We have got our first real shake-up in the 2022/23 FPL season with the postponement of three games in GW8 due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Only seven games will be played in GW8, with big teams such as Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United having blank fixtures, and here are some of the biggest talking points ahead of the weekend.
Mohammed Salah (12.9m) to Kevin de Bruyne (12.1m)
With Liverpool’s fixture away to Chelsea postponed this week due to the lack of police personnel in the capital in the lead-up to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, Mohamed Salah’s place in your FPL teams should be under question. The Egyptian is the most expensive player in Fantasy Premier League at 12.9m, and it may not be the best use of funds to keep him on the bench for one week at that cost.
Salah has also not been his usual self in the 2022/23 Premier League season, scoring just two goals in six appearances as Liverpool have had a rough start to the campaign. GW8 might be the best time to get Salah out of your team for a couple of weeks, with Liverpool also playing Arsenal and Manchester City in their next three fixtures.
The best replacement for the Liverpool midfielder from an FPL perspective is Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian has a good fixture this week away to Wolves and has a non-penalty xGi of 0.79 per 90 this season, the most amongst all midfielders in FPL.
Alexander Isak (7.0m)
It’s the return of the strikers this season in FPL, with plenty of excellent forward options for your frontline. Premier League fantasy football managers are spoilt for choice with Haaland, Jesus, Mitrovic, Kane, Nunez, and Toney amongst the choices for the three striker positions, and a new name that has recently joined the list is Alexander Isak. The Newcastle striker has looked electric in his first two starts for the club and has a great run of fixtures from GW8 onwards.
Newcastle play Bournemouth, Brentford, and Everton at home in their next five matches, and Isak is excellently priced as an FPL option at 7.0 million.
CAPTAINCY CANDIDATES | ||
PLAYER | FIXTURE | NPxGi per 90 |
Haaland (12.0 m) | Wolves (A) | 1.32 |
Kane (11.4 m) | Leicester City (H) | 0.81 |
de Bruyne (12.2 m) | Wolves (A) | 0.71 |
Jesus (8.1 m) | Brentford (A) | 0.84 |
There is one clear captaincy option in FPL for GW8, and that is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian is yet to blank in a single fixture this season and has ten goals and one assist while also registering extraordinary underlying numbers of 1.32 xGi per 90.
The doubts over Haaland not starting games have also been quashed by Guardiola to start the new season, and the Manchester City striker is the best captaincy option in Fantasy Premier League this week.
Kevin de Bruyne is a good differential for those who want to take a punt, as is Harry Kane, who has an incredible record against Leicester City in the Premier League.
Shivaan’s FPL Team Selection for GW8:
Mohammed Salah to Kevin de Bruyne
Cameron Archer to Aleksandar Mitrovic
Kyle Walker to Sven Botman
Haaland Captain
There is plenty of surgery needed for my FPL team this week, with three players without a fixture (Salah, Diaz, and James) and an injured Kyle Walker in defence. Last week I transferred out Trent Alexander-Arnold for Kieran Trippier for his home fixture against Bournemouth in GW8, and I will make a further three transfers, including my first points hit of the FPL season, to put out a good XI this week.
As explained earlier, Mohamed Salah makes way for Kevin de Bruyne, while Kyle Walker is transferred out for another Newcastle defender Sven Botman to facilitate this move. And finally, I take -4 points hit to upgrade Cameron Archer to Aleksandar Mitrovic for his away fixture against one of the worst defences in the league this season, Nottingham Forest.
As for the captaincy, it’s a no-brainer to go with Haaland this week. Best of luck for Gameweek 8!
Shivaan Shah