Just before going into the second international break of the 2024-25 Premier League season, a familiar fantasy name took the spotlight quite unexpectedly. Michael Antonio, who has been part of the official fantasy game for ten seasons already, got a direct involvement in all four of West Ham’s goals against Ipswich Town (1 goal, 3 assists) for an 18-point haul. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka managed to stay in Antonio’s tracks with 16 FPL points, thanks to a goal and 2 assists against Southampton, followed by Man City’s Mateo Kovacic and Everton’s Jordan Pickford with 15 FPL points each.
Time to look forward though, which is always a bit more challenging after an international break. The previously mentioned Saka, for example, came back from England duty with a possible hamstring injury, as did Man United’s Alejandro Garnacho (with Argentina) and Noussair Mazraoui (with Morocco), to name a few. The Man United uncertainties are particularly annoying, as the Reds have a home game against Brentford, though they are far from reliable at the moment. Other fixtures to look forward to from a fantasy perspective are Arsenal’s visit to Bournemouth on Saturday evening and Manchester City’s visit to Wolves a day later. Sunday afternoon has been reserved for Liverpool versus Chelsea at Anfield.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 8 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, October 19th, 2024. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per October 17th, 2024)
TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
GK | Alisson (LIV), Raya (ARS), Turner (CRY) | Raya (ARS), Pickford (EVE), Onana (MUN) | Alisson injury |
DEF | Mazraoui (MUN), Konsa (AST), Saliba (ARS) | Justin (LEI), Konaté (LIV), Gabriel (ARS) | Justin recent attacking returns, Mazraoui + Konza injury doubts |
MID | Diaz (LIV), Salah (LIV), Onana (AST) | Mbeumo (BRE), Johnson (TOT), McNeil (EVE) | Mbeumo + Johnson form, McNeil price + decent form, Liverpool fixtures |
FOR | Pedro (BRI), Isak (NEW), Jackson (CHE) | Delap (IPS), Wood (NOT), Raul (WOL) | All transferred-in forwards have recent form + price, Pedro injury, Isak injury doubt |
Premium pick
In order to be considered for our premium fantasy pick category, a player needs to be priced £10m or more. As Mo Salah is visiting Chelsea, Cole Palmer is hosting Liverpool and Bukayo Saka is a possible injury doubt, the choice for Erling Haaland (£15.4m) as our premium fantasy pick for gameweek 8 was easy. Or perhaps we should say, even easier than usual, because Haaland for Man City’s visit to Molineux is not only a tap-in, so to speak, but captaincy material as well. The Wolverhampton Wanderers have managed just a single point so far this season, so it’s not surprising to see them bottom of the table, together with Southampton. The Saints are currently in 19th place though, due to Wolves’ terrible defensive record: 21 goals conceded, more than any other side at the moment. Haaland, on the other hand, has 10 goals from seven league starts and well… you know where we’re going with this.
Non-premium pick
So far this season, we have not featured a whole lot of Spurs players in our FPL gameweek previews, and perhaps undeservedly so. The fact that they find themselves in ninth place at the moment definitely has to do with that, but that is more due to their defensive stability (or lack thereof) than of their attacking prowess. Actually, only Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal have scored more goals than Ange Postecoglou’s men in the first seven gameweeks. And for the stats mongers: they also boast the best Expected Goal ratio in the entire league. Therefore, enter Dominic Solanke (£7.6m), for Tottenham’s upcoming home game against West Ham. The former Bournemouth striker, who was brought in for £65 million this summer, had a bit of a slow start in North London (in part due to an injury), but seems to have found his feet of late. In his last three league games, Solanke scored 2 goals and gave 1 assist for a total of 17 FPL points over that period. This weekend’s opponents West Ham have already conceded 11 goals in seven games, while Spurs have already scored 7 in front of their own fans. It’s true that the Hammers play more defensively on the road, but we feel a couple of goals coming Tottenham’s way on Saturday.
The budget enabler
We’re repeating ourselves, we know, but there are simply not many better budget fantasy options at the moment than Dwight McNeil (£5.7m). we highlighted the Everton playmaker in preparation of gameweeks 4 and 5 as well, and with the Newcastle game from GW7 now behind him, his appeal has only increased further. As far as we are concerned, at least. Everton’s upcoming Premier League schedule reads as following: Ipswich Town away, Fulham at home, Southampton and West Ham away, Brentford at home, Man United away and Wolves at home. That’s a “sea of green” for the Toffees right down to gameweek 14. McNeil is their most valuable player by some distance at this points, having scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists already, including two double-digit hauls in the last four league outings. He is now preparing for a visit to Portman Road on Saturday, where Ipswich Town have already conceded 5 goals in three league games. With McNeil on basically all set-pieces as well, we wouldn’t be surprised if he records another attacking return (or two) in gameweek 8.
The differential
In the four seasons between 2020-21 and 2023-24, Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) scored at least 151 FPL points, with his 244 FPL points in the 2020-21 season a positive outlier. Going by his first seven league games this season though, we doubt whether he will be able to make it five consecutive seasons with at least 151 points. Like the rest of Manchester United, the Portuguese playmaker is having a rather terrible start to the season, which has resulted in just a single assist so far. In all fairness, if we go by the Expected Goal Involvement ratio, Bruno is currently underperforming by about 3 goals and/or assists, which suggests that attacking returns are lurking. Therefore, with Man United facing Brentford (home), West Ham (away), Chelsea, Leicester (both home), Ipswich away and Everton at home in the next six, we believe he could be an interesting differential fantasy pick. Bruno sits, after all, in just 6.8% of all FPL squads at the moment. Do keep in mind that this is for a reason, especially at his relatively price of £8.2m, because Manchester United are in bad form.
The (vice-)captaincy
Our captain in gameweek 8 is Erling Haaland for Manchester City’s visit to Wolves.
Interesting alternatives to the Norwegian top scorer are Heung-Min Son and his teammate Dominic Solanke at home to West Ham. More differential captaincy picks for gameweek 8 include defender Gabriel Magelhaes at home to Southampton, Dwight McNeil for Everton’s visit to Ipswich Town and Bryan Mbeumo for Brentford’s visit to Old Trafford.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.