Following on from a week of fallen giants, VAR controversy and the season’s first double gameweek, the eighth round of Premier League fixtures will soon be upon us – meaning another Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is fast approaching.
After this weekend, there will be two weeks before the next set of Premier League fixtures as players suit up for national team duty.
For some, team injuries or a poor start to the FPL season could make the upcoming international break a good time to activate the first of two wildcards, which would allow for unlimited changes ahead of the following week’s deadline.
But first, Gameweek 7 begins with Tottenham’s Saturday lunch-time trip to Luton, followed by four 3pm kick-offs before Crystal Palace host Nottingham Forest in the evening.
i‘s top three scorers in Gameweek 7
- Kieran Trippier – 12 points vs Burnley: Trippier followed up his monstrous 18-point haul in Newcastle‘s week six demolition of Sheffield United with another double-digit score last weekend, pairing an assist with three bonus points and a clean sheet to return 12 points.
- Carlton Morris – 10 points vs Everton, Burnley: Priced at just £5.5m, Morris proved a worthwhile punt as Luton played their part in the 2023-24 season’s first double gameweek. The cheap forward option delivered a goal against the Toffees and was unlikely not to find the net against Burnley on Tuesday, taking a match-high five shots.
- Jarrod Bowen – 9 points vs Sheffield United: Bowen grabbed his fifth goal of the season with his strike against the Blades, putting him just one behind his 2022-23 tally of six.
Sunday brings three big match-ups between teams currently in the Premier League’s top eight, with Brighton and Liverpool both looking to bounce back from crushing defeats last weekend. West Ham then take on Newcastle in a day headlined by a heavyweight clash of title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates.
That latter showdown, as well as suspensions and possible injuries to key players involved in it, has seen us largely look elsewhere this week, with more favourable fixtures for several other big hitters.
This week’s FPL deadline is at 11am BST on Saturday 7 October:
Gameweek 8 fixtures
Saturday 7 October
- Luton vs Tottenham (12.30pm BST)
- Burnley vs Chelsea
- Everton vs Bournemouth
- Fulham vs Sheffield United
- Manchester United vs Brentford
- Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest (5.30pm BST)
3pm kick-off unless otherwise stated
Sunday 8 October
- Brighton vs Liverpool
- West Ham vs Newcastle
- Wolves vs Aston Villa
- Arsenal vs Manchester City (4.30pm BST)
2pm kick-off unless otherwise stated
Bernd Leno (Fulham)
Though he returned just a point in Fulham’s loss to Chelsea on Monday night, Leno remains the top-scoring goalkeeper in FPL this season and faces a kind home fixture against bottom-dwelling Sheffield United, who have scored a joint league-low five goals in seven games so far.
Leno has also racked up 29 saves in his opening fixtures of this season. While he is ranked sixth among top-flight goalkeepers for that stat, the former Arsenal shot-stopper has delivered more clean sheets (three) than any of the others above him – suggesting he could provide the perfect mix of the two metrics that most commonly earn FPL points in his position.
Fulham’s fixtures immediately following the international break could be a cause for concern, though: in Tottenham, Brighton, Manchester United and Aston Villa, the Cottagers face three of the current top six.
Price: £4.7m Points: 36 Gameweek 8 fixture: Sheffield United (h)
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
Since scraping through their opening four Premier League fixtures with just one win, Newcastle have begin to find form with three league wins on the trot – and one particular beneficiary of that revival has been Trippier.
The England right-back is an integral part of a Magpies backline that has kept five consecutive clean sheets in all competitions. He has added to those returns with four assists and eight bonus points in league wins against Brentford, Sheffield United and Burnley.
Trippier also put in a top display in his side’s Champions League battering of PSG on Wednesday evening, chipping in with the assist for Sean Longstaff’s 50th minute goal that took the game out of the Parisians’ reach.
West Ham up next will pose a sterner test defensively than Newcastle’s recent league matches, with David Moyes‘ side having scored in each of their games so far this season, but Trippier’s threat going forward makes him a shoe-in on current form.
For those looking for cheaper alternatives in the Newcastle defence, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn – both midweek goal scorers against PSG, it should be noted – will each set you back about £2.0m less than their slightly more regularly attacking team-mate.
