FPL Gameweek 8 Preview - Transfer Tips

We’ve got a bit more time thanks to the international break so we are really doing our best to go into detail hence splitting our FPL Gameweek Preview into two.

If you missed the first part, I went into detail about the players with the best fixtures in the next five weeks.

In this one, I am going to go in-depth on players to buy and sell. I will look at the most bought and most sold assets in FPL ahead of gameweek 8 and tell you which ones are good buys and which are good sells. 

The general idea of this piece is for you to theoretically ask me: “should I buy/sell x?” And I give my opinion. I’m not telling you to go out and buy the eight players I recommend for a -28 point hit…

Should I Buy?

Yes

Antoine Semenyo is the top transfer in for good reason. He’s overperforming his underlying numbers with 6 goals and 3 assists. But, even then, he’s still up there in the top five for expected goal involvement this season with 3.96 xGI. Add in that Bournemouth play attacking football, have a great manager and no European matches to tire them out then you get a great pick.

Erling Haaland is basically a must-have at this point. He’s always a captaincy option which is why he is worth that £14.5 million price tag. He’s basically performing in line with his underlying stats right now and he has 9 goals in 7 games. And, that’s because this whole City attack is mainly focused on creating him opportunities. He is a great pick still.

Bukayo Saka is my second favourite premium. That’s right, I’d rather have Saka than Salah right now. You save yourself 4mn, get Arsenal’s fantastic fixtures and their talisman on pens. He’s way more involved and relevant for Arsenal’s attack than Mo is for Liverpools.

Senesi at Bournemouth is still a good shout if you want a defender. Bournemouth’s defence is underperforming a bit so he has more points to give from clean sheets. And, he’s the type who can deliver defensive contributions regularly which basically means you can always play him. Did i mention that Bournemouth don’t have European football so should just stay fit?

Dan Burn is a reliable pick if you want a nailed Newcastle defender – Eddie Howe and I both think so. Just be aware he is probably playing at full-back, which could affect his defensive returns a bit.

Marc Guéhi and Ismaïla Sarr from Crystal Palace are definitely worth a look. Palace have a lovely run of fixtures coming up. Guéhi is great for defensive contributions and Sarr’s underlying expected goal involvement is really strong, so both are solid picks.

And lastly, Jarrod Bowen is a great shout if you fancy West Ham to get their act together under their new management. He’s a talismanic figure for them, and if they start firing, he’ll be at the heart of it.

No

Nick Woltemade is not for me. He’s shown promise and certainly looks better than I expected he would in the PL. But, he has only played beyond 80 mins twice in his four games for Newcastle – and that’s when they didn’t have a viable bench option. I basically don’t trust him when Wissa returns to fitness. And, he’s probably not the first choice penalty taker.

Maybe

Moises Caicedo is a maybe. He’s not going to keep scoring goals at this rate, but he’s a solid defensive contributor and a steady pick if you want someone who’ll just tick along and give you consistent returns.

Jurrien Timber is too much of a rotation risk for my liking. He’s good, but I’d rather go for a nailed Arsenal defender like Gabriel.

I had Enzo Fernández in the “no” pile until I saw he was third in the league for non-penalty xGI. The reason I would chuck him straight in the no pile is that historically he hasn’t been that good. But, we could be looking at a breakout season if we see these underlying numbers. I don’t love it but I also don’t hate it as a move.

On the goalkeeper front, Nick Pope and David Raya are both decent upgrades if you’re stuck with a weak keeper like Verbruggen or Leno. I know it can feel a bit dull to make a goalkeeper transfer, but if you’ve got a bit of a dud in goal, these two are a nice step up and should give you some more stability.

Should I Sell?

Yes

Mohamed Salah is the top transfer out, and honestly, fair enough. He’s a huge price tag for someone who’s just not delivering the kind of explosive returns you’d want for that money. He might still get a goal or two over the next few games, but if you’re selling him to fund someone like Haaland or Saka, that’s a sensible move that I can get behind.

Richarlison is fine to sell. He’s been brilliant when he played this year but he is a minutes risk and not worth the headache.

Chris Wood is also fine to sell. The fixtures aren’t great and the new manager seems to have made them so much worse as a team. Even more than that, he no longer seems to get 90 mins.

Hugo Ekitke has similar problems with minutes in the last few weeks so definitely sell him.

Livramento has a medium term injury so I would definitely sell.

Virgil is a tough one. I loved the pick at the start of the season – a defcon guy on an elite defence? What’s not to love? Well… the defence hasn’t been elite and the fixtures are getting a bit worse. If you held him I wouldn’t say you were crazy but I’d rather have Gabriel or Cucurella right now. You can sell Alisson though – he’s injured.

Micky van de Ven is also fine to sell. Spurs fixtures aren’t great and there a bunch of cheap defcon guys you can get instead.

Florian Wirtz has been disappointing this season and now appears to be a minutes risk. For sure sell him.

Ollie Watkins has also been disappointing and Villa don’t have great fixtures now so I am fine to sell.

Now is a great jumping off point on Bryan Mbeumo – he isn’t doing enough to justify the price tag and he’s about to play against Liverpool. On the other hand, he’s 7th in the league for xGI so you might expect that to come good. I personally would sell him because I think he is taking lots of low xG shots to get to that figure and United are obviously dreadful.

Cole Palmer is still flagged and probably still injured so selling him is fair enough. You don’t want that uncertainty.

Maybe

Jack Grealish is fine to sell this week since he can’t play against his parent club. If you can bench him for a week, that’s fine, but otherwise, selling him is understandable.

No

João Pedro is being sold a lot, and I wouldn’t do it. His fixtures are great, and there aren’t many forwards who are clearly better in that price bracket. Unless you’ve got a really solid plan for that money, I’d just keep him.

Victor Gyökeres I also wouldn’t rush to sell either. He’s had a couple of tough fixtures and is about to hit a run of easier games. Again, it’s a question of who you’re getting that’s genuinely better.

Bruno Fernandes – just don’t sell. He’s still one of the best midfield assets if you look beyond the recent results. If he’d converted a couple of penalties, we’d be talking about him entirely differently. Hold tight on him.

Alexander Isak I’d hold onto. He’s got good minutes, if not 90s, and is a strong option going forward.

That’s It.

Come and argue about it on Reddit with me!