The second international break of the 2025 – 2026 season is behind us, which means that preparations for FPL Gameweek 8 should be in full swing by now. More than twelve million fantasy squads are currently building up to the 11am deadline on Saturday, so we figured it could be useful to take a look at some of the stand-out FPL performances from Gameweek 7, right before the international break.
Player of the Week was Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo with 18 FPL points, thanks to a brace plus an assist at home to Fulham. That was his third double-digit haul in the first seven Gameweeks of this season. Donyell Malen followed Semenyo last Gameweek with 15 FPL points after guiding Aston Villa to a much-needed 2-1 victory over Burnley with two goals. Behind the Dutchman, there were two players with 12 FPL points each in GW7: Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol with a clean sheet and an assist against Brentford, and Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus with a goal and an assist against Leeds United.
Don’t forget, the deadline for Gameweek 8 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, October 18th, 2025. 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 16th, 2025)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Alisson (LIV), Sels (NFO), Sanchez (CHE) | Pope (NEW), Raya (ARS), Donnarumma (MCI) | Alisson injury |
| DEF | Livramento (NEW), Van Dijk (LIV), Van de Ven (TOT) | Timber (ARS), Gabriel (ARS), Senesi (BOU) | Livramento injury, ARS fixtures |
| MID | Salah (LIV), Grealish (EVE), Fernandes (MUN) | Semenyo (BOU), Caicedo (CHE), Kudus (TOT) | Grealish ineligible to face parent club Man City, Semenyo form, Caicedo more attacking |
| FOR | Pedro (CHE), Gyökeres (ARS), Richarlison (TOT) | Woltemade (NEW), Haaland (MCI), Bowen (WHU) | Haaland form, Woltemade and Bowen form + fixtures |
Premium pick
We were initially leaning towards Cole Palmer for Chelsea’s visit to Nottingham Forest as our premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 8, but the midfielder is currently flagged in the official fantasy game. That put us off him and onto, surprise surprise, Mohamed Salah for Liverpool’s home game against Manchester United and Erling Haaland (£14.5m) for Man City’s home game against Everton. And while it is entirely possible to see Liverpool beat their rivals, say, 3-0 on Sunday, we have ended up going with what could be considered the more “traditionally favourable fixture” of the two, Manchester City at home versus Everton. The Cityzens are heavy favourites here and it looks like the perfect opportunity for Haaland to make it six consecutive league games with at least one attacking return. The Norwegian already has 9 goals and 1 assist to his name in the Premier League, and he is coming off a very successful international break with his country as well. He was selected for only of Norway’s two games, the World Cup qualifier against Israel at home, and made the most of that occasion with a hattrick. He was then allowed to return to Manchester early, where he has been preparing to face Everton this Saturday. If you are betting on anyone this weekend, it looks like Haaland is the one to bet on.
Non-premium pick
Joao Pedro (£7.7m) has been a bit quiet of late, but the Chelsea forward, who was brought in from Brighton for around £60 million, is still the main man up front for the Blues. He started the season in quickfire fashion, scoring 2 goals and providing 3 assists in his first four league games, but attacking returns have dried up since then. That may also have something to do with the fact that Chelsea faced Man United at Old Trafford, and Brighton and Liverpool at home in their last three league games. In any case, FPL is about looking forward and when we look forward on Chelsea’s schedule, we see something of a proverbial “sea of green”. That means, an extended run of fixtures that look favourable on paper. As a result, Pedro could very soon become a set-and-forget starter until around Gameweek 16, when the schedule shifts a bit contrary to Chelsea’s favour. This weekend it’s Forest away, followed by Sunderland at home, Spurs away, Wolves at home and Burnley away. The Blues then face Arsenal at home, followed by Leeds away, Bournemouth away and Everton at home. Are you telling us that Joao Pedro, the starting number nine for a side that is fighting for a top-four finish, could not ending up scoring 5+ goals over that run?
The budget enabler
Our budget fantasy pick for Gameweek 7 is a bit of a mix between a budget pick and a differential, but that can happen when hunting for budget gems. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m) joined Leeds United on a free from Everton this summer and while he has not made a huge impact yet in terms of goals and assists, he did manage to make the number-nine spot his under manager Daniel Farke. The only attacking returns DCL recorded so far came in Gameweek 5 away at Wolves, when he scored a goal and gave an assist as part of a 1-3 Leeds victory. Of course, it should be noted that in GW6 and GW7, the Whites played Bournemouth and Spurs at home, respectively, two sides in more than decent form. The reason we have decided to put some faith in Calvert-Lewin is his upcoming schedule though, as Leeds are facing Burnley at Turf Moor this weekend, followed by West Ham at home in Gameweek 9. And after that, even though they are both away games, encounters with Brighton and Nottingham Forest don’t look too bad, either. At this moment, we see DCL as a good third option in attack for our squad, thanks to a combination of his status as a starter, his affordable price tag and his upcoming fixtures on the short (and medium) term.
The differential
Is Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m, 7.5% owned) the ideal Fantasy Premier League asset? We are asking this question, because it seems like it does not matter who he plays with or against, he delivers. Last season, for example, when West Ham were terrible and finished 14th in the league with just 43 points and a goal difference of -17, Bowen got 13 goals and 11 assists for 193 FPL points. The season prior, when West Ham finished 9th with 52 points and a goal difference of -14, their star man recorded a cool 16 goals and 6 assists. And this season, in which the Hammers have gotten off to another bad start? It’s already 3 goals in seven league starts for Bowen, for a total of 35 FPL points. The Hammers forward simply delivers, especially when you leave him in your squad for a longer period of time, which is exactly why we are considering bringing him in as a major differential fantasy pick. West Ham have got a nice little stretch of fixtures coming up, including Brentford at home in GW8, Leeds away in GW9, and Burnley at home in GW11. Those are games from which the Hammers need to take points if they want to keep hopes of turning their season around somewhat and for that, they will need Jarrod Bowen. Plain and simple.
The (vice-)captaincy
As Manchester City are hosting Everton on Saturday afternoon, we are putting the armband on the in-form Erling Haaland in Gameweek 8.
As usual, Mohamed Salah is an excellent alternative for the Norwegian when Liverpool host arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday. Other, more affordable options for the captaincy include Joao Pedro for Chelsea’s visit to Nottingham Forest and Antoine Semenyo for Bournemouth’s visit to Crystal Palace, while the higher-risk-higher-reward armband picks this weekend include Jaidon Anthony for Burnley’s home game against Leeds and Jarrod Bowen for West Ham’s home game against Brentford.
For further discussions have a look at FISO’s FPL forum where you can also see the FPL mini-leagues and FPL side-games available.