Top Fantasy Premier League tips for GW8: Target Tottenham while Arsenal and Man City lock horns, Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby can rival the big guns – and how best to deal with the growing injury list!

• Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins feasted during an Erling Haaland famine last week
• Injuries are piling up in the Premier League, with several stars a doubt for GW8
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’

A rare blip at Molineux led to Manchester City’s first defeat of the Premier League last weekend, as popular captain Erling Haaland blanked for the first time in FPL since GW2.

Managers who went against the Norwegian and placed the armband on Carlton Morris for Luton’s double gameweek were kindly rewarded, although the Hatters’ talisman only managed to return in his first match of GW7 against Everton.

Meanwhile, it was pure ecstasy for those who owned Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, as the England international bagged a 23-point haul against Brighton with three goals and an assist, overtaking Haaland as FPL’s highest-scoring forward so far this season.

Now, just a few days out from the second international break of the campaign, the injury list is mounting up ahead of GW8, with several stars displaying doubtful yellow and red flags on the FPL site.

So how should you manage your injury dilemmas? And who are the best players to bring in for GW8? Mail Sport has you covered with its top tips ahead of Saturday morning’s deadline. 

It was the Ollie Watkins show in GW7, as the Aston Villa striker netted a stunning hat-trick

Meanwhile, popular captain Erling Haaland blanked for the first time in four gameweeks

Here are Mail Sport’s biggest takeaways from GW7: 

Highest xG in 2023-24 so far

Erling Haaland, MCI – 7.94

Bryan Mbeumo, BRE – 4.59

Bukayo Saka, ARS – 4.05

Alexander Isak , NEW- 3.81

Mohamed Salah, LIV – 3.79 

Nicolas Jackson, CHE – 3.79 

Callum Wilson, NEW – 3.60

Jarrod Bowen, WHU – 3.54

Ollie Watkins , AVL – 3.39 

Yoane Wissa, BRE – 3.10

*xG = Expected goals

 

Bukayo Saka shot up the xG tables last week but he’s now a huge doubt to play in GW8 

• Bukayo Saka may well be Arsenal’s first-choice penalty taker, but it’s unwise to rely on him taking them too often. GW7 proved he’s more than happy to share the load, with Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz both netting from the spot at Bournemouth.

• Manchester United are in a rut and cannot be trusted for FPL in the same way as last season. Of course, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford will continue to bag the occasional return, but the pair simply aren’t justifying their price tags at the moment.

• The general suspicion that Sven Botman would be fit to face Burnley turned out to be false and the Dutchman missed out for Newcastle. The Magpies have continued to prosper in his absence however, and there are still excellent options across the backline including Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Fabian Schar.

• Erling Haaland is human and can be captained against! You won’t feel comfortable doing it too often this season, but with a tough run of fixtures, it’s comforting to know there are others with the potential to match or better him. His blank against Wolves will open to door for Son Heung-min and Mohamed Salah as viable captaincy options this week.

• Brighton are not the robust and reliable defence they once were and continue to struggle with leaking goals. With Pervis Estupinan now injured and both Liverpool and City to come, don’t expect too many points from defence.

• Tottenham’s attackers will continue to pick up points against top teams thanks to their expansive style under Ange Postecoglou. With two goals at Arsenal and two against Liverpool, it’s not worth risking them on the bench.

• Jarrod Bowen scored again in GW7 and is now the third highest-scoring midfielder in the game behind Saka and Son. As West Ham’s talisman, he is hogging the big chances in attack and is the primary goal threat for David Moyes – and he’ll continue to get opportunities with James Ward-Prowse behind him.

Jarrod Bowen’s becoming hard to ignore with yet another goal in GW7 against Sheffield United

Target Spurs for captaincy

With Arsenal and Manchester City set to play each other this week, snubbing Haaland for captaincy could well be the right move. 

No matter who you are, even if you’re the best striker in the league, a tough game is a tough game. And that’s exactly what Haaland has in store ahead of his trip to the Emirates.

Am I saying that I’d put my house on Haaland not scoring against the Gunners? Absolutely not. He’s a phenomenon capable of scoring a multitude of goals in any given fixture.

With Son Heung-min in superb form, he’s the standout captaincy pick ahead of GW8

However, as Newcastle and Wolves have shown in recent weeks, Manchester City can be got at, kept at bay and beaten. And there are few teams in the league with more talent across the pitch than Arsenal who, despite their blip in the Champions League in midweek, are unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season.

While I wouldn’t suggest selling or benching the Norwegian, there are moments in a season when it’s worth going against the captaincy crowd. And GW8, in my opinion, is one of them.  

Tottenham’s plum fixture against Luton is arguably the best match to target, with both Son and Maddison in fine form ahead of the clash.

The South Korean wasn’t pictured in training on Tuesday, which is a slight worry for FPL managers, although several first-team stars weren’t seen during the session and there’s been nothing conclusive to suggest he’ll miss out.

If, as expected, he’s confirmed fit by Ange Postecoglou on Friday, Son looks the ideal captain for GW8. He not only boasts an excellent fixture but also comes into the match in a rich vein of form having impressed since moving to No 9.