Price: £6.8m Points: 43 Gameweek 8 fixture: West Ham (a)
Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace)
His thundering strike that sealed the win against Manchester United last time out may have rocketed Andersen to the top of the FPL defender rankings, but it isn’t the (sole) reason the Palace centre-back makes the cut here.
Roy Hodgson‘s men rank joint-first in the league with three clean sheets so far, as well as being among the top five defensive sides for goals (seven), big chances and shots on target conceded. Against a Forest outfit with eight goals in seven games – and helped by a run of Burnley, Everton and Luton from Gameweek 11 onwards – those numbers could continue to be among the best in the top flight.
Andersen’s goal-scoring threat does, of course, add to his appeal: the big Dane has netted two of Palace’s seven goals so far this season (also a joint league-high for defenders), and is an ever-present threat from set pieces in particular.
Price: £4.8m Points: 45 Gameweek 8 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Pedro Porro (Tottenham Hotspur)
Between this weekend and the end of November (Gameweek 8-13), Spurs embark on an appealing fixture run that starts off with fixtures against three sides – Luton, Fulham and Crystal Palace – that have scored one goal per game or less so far.
That statistic alone suggests Ange Postecoglou‘s backline is worthy of investment in some way, and Porro could provide a key differential to the higher-owned options of Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie (both £4.8m).
At the time of writing, Romero and Udogie are owned by 15.7 per cent and 18.6 per cent of FPL managers, respectively, compared to Porro’s 6.7 per cent – meaning points for the right-back could propel your team further up the rankings.
Despite that low ownership, Porro has matched Udogie’s attacking output with two assists, while scoring higher in terms of expected goal involvement (xGI) and unleashing nine shots to the latter’s one.
Meanwhile, the Spaniard’s one yellow card so far also means he is less likely to face a one-game suspension (for receiving five yellows) in the future. In contrast, Udogie has committed more fouls (16) than any other Premier League player this season, racking up three yellow cards, while Romero has two.
Price: £5.0m Points: 26 Gameweek 8 fixture: Luton (a)
Heung-min Son (Tottenham Hotspur)
The upcoming fixtures also look kind from an attacking standpoint for Tottenham, meaning Son gets the nod.
Spurs’ new skipper is classed as a midfielder in FPL but, in the absence of Harry Kane and patchy form of Richarlison, he has led the line on several occasions this season, bagging six goals so far – all in his last four games.
Postecoglou confirmed that Son’s early substitution in the dramatic win over Liverpool was just a precaution, meaning the South Korean should be fit to start against Luton in this weekend’s early kick-off.
In the event that changes prior to Saturday’s deadline, fellow forward Dejan Kulusevski (also a midfielder in FPL) could provide a cost-saving option, coming in at just £7.0m despite creating a league-leading 16 chances in the last four weeks.
Price: £9.3m Points: 51 Gameweek 8 fixture: Luton (a)
James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur)
Luton may have notched their first win of the season against Everton last Saturday, but their record of 14 goals conceded could be about to get worse when Tottenham come knocking.
The Premier League newcomers have let in that many despite facing none of the current top five, while second-placed Spurs have scored at least two in every game this season.
A key part of the success of ‘Angeball’ has been Maddison, who has started off his debut season in north London with ease, grabbing two goals and four assists to play a direct hand in over a third of his new side’s 17 goals so far.
Both of the former Leicester playmaker’s goals came against the two teams (Bournemouth and Burnley) sat just below Luton in the table, suggesting he could be in for further returns against another of top flight struggler.
Price: £8.0m Points: 41 Gameweek 8 fixture: Luton (a)
Pedro Neto (Wolves)
Wolves may be off to a slow start down in 15th, but their pacy winger Pedro Neto has delivered goals or assists in each of his last five matches – a run that has included matches against Liverpool and Manchester City.
He faces Aston Villa next, who come into their Sunday afternoon clash riding a high from their 6-1 demolition of Brighton last weekend. However, Unai Emery’s side have conceded nine of their 11 goals this season away from home, which could bode well for Neto at the Molinieux.
After the international break, Wolves also face Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Fulham in a five-week stretch, making Neto a promising option beyond this week alone.
