Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 8

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 8, we have a super early deadline of 16:00 GMT today.

A concise review of the goings-on over the last few days:

When discussing the captaincy contenders Jan Sienkiewicz was leaning towards a Chelsea player over the safe bets of Harry Kane (£11.0m) of Son Heung-min (£9.6m). The Blues enjoy a favourable match-up against Sheffield United, who have been susceptible down their right-hand side.

No other Premier League team has allowed more chances from that area of the pitch in 2020/21, the 37 opportunities conceded there by the Blades is eight more than Crystal Palace, who rank second-worst. This bodes well for Timo Werner (£9.4m).

Whether the German is deployed as a left-winger to Tammy Abraham (£7.2m) or occupies the centre-forward role himself, he will drift to that side of the pitch as he so often does, giving him the chance to make the most of a favourable match-up.

To add to his appeal, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard confirmed Werner is the team’s new penalty taker:

(It was) not an easy decision (handing penalties to Werner) because Jorginho has been pretty faultless for us. He missed two recently, Timo came in and scored one in our last game. Timo took them tonight, Timo’s the taker at the moment and he took them very emphatically, so I’m happy.

– Frank Lampard

Jan joined Pro Pundits Zophar and Lateriser on The FPL Wire this week, in which he talked about his process for selecting a captain. 

Aside from Werner, Kurt Zouma (£5.3m) and Thiago Silva (£5.5m) could do well given that Sheffield Untied have conceded more headed attempts than other side this season.

Fixture Swings

Tottenham Hotspur’s fixtures take a turn for the worst following their enticing encounter with West Brom. On the Scoutcast this week former FPL winner Ben Crabtree outlined his plans to switch to Manchester City players, as they enjoy an excellent run from Gameweek 10:

My priority is to get Kevin De Bruyne alongside Sterling, and Kane is just the money for that really. Looking at the fixtures, although I think the form that Kane’s in he still could do very well over those games, I’m never going to captain him.

– Ben Crabtree

Pro Pundit Andy agreed, writing in his latest Pro Pundit column:

Until Gameweek 16 I don’t see a single fixture where I’d look to captain a Spurs player.

– Andy

Andy then went onto outline his armband contenders from Gameweek 10 onwards, although he did note a slight concern that City haven’t been performing as well in attack compared to previous seasons – averaging 1.31xG per match so far.

João Cancelo (£5.4m) – who impressed in the win over Sheffield United – and Rúben Dias (£5.5m) both look good options in defence, with the latter more assured of a regular starting role.

Career Hall of Fame No 3 Darren Wiles was another Pro Pundit planning ahead. He examined different options for those with both Kane and Son in their sides, and suggested a move to De Bruyne or Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) via a Gameweek 9 captaincy of Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) or Bruno Fernandes (£10.5m).

When it comes to letting go of players, Pro Pundit Simon March explained how the Endowment Effect can hinder our decision making in FPL. A sentimental attachment to players will inevitably become problematic as it may well cause us to miss out on better opportunities.

Simon advised creating some simple rules when judging a player – such as missing one or two Gameweeks maximum through injury – to help us become more objective.

Big Opportunities

Neale’s latest Big Numbers article highlighted a few players with the potential to do well. 

Embarking on a nice fixture run, West Ham’s Tomas Soucek (£4.9m) is one to consider. No FPL midfielder is ‘underachieving’ more in 2020/21 with a -1.38 expected goals (xG) delta. Among the Hammers squad, the Czech is second behind only Michail Antonio (£6.2m) for goal attempts and shots in the box.

Owners of Liverpool’s defenders can consider themselves unlucky: the Reds’ defence has been breached on 15 occasions this season but their expected goals conceded (xGC) tally is just 8.27, making them the worst-performing team in the division for xGC delta (+6.73).

Meanwhile, Pro Pundit Tom Freeman still doesn’t own Jack Grealish (£7.4m) despite some impressive underlying stats

Grealish continues to impress with nine goal involvements in just six games. Last term, he managed 15 in total, so he’s well on his way to beating that, and attacking returns look likely to continue. Despite playing a game less than most, he now ranks joint-fourth for attempts on goal, joint-second for shots in the box, second for penalty area touches and joint-fourth for chances created amongst FPL midfielders.

