The FPL Bonus – Gameweek Eight

The EA Sports PPI statistics are now available and the Fantasy Premier League bonus points have now been added to the game. Here’s a game by game breakdown of how this map out for gameweek eight…

Liverpool 1 Man United 1
Gerrard 3, Welbeck 2, Hernandez 1

Few surprises here – we predicted the 2 for Javier Hernandez but won’t begrudge Danny Welbeck a single bonus point for his display and assist on United’s equaliser. Steven Gerrard’s maximum was a foregone conclusion here given his goal and contribution to the Liverpool display.

Chelsea 3 Everton 1
Terry 3, Sturridge 2, Lampard 1

John Terry, always a strong scorer in the EA PPI, not surprisingly comes out on top, having also got on the scoresheet in the 3-1 win. As we predicted, Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard also reaped reward for their goal and assist contributions respectively.

Wigan 1 Bolton 3
Eagles 3, K Davies 2, Diame 1

Chris Eagles was our top ICT Index performer of the week and was also top of the EA PPI rankings. Three bonus points will follow for the Bolton man but, while we predicted returns for Nigel Reo-Coker and David Ngog, it was Kevin Davies (despite his penalty miss) and Wigan’s Mohamed Diame who earned higher PPI totals.

QPR 1 Blackburn 1
Samba 3, Helguson 2, Lowe 1

Although honours were even at Loftus Road, our prediction based on our ICT figures fared well, with Blackburn’s Chris Samba picking up a strong EA PPI total – the third highest in the gameweek. QPR’s scorer Heidar Helguson ranked second in this match, with Blackburn’s Jason Lowe set for a single bonus point for his PPI tally.

Man City 4 Aston Villa 1
Balotelli 3, Johnson 2, Kompany 1

Mario Balotelli earned the top PPI total in this match for his acrobatic opener, with Adam Johnson’s goal and assist earning the winger number two spot. Vincent Kompany demonstrated his newfound threat from set-pieces by claiming a goal- enough to earn him the single bonus point.

Norwich City 3 Swansea 1
Pilkington 3, Martin 2, Barnett 1

With a brace of goals, Anthony Pilkington was amongst the top ICT and EA PPI performers this weekend and it’s no surprise to see him claim the three bonus from this one. We predicted Russell Martin for a strong PPI, but didn’t see Leon Barnett’s single bonus point coming – he continues to score heavily in EA PPI terms and remains a bonus darling as a result. He just edged out our prediction for the remaining bonus – Bradley Johnson.

Stoke 2 Fulham 0
Walters 3, Delap 2, Etherington 1

As expected, Jon Walters collected the top EA PPI score from this home win, with Rory Delap ranking second and Matt Etherington, with two assists, coming in third. Andy Wilkinson was Stoke’s top defensive performer, sharing a PPI score with both Jermaine Pennant and Asmir Begovic.

West Brom 2 Wolves 0
Brunt 3, Foster & Reid 2

Chris Brunt picks up his first bonus points of the season with a top ranking EA PPI display in the local derby victory for the Baggies. Ben Foster was the top rated keeper in both the ICT Index and EA PPI rankings and, subsequently, he fetched the two bonus here; while we predicted Peter Odemwingie for the single bonus, it turns out that Steven Reid collected an identical PPI to Foster and will share two bonus points. Billy Jones came in next on the PPI rankings but was denied a bonus by that share.

Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1
Van Persie 3, Koscielny 2, Larsson 1

Robin Van Persie was amongst the top five PPI performers in the gameweek and dominated this match to collect the inevitable maximum bonus. Few would have seen Laurent Koscielny’s PPI score of 22 coming however; that’s going to earn him two bonus points with Sunderland’s scorer, Seb Larsson, picking up a single bonus as expected.

Newcastle 2 Tottenham 2
Ba & Taylor & Van der Vaart 3

We’ve a share at the top of the PPI rankings in this match with both Demba Ba and Rafael Van der Vaart set to earn 3 bonus points for their 22 point totals. Jonas Gutierrez has to make do with a single bonus for his display then, although the PPI scores from this match are still under review with the assist for Shola Ameobi’s goal seemingly awarded to Yohan Cabaye rather than Ryan Taylor.

*Edit* As indicated, this match was reviewed and, with the award of the assist to Ryan Taylor, he tied with Ba and Van der Vaart at the top of the PPI. The three bonus points were therefore shared between all three players.