With Cherki banished to the bench and Haaland an injury risk, Game week 8 threatens to cause even more headlines for FPL managers – the Daily Star has all the tips
Hopefully, your start to the season has seen more ups than downs. But however it’s gone so far, the Daily Star’s top FPL expert is here to guide you through all the big decisions weighing on your mind (FPL decisions, that is — I can’t help with what you want for dinner or what to buy your mum for her birthday).
With the FPL deadline fast approaching (Friday 23 October, 18:30), here are all the key tips for GW8.
Man City headache
Manchester City’s 3-2 victory over Ipswich on Saturday saw the birth of a phenomenon experts are calling “Maresca roulette”. Just days after this very column decided to finally back Rayan Cherki (£8.0m) as someone nearly guaranteed minutes and therefore a smart pickup, the Italian decided to bench the Frenchman and hand Phil Foden (£6.8m) a place in the starting line-up instead.
Unsurprisingly, we now reckon Cherki is slightly less than optimal, although if you already own him, we don’t think you necessarily need to sell — especially with City suffering a couple of injuries in the forward line.
Our other City tip, Jérémy Doku (£7.5m), went much better, with the Belgian continuing his fine form since returning from injury by bagging an assist.
Captain (not) Obvious
I’ve hardly mentioned captaincy in this column, as Erling Haaland (£15.7m) has so often been the obvious pick.
The Norwegian has been in fine scoring form, although he did pick up a knock that may rule him out of City’s midweek Champions League tie against AEK Athens.
While it seems unlikely he’ll miss out at the weekend, we reckon he may not be at 100% and could be at risk of an early substitution. That, combined with the fact that City play Aston Villa, against whom Haaland has historically struggled (one goal in five games), means we’ll be looking elsewhere for our double-points pick.
And where better to look than Stamford Bridge, where free-scoring Chelsea take on struggling London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a fixture that has historically favoured the Blues?
This one is a toss-up between Cole Palmer (£9.7m) and João Pedro (£7.9m), although the English midfielder may just edge it thanks to his threat from set pieces.
If you haven’t got either, it’s a very good idea to bring one of them in if you can.
Fulham flops
With a run of fixtures against the three newly promoted sides, Fulham looked like a good investment before the international break. The Cottagers are really struggling, however, so managers should perhaps be thinking about getting rid of their assets before their prices drop.
However, we reckon you should keep the faith for one more week. Although Coventry have looked better, Arbeloa’s men do go into that clash as favourites.
If things go wrong again, make sure to cut your losses in the following transfer window.
Boring, boring Arsenal
The Gunners were extremely lacklustre once again in their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest, so any managers with more than one attacker or midfielder from Arsenal should look to diversify their teams right away.
Bukayo Saka (£9.6m) is still a decent option for those who can afford him, as is Martin Ødegaard (£6.7m), with both boasting promising underlying data and a respectable number of goals and assists.
However, having both is probably overkill, while any other Arsenal attacker — such as Tzolis, Declan Rice (£7.3m) or Kai Havertz (£7.5m) — should be a quick sell.
The likes of Brighton, Manchester City and Chelsea will offer much more value for money.
Arsenal’s defence is still rock-solid, though, with Riccardo Calafiori (£6.0m) and Ezri Konsa among the best options in a very strong bunch.