– Tom

Community latest

The Best of the Community feature included a look at Chelsea players and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.7m), a player described as “the ultimate Fantasy Forgotten”.

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 8 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

May your arrows be green!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

1,057 Comments Post a Comment
  1. john25
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Repost

    Hey guys, can J. Rod drop in price tonight? Or he was price locked? Considering to bring him in.

    Cheers

    1. WWW.
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I don't understand price locking tbh... Would be interested to know this too

    2. Clintymints
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      He could but I'm going to guess he wont

  2. wulfrunian
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    For gameweeks 9-10
    a)Rashford or Rodriguez
    b)Martial or Dcl

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Rash & DCL

    2. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Rash/DCL

    3. wulfrunian
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      cheers

  3. Abusive_Sgt_Daelrhos
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    One week punt?

    Mitro to-->

    A) Che Adams (NEW home)
    B) Maupay (BUR home)
    C) Bamford (CRY away)

    1. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Adams

    2. Seanigula
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      C

  4. JoeSoap
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    A. Pereira>JWP/Bowen/Fornals/Jota
    B. TAA/Pereira>Chilwell/Ziyech (-4) Have Zouma already

    1. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A Bowen

  5. Pukki Party
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Which one or something else?

    Martinez
    TAA Robbo Ayling
    Salah Son Pulisic* Foden
    Jimenez DCL Watkins

    Button Lewis Soucek Taylor

    A) Pulisic, Lewis/Taylor to Bowen, Chilwell
    B) Pulisic, Watkins to Werner, Bissouma (play Soucek for their good fixtures)
    C) Just Pulisic to Ziyech

    1. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      C

  6. Viper
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Should I start:

    A. Justin

    B. Robertson

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      b

  7. Bruce Lee
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    I have 7 players with blue shirts - should I take a hit to fix that?

    1. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      To what colour?

      1. Seanigula
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        White

  8. Bubz
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Locked & loaded. GL everyone

    McCarthy
    TAA, Chilwell, Ayling
    Salah, Son(C), Ziyech, Grealish
    Kane(vc), DCL, Watkins

    Saiss, Bissouma, Furguson

    1. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Why Son over Kane as captain?

      1. Bubz
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Just fancy him to get in behind

        1. dezille
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Won't West Brom have more of a deep block though? (favouring Kane and pens)

          1. Bubz
            • 10 Years
            3 years, 4 months ago

            I think Kane will drop deeper and Bale/Son will be a bit more advanced. It's a coin toss as to the captaincy though tbh

    2. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Looks good. Any hits?

      1. Bubz
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        No hits, WC still in tact

    3. sminkypinky
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Nice!

    4. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      GL

  9. VinMar
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    One week defender punt instead of saiss (-4)

    A.) Reguillon
    B.) Creswell
    C.)Zouma (have chilwell)
    D.) Other

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

    2. Mr_Barbs
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  10. lilmessipran
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Lamptey fit to start?

    1. Arteta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Probably yeah.

    2. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      He's flagged most weeks and returns.

      Without clean sheets just steady points.

  11. Slitherene
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any player you'd start from below?

    A) Jorginho (SHU)
    B) Bissouma (BUR)
    C) Taylor (bha)

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

  12. Ronny Sandstone
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Sterling to Aubamayang or Zieych worth a free transfer or roll?

  13. Arteta
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Pulisic to Ziyech for free or would you suggest some other 8.3 midfielder?
    Cheers in advance.

    1. Bathman315
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I've done Havertz to Ziyech this week

  14. AD2110
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Kane or Son (C)?

    1. Bathman315
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Kane

    2. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Son

    3. 'Broadsword Calling Da…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Son

  15. Darth Colls
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Hi Folks,

    Any word on whether Cresswell will play tomorrow ?

    Thanks,
    Colm

  16. Bathman315
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Captain Werner or Bowen?

    1. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Neither

      1. Bathman315
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Excellent
        Well it's Ziyech, Salah, Greenwood, Foden or jimenez then

    2. sminkypinky
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Werner out of those two

  17. Zimo
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Thitty tu min uts

  18. Mr_Barbs
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play one :

    A) Podence
    B) KWP

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Podence

  19. jonnybhoy
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any transfers required or any changes needed or all GTG?