Elsewhere, managers could put their faith in the hot streak of Watkins after his hat-trick, with the Villa star gearing up to face Wolves at Molineux.

Finally, given Brighton’s defensive capitulation last weekend, Liverpool’s Salah also has big double-digit haul potential.

James Maddison also has a high chance of bagging a double-digit haul against Luton in GW8

Given Brighton’s defensive woes at present, Mohamed Salah is an excellent captaincy pick too

Managing the injury crisis 

Just like in football, managing injuries is part of the game in FPL. And it’s crucial how you deal with your squad when the going gets tough.

The first important rule of thumb is to avoid making early transfers, as Friday press conferences can be hugely helpful in providing updates ahead of the weekend. 

Of course, as it’s often against a manager’s best interest to give too much away, this can require FPL bosses to read between the lines a little and make an informed and calculated estimation on a player’s fitness.

But sometimes, if we’re lucky, a manager will reveal that a doubtful player is ready to go ahead of the weekend, handing FPL players a huge boost.

Secondly, it’s key to consider each yellow or red flag in isolation before making a transfer.

Eberechi Eze is out for up to six weeks with a hamstring issue, Mail Sport reported on Tuesday

Brighton defender Pervis Estupinan (left) has been ruled out for approximately a month as well

If a player is a long-term problem, much like Ben Chilwell who has been confirmed out for several months for example, then it is more important to deal with that issue rather than a player who is ‘doubtful’ or has a ‘knock’.

When you Wildcard could also have an effect on how many hits you take to manage injuries. In general, I’m against taking hits unless absolutely necessary – and if you know you are playing your Wildcard in the next few weeks, you only have to deal with the problems for a limited timeframe. The longer the timeframe, the more likely a hit will pay off in the long term.

Of course, if your injury woes are significant – and you have, say, five or six first-team players confirmed out – you could always use your Wildcard and hit the reset button to stop the rot. That is, if you still have one.

Finally, player’s price is also a vital factor in the decision-making. Say Haaland was injured for a few gameweeks, he would soak up over £14.0m in budget by rotting on your bench. Selling expensive players with the view of getting them back later when they return can be a shrewd strategy. And I expect several managers to do that with Saka this week.

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Arsenal’s star man Saka is now a huge doubt to face champions Manchester City on Sunday 

Injury doubts among popular FPL players ahead of GW8:

*Prior to Friday’s pre-match press conferences 

Pervis Estupinan (muscle): Expected out for approximately a month

Eberechi Eze (hamstring): Will miss six weeks, as revealed by Mail Sport

Bukayo Saka (hamstring): Doubt for the weekend 

Sven Botman (knee): Will be out until after the international break

Moussa Diaby (back): Doubt for the weekend

Cody Gakpo (knee): Doubt for the weekend 

Put your faith in West Ham and Villa

For those of you that read my last two columns, you’ll know I took Watkins out for Julian Alvarez ahead of GW6 in a bid to target Manchester City’s promising clash with Nottingham Forest. Well, what a disaster that turned out to be!

The Villa hitman bagged four goal contributions at the weekend and, to rub salt in the wounds, my rather smug brother transferred him in for Nicolas Jackson ahead of the deadline and has been rubbing it in all week. 

But time goes on. And there’s little to be gained from beating myself up about the decision, even if I concede it was a poor one.

Villa are in a rich vein of form and heading into a superb fixture run between GW9 and GW14

Moussa Diaby is a doubt for the weekend but should be on everyone’s shortlist when he’s fit

Watkins is, particularly now the fixtures have turned, a reliable xG threat. He can blow hot and cold with his finishing at times, but one big green tick in his favour is the consistency at which he plays and the frequency at which he gets excellent opportunities. 

Aston Villa have a glorious run of games between now and GW14: a trip to Wolves this weekend before clashes with West Ham, Luton, Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Tottenham and Bournemouth. Aside from Spurs and potentially West Ham, you would expect Unai Emery’s side to score and hurt the opposition.

Although his first goal only came in GW6, Watkins has blanked just once this season during Liverpool’s 3-0 triumph over Aston Villa. 

The striker has been superbly supported by Diaby, the seventh-highest scoring midfielder so far, and the Villa star is another top pick at just £6.7m, provided he is available for GW8.

Meanwhile, Bowen and Ward-Prowse are continuing to get the business done in east London. 

The points are continuing to flow in FPL for West Ham’s summer signing James Ward-Prowse

David Moyes will have his eyes set on the top four as West Ham enter a glorious run of fixtures

Bowen scored again for West Ham in an impressive performance against Sheffield United last weekend, while the ex-Southampton star picked up both a clean sheet and bonus point to take his tally to four despite blanking at the London Stadium.

The fact Ward-Prowse appeared so high on the bonus points system without scoring or assisting shows just how central he is to everything West Ham do and, although I perhaps don’t regard him as highly as Bowen, he’s a solid option in his price range.

As the Hammers take on in-form Newcastle this week, it is perhaps not the ideal time to move on the pair. However, with favourable fixtures between GW9 and GW17, they’re an excellent long-term hold and could still come away with a return at the weekend in the absence of Botman.

Aside from Salah and the Tottenham boys, Aston Villa and West Ham assets seem the best attackers to target ahead of GW8.

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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