We have put together our early Scout Picks for Gameweek 8 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

Plenty can change during this long international break, of course. The upcoming Scout Squad nominations and pre-match press conferences will also help shape our final Scout Picks.

But this early selection, at the very least, offers an insight into the players who will be under consideration.

ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’

There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:

• An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
• An overall squad limit of £100.0m
• No more than three players per team

GAMEWEEK 8 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 8 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker.

It’ll be a strange Gameweek, because so many teams of equal quality will be facing each other.

Crystal Palace and Bournemouth are both causing a ruckus near the top, while we have Burnley v Leeds United, Sunderland v Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United v Brentford – arguably the league’s weakest six going head-to-head.

Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa is evenly matched, while Newcastle United have a poor record against Brighton and Hove Albion.

THE LIKELY LADS

However, it feels safe to say that Erling Haaland (£14.5m) will make the final Scout Picks, being far ahead of everyone else for goals (nine), attempts (29), big chances (14) and expected goals (xG, 7.71).

Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m) assisted Haaland against Brentford, helping the defender grab 12 points. Everton are without the ineligible Jack Grealish (£6.9m), offering potential for at least a clean sheet in Gameweek 8.

In the meantime, clean sheets have started to dry up for Chelsea. But it’s a good time for Robert Sanchez (£4.9m) and Marc Cucurella (£6.1m) to be facing Nottingham Forest, knowing a terrible start already has Ange Postecoglou under huge pressure.

There’s also optimism of an actual Joao Pedro (£7.7m) shot. FPL’s most-owned player hasn’t put one on target in four matches, accumulating just 0.26 expected goal involvement (xGI). But the forward’s City Ground minutes should be nailed, as he’s not in Brazil’s squad and is banned for the next Champions League night.

The best backline still belongs to Arsenal. The Gunners have conceded the fewest goals (three) and big chances (five), bringing optimism for David Raya (£5.7m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.3m) and Jurrien Timber (£5.9m) owners.

Despite the trickiness of a Crystal Palace trip, it’s hard to overlook Antoine Semenyo (£7.9m) right now. He’s collected six goals and three assists in seven, meaning that only Haaland has more Fantasy points.

IN CONTENTION

A defensive Burnley asset like Martin Dubravka (£4.0m), Maxime Esteve (£4.0m) or Quilindschy Hartman (£4.0m) could make the cut, considering the Clarets shut Leeds out in both of last season’s Championship games.

Hartman has assisted on two consecutive occasions and is the joint-third best defender for chances created over the last four Gameweeks (six). Then again, looking at the present rather than the past, perhaps opponents Leeds are more likely to keep a clean sheet, which is good for Joe Rodon (£4.0m).

Jaidon Anthony (£5.7m) will be battling to join the Scout Picks midfield. Four strikes already belong to him, although he did pick up a knock last time out.

Up at Sunderland, many have bought bargain defender Omar Alderete (£4.1m) with the Wolves home clash in mind. The centre-back is doing well for defensive contribution (DefCon) points and has two attacking returns, although Nordi Mukiele (£4.0m) is arguably the better DefCon bet with an 80% success rate when starting.

Granit Xhaka (£5.0m) and Wilson Isidor (£5.6m) come into the thinking further forward. The former is much more secure for minutes and he offers DefCon potential.

Elsewhere, there’s a shout for squeezing in Mohamed Salah (£14.4m). The Egyptian loves facing Manchester United, grabbing 12 goals and six assists in the last nine meetings. Budget prevents us from including him in the ‘bus team’ but there might be a way to crowbar him in come the final picks.

Arsenal have not won at Craven Cottage in their last two visits. But they’ve just overcome the Newcastle (a) and West Ham (h) hoodoos. It’d just be nice to know what the penalty situation is regarding Bukayo Saka (£9.9m) and Viktor Gyokeres (£9.1m).

At Spurs, Mohammad Kudus (£6.7m) is the second-best midfielder for attacking returns, following his haul at Leeds. Also impressive is Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m), grabbing one in four successive league appearances – but it’s worth mentioning that Palace haven’t scored in any of their four meetings with an Andoni Iraola-led Bournemouth. Could it instead be time for the DefCon-gobbling Marcos Senesi (£4.9m), then?

The talismanic Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) – scorer of half of West Ham’s goals this season – could feature at home to Brentford.

THE LONGER SHOTS

Elsewhere, Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) has not only a tricky fixture, but followed a missed Gameweek 6 penalty with a blank at home to Sunderland. Owners are starting to lose faith and those with a benching dilemma could even sideline him in Gameweek 8.

Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.4m) has the fixture but not the goals. He still doesn’t look completely fit, but maybe international duty will help fix this.

Alternative forwards Igor Thiago (£6.1m) and Nick Woltemade (£7.2m) have high conversion rates, so it’ll be interesting to see if these regress or can be maintained. The latter’s goalkeeping buddy Nick Pope (£5.1m) is having a great time on five clean sheets, but Newcastle have won just one of their last 11 against Brighton (in all competitions).

As for the Seagulls, Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) probably gets a chance to torment left-back Dan Burn (£5.1m) in the absence of Tino Livramento (£5.1m) and Lewis Hall (£5.3m). The tricky wideman is second-best for both box touches (50) and successful take-ons (19).

As for El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.4m), the full-back has racked up four assists for struggling West Ham. Can Nuno Espirito Santo add clean sheets to the league’s worst backline? We’ll have a heck of an asset on our hands if so.

GAMEWEEK 8 EARLY SCOUT PICKS

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