    McCarthy
    Chillwell Mitchell Taylor
    Podence Salah Son (VC) Fernandes JRod
    Kane (C) DCL

    4M Justin Saiss Brewster

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Looks good. MItchell is injured though so Justin will be starting

      1. jonnybhoy
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Is he deffos ruled out?

  20. dillydally1982
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    James Rodriguez to Zaha/Ziyech OR Saiss to Coufal? I have 2 FTs so don't want to burn a transfer.

    1. MuelNado
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Why are you wanting to drop Rodriguez?

      1. dillydally1982
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        I don't necessarily 'want' to drop him, just have a feeling for Zaha/Ziyech.

        1. MuelNado
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Fair enough. Both good picks IMO. Problem I have with Ziyech is Lampard rotating but it would be a toss up to me if they both play the same amount.

          1. dillydally1982
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 4 months ago

            Yeah, think I'd go Zaha over Ziyech for that reason, plus he's on pens. 20 mins left to mull it over!!

  21. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play saiss or robertson?

    1. jonnybhoy
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Robbo

    2. mookie
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      If you own him you have to play Robertson. Don't think either will keep a CS and he's so much more attacking. It's an absolute no brainer imo.

    3. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Robertson

  22. CONNERS
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    IMHO this isn't the week to be taking a punt on captaincy.

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Who ya going with?

    2. Zimo
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I'm doing Che Adams punt and u can't stop me

    3. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Kane.

      1. nico05
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Solid pick. I don't have Kane but was thinking Son

    4. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      GL Zimo.

      1. Zimo
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Thenks. Im playing for lolz now.

    5. CONNERS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I cap'd Son last week, Kane just edges it for me though. Hopefully both score well.

      1. nico05
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Fingers crossed

  23. nico05
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    McCarthy
    TAA Reguilon Justin
    Salah Son Bruno Grealish
    Wilson Jimi Mitro
    Justin Mitchel Oriol Romeu
    1FT & £0.8 available

    Is TAA - Chilwell a good move?
    Thanks

  24. Bennyboy1907
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    What to do this week?

    Martinez (Forster)
    Robbo Chillwell Lamptey (Saiss, Mitchell)
    Salah Son Grealish Zaha (Bissouma)
    Kane DCL Bamford

    Have 1 FT and 1.1Mil ITB

    Was thinking
    A) zaha to ziyech
    B) Saiss to bellerin
    C) Saiss to Coufal/cresswell
    D) Robbo to bellerin/Whu defender
    E) keep transfer to have 2FTs for international break to get in city/United assets
    F) any other suggestion?

    1. Cojones of Destiny
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      b or c

    2. sminkypinky
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      C

    3. jonnybhoy
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      C

    4. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      E.
      Failing that B is a good move Arsenal look fairly solid and he's nailed

  25. Cojones of Destiny
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    r.james
    a. to chilwell for free
    b. save ft

    1. sminkypinky
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

    2. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Save

  26. sminkypinky
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play
    A) Podence
    B) Trossard

    1. MuelNado
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I've just dropped Trossard. That normally means that player will have a big week.

    2. Cojones of Destiny
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      b

    3. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

  27. Dr. Ante Pavlovic
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Who is looking better on eye test, Masuaku or Coufal? Who is more attacking and has more chance for a goal/assist ?

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Coufal imo but i've only seen a couple of their games this season

  28. The_FF_King
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Maupay to:

    A) Bamford
    B) Wilson

    First to three wins

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B-hands down

  29. Futureform
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Striker dilemma!!!

    A) Adams (form)
    B) Bamford (chances)
    C) Wilson (pens)

    Who should it be?!

    Looking to keep for a while.

    1. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Go C

      1. Futureform
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Thanks. Any thoughts on why Wilson makes most sense?

    2. Gandalf
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Wilson

    3. mookie
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Wilson. Pens, form and fixtures.

    4. Futureform
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Thanks for these comments all.

      I was initially heavily leaning towards Bamford as everytime I see him he's getting many clear chances in the box. He misses a lot but the chances keep coming.

      However Wilson seems the clear favourite. Rethink for me!

  30. Pascal's Triangle
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play

    A.) Podence (lei)

    Or

    B.) Bamford (cry)

    Thanks

    1. sminkypinky
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

    2. nico05
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      b