
12	Everton	50.5	Radzinski	132
13	Manchester City	49.8	Anelka	169
14	Aston Villa	46.1	Barry	180
15	Birmingham	41.8	Cunningham	103
16	Bolton	39.7	Okocha	124
17	West Brom	37.4	Hoult	79
18	Sunderland	30.6	Cunningham	103
19	Tottenham	30.5	Sheringham	99
20	West Ham	28.7	Defoe	140

Here are the 10 players most frequently given a Star Man award in Dream Team last season: