Finally, after seven Gameweeks, a captaincy call paid off.
Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) made his backers sweat watching the Everton game last week, missing a one v one before rattling one in off the underside of the crossbar.
Thankfully, all ended well, and he returned a healthy 14 points as captain. After scoring and assisting off the bench in the Champions League on Tuesday night, he will lead my troops into battle again for the visit of Wolves.
It looks like Sterling’s teammate Kevin De Bruyne (£10.0m) could miss the Wolves game through injury (he hasn’t been officially ruled out yet so keep an eye on Pep’s press conference on Friday).
If he is confirmed out before the FPL deadline, it will tempt many managers into selling him. With the international break next week, the injury might have come at a good time for owners as he will have the best part of three weeks to recover. Selling him and getting him back again feels like a waste of two precious transfers unless he’s sidelined for an extended period. If you’ve got options like John Lundstram (£4.5m) or Todd Cantwell (£5.0m) on your bench, hold on to Kevin.
Talking about Norwich assets, somewhat surprisingly, Teemu Pukki (£7.2m) is the second-most transferred-out player this week behind De Bruyne. Yes, he’s blanked in three of his last four appearances but he’s still the second-highest scoring forward in the game alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m).
The Canaries face Aston Villa at home and Bournemouth away in their next two, not to mention that he only cost most of us about £6.7m. If anyone deserves a bit more faith, it’s the Finnish striker.
Aubameyang has been Mr. Consistent this season, returning attacking points in all seven matches he’s played (seven goals and one assist). With a great run of fixtures ahead, including Bournemouth at the Emirates this weekend, managers are scrambling to find a way to bring him in. He’s right up there as one of the best captaincy options for Gameweek 8.
There’s a lot of talk in the community about selling Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) to fund moves for in-form assets like Aubameyang and Jamie Vardy (£8.9m). Selling Salah is always a scary thought, especially for those who were burned by shipping him just before Christmas last season.
On paper, Liverpool have a tricky run of games but is it really that difficult? It’s Leicester at home this weekend (Salah’s lowest score at Anfield this season is nine points), then a trip to face mid-table side Manchester United before a home tie against a Spurs outfit who conceded seven goals to Bayern Munich this week. Those who do sell the Egyptian should have a plan in place to be able to get him back in without having to perform too much surgery (and own a big sofa). It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks play out.
Vardy is going to be a popular transfer in after this Liverpool fixture following his brace against Newcastle, coupled with Leicester’s kind schedule from Gameweek 9 onwards. Getting on him early could be a shrewd move.
If he bangs at home to Burnley, he will do wonders for your overall rank as he’s still owned by less than 10% of managers. No doubt, he’ll wipe out my double Liverpool clean sheet this weekend.
We knew going into his season that Chelsea would offer some serious value-for-monet options, we just needed to wait to see who they would be.
Tripling up on them for the next five games is going to be a popular strategy. The likes of Tammy Abraham (£7.6m), Mason Mount (£6.7m) and Fikayo Tomori (£4.6m) are great options for budget prices. Jorginho (£5.0m) on penalties is another worth considering, he’s got two assists in FPL and he rattled the crossbar from open play against Lille on Wednesday night. He could prove to be excellent value over the season.
Good luck in Gameweek 8 folks and enjoy the international break.
