Liverpool, West Ham and Burnley Make the Preview

Oct 3

Fantasy Football – Gameweek 8 Preview

Written by @NiallHawthorne

People are at each other’s throats. There’s clear disharmony, bordering on outright mutiny. Former allies are now clear enemies. Promises are not being delivered. The leader is being openly derided and questioned. The future is very uncertain.

But that’s enough about the Tottenham dressing room, what the hell is happening with Brexit, eh?

Onto GW8!

Defender: Aaron Cresswell, West Ham United

My West Ham tips thus far this season have hammered the opposition, and you’re not allowed pardon the pun. Yarmolenko has been tipped twice and yielded 17 points, with Fredericks tipped and delivering a clean sheet.

This week the bang in form Aaron Cresswell is starting to look too good to ignore. 21 points from his two games back in the team since injury, and he now faces a home tie with Crystal Palace. The Eagles may be ruffling feathers in their Selhurst Park nest, but their away from has been sketchy this season (apart from that win at Old Trafford, which isn’t that surprising…). Blanks have been drawn away at Sheffield United and Spurs, so West Ham should be confident of a fourth clean sheet of the season and their fourth in five games.

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Midfielder: Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City

Mahrez has started four premier league matches this season, and hauled in double digit scores in three of those games. With the reports of a groin injury to De Bruyne this week, it seems almost certain that the mercurial Belgian will miss GW8, so there’s an attacking midfield slot up for grabs. Bernardo Silva also comes into the equation, but his mind may be on other things right now *ahem* (you have no idea how heavily I’ve self-edited this bit to stop Ryan having a heart attack).

I’m rolling the Guardiola dice on the Pep Roulette wheel (it’s my game, don’t question the rules) and backing Mahrez to get the nod, and haul in at least 10 points against Wolves this Sunday.

Forward: Teemu Pukki, Norwich City

The heady warm late summer days of GW’s 2, 3 and 5 seem but a distant memory as the autumnal air turns crisp and Hurricane Lorenzo hovers off the coast, but let’s not forget that Pukki has five goals and two assists in his three home fixtures this season.

GW8 sees Norwich welcome an Aston Villa side that have leaked seven goals in their three away league fixtures thus far. This leads to only one logical conclusion. This game will be teem(u)ing goals, with claret spilt and the Villains feeling blue.

There’s ain’t no party like a Pukki party!

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Captain: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

I’m ignoring the obvious Aguero shout due to my previous gamble on the Pep Roulette table, so I’m backing a player that is on a severe barren run to prevail this weekend. Mo Salah hasn’t netted in two consecutive league games, and to be quite frank, that’s a shock to the system. However, he’s back at Anfield after a string of games on the road, and we can’t overlook the fact that Salah has four goals and one assist in three home league games this term.

Leicester have been a tough nut to crack, but they haven’t faced a side of this quality thus far. We’ve seen in previous seasons how Salah turned Harry Maguire inside out in this fixture, so the mind boggles at what he could do to Lord Farquaad, sorry, Caglar Soyuncu this Saturday. He’s just the kind of lumbering lump of a defender that Mo revels against.

Outsider: Chris Wood, Burnley

Chris Wood hammered home a shedload of goals in pre-season for Burnley, and thus got my tip for the forward slot in GW1. Of course, I was half-right, as his strike partner Barnes scored goals for fun in the opening weeks. However now that things have settled down, the big Kiwi has hit his stride and has three goals in the last two weeks. A home fixture against a brittle Everton side has promise. Oh, and he’s owned by just 1.1% of players.

Draft: Roberto Jimenez Gago, West Ham United

Lucas Fabianski has been ruled out for a few months, and Roberto seems to be in prime position to inherit the gloves for the foreseeable future. Was Fabianski the reason for West Ham’s strong defensive start to the season, or was he playing behind a much-improved defence?

Well, only time will tell, but a punt on Roberto may not be the worst shout.

Fantasy Football – Gameweek 8 Preview – Written by @NiallHawthorne