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FPL Tilt · Team talk · Review · Gameweek 8
Haaland stays on the bench as Foden scores three, and Liverpool let in three before Brighton's visit
Be the first to comment ↓Erling Haaland sat out Manchester City's 5-1 win over AEK Athens while Phil Foden scored a hat-trick. Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 with Isak and Wirtz among the substitutes. What Tuesday's Champions League games say about Gameweek 8.
Erling Haaland, the most-owned player in FPL, spent Manchester City's 5-1 win over AEK Athens on the bench, three days after going off with a knock against Ipswich. Phil Foden, whom almost nobody owns, scored three.
At Anfield, Liverpool came from two goals down to beat Villarreal 4-3. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz were among the substitutes, and Wirtz came on to score. The back line that faces Brighton on Sunday let in three.
Both managers left their most-owned attackers out of the starting line-ups. What the night did not settle is whether Haaland's absence was a rest or the knock.
Eight changes, and Foden's first Champions League hat-trick
Enzo Maresca made eight changes from the side that beat Ipswich on Saturday. Rayan Cherki, an unused substitute that day and the most bought player in FPL this week, started, and Floyd Samba, 17, made his Champions League debut.
Elliot Anderson scored first, tapping in after Enzo Fernández's free kick came back off the bar. Foden made it two after a one-two with Rico Lewis. Stavros Pilios pulled one back for AEK early in the second half, and Cherki restored City's two-goal lead with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area, from Foden's pass.
Foden scored the last two as well. Cherki's long ball found Lewis, who laid it back for Foden's half-volley into the top corner, and Ryan McAidoo's cross gave Foden a tap-in to complete his first hat-trick in the Champions League. His goal against Ipswich on Saturday had been his first in ten months.
Haaland was named among the substitutes and did not come on. He went off with a knock in stoppage time against Ipswich, and Maresca said afterwards that Haaland had told him he was fine. He has scored in each of City's last six league games.
Joško Gvardiol, City's most-owned defender, needed treatment after slipping into the tackle he was booked for. He played on and was replaced later in the second half.
Foden started both games. Cherki and Anderson, who did not start on Saturday, started against AEK. City go to Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime.
Ngumoha turns Anfield round after Van Dijk's mistake
Villarreal were two up before half an hour. Georges Mikautadze scored after a poor header from Virgil van Dijk, and Sergi Cardona finished a quick move.
Rio Ngumoha, 18, changed the game from the wing. Alexis Mac Allister headed in Kostas Tsimikas's corner to make it 2-1, and in first-half stoppage time Ngumoha's cross found Ronald Araujo at the far post for the equaliser. Andoni Iraola sent Wirtz on for Araujo at half-time.
Mac Allister scored again from Ngumoha's cut-back, and Isak came on with Liverpool 3-2 ahead. Wirtz made it 4-2 with a low left-footed shot through a defender's legs. Tani Oluwaseyi scored a late third for Villarreal.
Ngumoha had two assists and left to a standing ovation. He has started one league game this season. Wirtz had started all seven, and Isak scored the winner at Brentford on Saturday.
Iraola kept Alisson Becker, Van Dijk and Jeremy Jacquet in the defence that played at Brentford. Liverpool have won all three games in the Champions League, but they have not won a league game at Anfield this season, and Brighton arrive on Sunday with Pascal Groß and Maxim De Cuyper among the most bought players of the week.
What the night means for Gameweek 8
Liverpool's choices read as a rest: Isak and Wirtz both came on, and Wirtz scored. The same defence conceded three to Villarreal and goes into Sunday against a Brighton side that has lost once all season, and Liverpool still scored four. That favours Groß, who takes Brighton's set pieces, more than De Cuyper, whose points lean on clean sheets.
City's night answered the question about Foden, who has now scored four in three days, and left open the one about Haaland. A rest before Villa is the plain reading of an unused substitute in a 5-1 win; a knock that lingers is the other one. Maresca's press conference before the trip to Villa is where that should be answered.
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Results, goals, assists and line-ups are from the match reports of Sky Sports (Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal) and AFP (Manchester City 5-1 AEK Athens), read on the evening of 20 October 2026. Ngumoha's standing ovation and the timing of the substitutions are from Goal's player ratings. Maresca's comments on Haaland after the Ipswich game were reported by ESPN. Gvardiol's treatment and substitution are from the BBC's live commentary. Ownership, transfers and league starts are Fantasy Premier League's, read the same evening.
Figures read on 20 October 2026. Players shows today's figures.