Price: £5.7m Points: 38 Gameweek 8 fixture: Aston Villa (h)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Salah registered his first blank of the season in Liverpool’s loss to Spurs last time out.
However, the Reds were of course playing with 10 and then nine men for much of the match, and Jurgen Klopp elected to hook his star forward after 73 minutes to bring on reinforcements following Diogo Jota‘s red card.
Until that point, the Egypt international had delivered three goals and four assists in the league this season, and Liverpool will undoubtedly come out in full force against Brighton on Sunday following their recent misfortune.
When they do so, Salah will almost certainly be heavily involved in much of their attacking play – and he also has penalty-taking duties as an added bonus, if the Seagull’s poor defensive record (14 goals conceded, the worst outside the league’s bottom four) wasn’t enticing enough.
Price: £12.6m Points: 44 Gameweek 8 fixture: Brighton (a)
Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)
If there’s one man likely to bust Newcastle’s cleansheet when the Magpies come down to London, it’s Bowen.
The Hammers star has five goals already this season (just one less than his entire haul in 2022-23), as well as an assist, and has blanked just twice in the league, against City and Chelsea.
Eddie Howe‘s side may make things difficult for Bowen and co, but six of West Ham’s next nine fixtures after this weekend score a two (out of five) on the FPL fixture difficulty rating, hinting that more points could be on the horizon.
Even this weekend, prospective buyers can be buoyed by the fact that the Hammers have found the net at least once in each of their seven league games so far, with one of Bowen’s goals coming in the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool two weeks ago.
An honourable mention here goes to Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m). Brentford’s stand-in striker and penalty taker in the absence of Ivan Toney, Mbeumo’s attacking output may have faultered in recent weeks since the four goals in three games he began the season with, but a match against a spiraling Manchester United side with the second-worst defensive record in the top flight could get him firing again.
Price: £7.3m Points: 48 Gameweek 8 fixture: Newcastle (h)
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Three goals and two assists in his last fixture to go along with his existing tally of one goal and four assists.
Ahead of a run of fixtures against Wolves, West Ham, Luton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham, who have all conceded double digit tallies of goals already, not much more needs to be said about Watkins’ credentials.
He is playing in a free-flowing Aston Villa side whose 18 goals so far this campaign is the joint-highest in the top flight, and the England international will surely bag at least a few more himself over the next month and a half.
Price: £8.0m Points: 48 Gameweek 8 fixture: Newcastle (h)
Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
“No Erling Haaland?!”, you may be thinking. With the reigning Golden Boot winner sporting an FPL ownership of just over 91 per cent – by far the highest of any player in the game – you may be right.
But hear me out.
Firstly, not many fixtures will prove tougher than the one facing the three-time defending Premier League champions this weekend.
Haaland (£14.1m) does have eight goals already this season, but he emerged empty-handed from City’s only other encounter with a team from last year’s top four, as Newcastle kept him out in week two.
Their upcoming opponents, Arsenal, have conceded just six goals so far, a tally bettered only by Pep Guardiola‘s squad themselves.
So, in one of the few weeks where it may not sting to not captain the towering Norwegian, enter Julian Alvarez.
City’s World Cup winner has three goals to Haaland’s eight, but five assists to his fellow forward’s one. Alvarez was also his side’s only goal-scorer in arguably their two trickiest matches so far this season: last weekend’s shock loss to Wolves and the aforementioned game against Newcastle, where he proved the difference maker in a 1-0 win.
He also continued that streak of scoring at crucial times by putting City back in the lead against RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Now, Haaland will almost certainly outscore Alvarez over the course of a whole season. But the Argentine has delivered more points than his teammate in the three weeks since City’s 5-1 drubbing of Fulham, also takes free-kicks (of which he has scored a few), and – crucially, to allow for other cash-heavy options like Son and Salah – is less than half the price.
If you already own Haaland it may be a risk to sell him, therefore do so only at your own peril: he did score against Arsenal in both league fixtures last year.
However, for those few without City’s main man, or those risk-taking managers looking to switch things up, Alvarez could prove a handy differential despite already being in nearly a third of all FPL squads.
Price: £7.0m Points: 46 Gameweek 8 fixture: Arsenal (a)
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