Welcome to AM’s Players To Watch for Gameweek 8 of the 2019/2020 Premier League season. As long-time readers of my columns will know, the advice in seasons’ gone by had revolved around games that would allow you to make unlimited transfers each gameweek, selecting an entirely new 11 players if you so wished. Unfortunately Yahoo Fantasy Premier League is a glorious but distant memory, as is Togga’s Perfect XI game which inspired my previous Rotoworld column.
Starting in August 2018 I made a point of mixing things up by generalising the player recommendations given each week. So now, whether you’re playing Official FPL, FPL/Fantrax Draft, Fantrax Salary Cap, Sky Sports, The Sun, The Telegraph or any number of other the fantasy games available to fans each season, I’ll now be offering my top picks for the week ahead, mixing “must-haves” with hunch picks and players flying under the radar. Hopefully this will offer something for everyone, whether you’re considering captain options, looking to make a transfer or picking up a free agent in draft.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I penned my last column due to vacation and during the break things have not gone well. My FPL team is languishing down in 700k in the overall rankings but at least I still have my wildcard in tact (and it may be needed very soon). A positive gameweek is vital before we head in to the international break, so let’s get in to it with a look at the GW8 fixtures ...
Saturday 5 October 2019
Brighton v Spurs
Burnley v Everton
Liverpool v Leicester
Norwich v Aston Villa
Watford v Sheffield Utd
West Ham v Crystal Palace
Sunday 6 October 2019
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Man City v Wolves
Southampton v Chelsea
Newcastle v Man Utd
Gameweek 8 brings us another regulation 11:30am BST (British Summer Time) Saturday FPL deadline as Brighton host Tottenham in the early kick off. Under normal circumstances we’d be looking at Spurs players for such a fixture, but given the pummelling they took at the hands of Bayern Munich in midweek I feel it’s safer to avoid until we see how that result has affected the player’s confidence. Manchester City at home to Wolves and Arsenal hosting Bournemouth look to be the pick of the bunch, with Norwich v Villa, Chelsea @ Southampton and Manchester United @ Newcastle all worth exploring. The remaining fixtures should all be tightly contested affairs but we’ll look to pick out a player or two who could act as a decent differential. With that in mind, here are the players to keep in your thoughts ahead of Gameweek 8....[[ad:athena]]
Raheem Sterling (MF - Manchester City v Wolves) - There’s a case to be made for Riyad Mahrez here but in the likely absence of Kevin De Bruyne due to a groin strain, it’s difficult to look beyond Raheem Sterling for City’s home clash with Wolves. Sterling was afforded a bit of a rest for the Dinamo Zagreb game in midweek but came off the bench to turn match-winner with a goal and assist in the final 30 minutes. This follows hot on the heels of his goal at Everton in GW7 and suggests the England attacker has played himself back in to form after three gameweeks without fantasy returns. I’m confident of another strong showing and so he’s my current captain for GW8.
Marcos Alonso (DF - Chelsea @ Southampton) - A former FPL favourite, Marcos Alonso had become Chelsea’s forgotten man since Frank Lampard arrived, with the more defence-minded Emerson preferred in the left-back role for the first four Premier League games of the campaign. An unfortunate injury to Emerson has now opened the door to Alonso and he’ll be desperate to prove his new manager wrong while he has the chance. A trip to Southampton isn’t to be considered easy for the Blues but I have a hunch that the Spaniard could play a vital role in helping his side to a fourth away win on the bounce.
Daniel James (MF - Manchester United @ Newcastle) - Three stunning goals in his first four Manchester United appearances has been swiftly followed by none in his next three, but Daniel James has consistently looked the most likely man to spark his teammates in to life. A trip to struggling Newcastle offers up a chance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to get back to winning ways and it feels like James’ explosive speed and skill will be key components to unlocking the three points.
Teemu Pukki (FW - Norwich v Aston Villa) - After burning up the opening five gameweeks of the season Teemu Pukki has suffered a couple of blank weeks on the road to Burnley and Palace, but it would be foolish to overlook the Finnish forward who remains high up the rankings both for goal scored and FPL points. The Canaries have a decent looking match-up with Aston Villa in GW8 and both sides will feel this is the type of fixture they need all three points from to avoid a relegation battle in six months time, so it should be an open encounter with plenty of chances for attacking players.
Heung-Min Son (MF - Tottenham @ Brighton) - Okay, okay - I know I said I’d be avoiding Spurs players this week, but Heung-Min Son was the one bright spot on a miserable rainy North London evening. The South Korean was electric in the opening 30 minutes, scoring once and threatening Manuel Neuer’s goal on three further occasions as the Bayern defence failed to cope with his pace and movement, before he ran out of steam in the second half. Brighton’s defensive unit isn’t famed for its speed on the turn and so Son should offer the main attacking threat in Saturday’s early kick-off if, as expected, he’s up in support of Harry Kane again.
Captain Choice: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (FW - Arsenal v Bournemouth)- Full disclosure; I don’t own Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in FPL and won’t be transferring him in yet due to team repairs needed elsewhere. But the Arsenal striker is the player I’m most concerned about not owning going in to GW8, with leaky Bournemouth visiting the Emirates. Aubameyang is in peak finishing form with seven goals in seven Premier League games so far and only the bravest of gamblers would bet against him adding to that tally on Sunday. If there was a way to fit him in without taking hits he would undoubtedly be taking the captain’s armband ahead of Sterling.
That’s it for Gameweek 8’s Players to Watch. Check out the Rotoworld Features page to access a host of fantastic content to get you ready for the weekend. If you have any questions about a specific player or your own fantasy team then feel free to post them in the comments below or hit me on Twitter (@nikarg) and I will get back to you.
Thanks for reading - good luck to all managers this weekend and for the rest of the season!
