Written for Gameweek 8. Its deadline has passed. Read the newest: Gabriel scores 17 as João Pedro misses out and Fernandes stays on the bench
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Haaland "100% available", Saka out: final thoughts before the Gameweek 8 deadline
Be the first to comment ↓Maresca says Haaland is 100% available, but his record at Villa Park makes a differential captain tempting. Saka's injury, five replacements and a Barcola punt, United's week, and how our team goes into the Gameweek 8 deadline.
"Erling is the only one 100% available," Enzo Maresca said on Thursday. For most managers that settles the Gameweek 8 captaincy. I'm still tempted to go against Haaland this week.
Haaland (Manchester City, £15.7m) has scored in every Gameweek since the opening weekend and in all three of City's away games this season. Villa Park and the way he limped off against Ipswich are what give me pause.
Haaland at Villa Park
Haaland scored at Villa Park in his first league game there, a 1-1 draw in September 2022, and has not scored there in the league since. City have not won a league game at Villa Park in that time either.
Villa are in a good spell. They have won at Tottenham and at Newcastle, drawn with Brentford, and beaten Viking in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Maresca expects a hard afternoon: "They are very intense off the ball. I'm sure 100% that it will be a tough game."
Villa have let in a goal in every home league game this season, though, and have yet to keep a clean sheet at Villa Park. They also played on Wednesday night, while City rested Haaland on Tuesday.
Haaland is the obvious captain and still the most likely one for our team. His record at Villa Park is why a differential captain is on the table this week.
Saka
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, £9.6m) went down after playing a pass in Munich on Wednesday, held his thigh and went straight down the tunnel. "A player who has to come off with a really sharp pain is never good news, but we have to wait and see," Mikel Arteta said after the game. Later he added: "It doesn't look good." ESPN reported that Arteta confirmed it was his quad.
That one hurts, because Saka was the player we had been eyeing as captain this week and again in Gameweek 10, and now he is probably on his way out of our team before the deadline.
Who replaces him
With £0.7m in the bank, the replacement has to be a midfielder costing up to £10.3m. These are the five FPL Tilt's projections rate highest over the next five Gameweeks.
| Midfielder | Price | Next five | Projected, Gameweeks 8–12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer (CHE) | £9.8m | TOT (H), MUN (H), SUN (A), LEE (H), NFO (A) | 22.8 |
| Tavernier (BOU) | £6.2m | MUN (A), LEE (H), IPS (A), NFO (H), FUL (A) | 20.6 |
| Ødegaard (ARS) | £6.8m | EVE (H), LIV (A), HUL (H), NEW (A), MCI (H) | 20.4 |
| Stach (LEE) | £6.0m | SUN (A), BOU (A), TOT (H), CHE (A), COV (H) | 20.0 |
| Rice (ARS) | £7.3m | EVE (H), LIV (A), HUL (H), NEW (A), MCI (H) | 19.9 |
Ordered by FPL Tilt's projected points for Gameweeks 8 to 12, from the run of 23 October 2026; midfielders up to £10.3m who are not already in our team. Prices: Fantasy Premier League, 23 October.
Figures read on 23 October 2026. The projections are updated daily: Captain picks shows today's figures.
Cole Palmer is at the top, and Chelsea's next few games look made for him to return to form. He has not scored since the opening weeks of the season, though, and he would bring Chelsea straight back into a team we only just took them out of.
Marcus Tavernier is the most bought player of the week. He takes Bournemouth's corners and free kicks, scored against Sunderland last weekend and leaves money over.
Martin Ødegaard is cheaper still, and with Saka out, more of Arsenal's attack could go through him. Declan Rice, who scored in Munich on Wednesday, takes Arsenal's corners and has four assists. With Gabriel and Calafiori already in our team, we would rather not go to three Arsenal players again yet.
Anton Stach is the one most managers will overlook. He does more defensive work than anyone at Leeds, so he picks up points on quiet days, and Leeds have been solid all season.
Then there is the punt, Bradley Barcola (Liverpool, £8.0m). He has started Liverpool's last four league games without passing the eye test, and our projections are cool on him. Sometimes you just have a feeling, and something seems to be brewing with him.
Manchester United's week
United were beaten 4-1 in Como on Wednesday, and the same evening Bruno Fernandes's home in Cheshire was burgled while he was away with the team, ESPN reported.
On the pitch it has been just as loud. "That's on the manager and on the staff to see it, it's not on me," Fernandes told TNT Sports after Como. Michael Carrick answered the same night: "Whatever tactics you play, if you don't run back, you ain't going to win." Sky Sports reported on Thursday that Carrick stays in charge against Bournemouth, which may be his last chance.
Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United, £7.9m) keeps scoring through all of it. He has four goals, two of them in United's last two league games, which is about what his chances say he should have. Against Bournemouth he has two goals and three assists in eight league games, all for Brentford, and Bournemouth have let in nine goals in three away games this season.
That makes him the differential captain we have been weighing. FPL Tilt's projections still put Haaland comfortably ahead, 6.2 to 5.3, and United's week is a worry. Mbeumo is in form, though, and if Villa Park goes the way it has for City before, an armband on him would gain ground on most managers. It will be decided just before the deadline.
No Chelsea
We wildcarded away from Chelsea last week, and the only player we have in their game against Spurs is Jan Paul van Hecke, in Spurs' defence. That makes Saturday evening a hard watch: Chelsea have won the last six league meetings, and João Pedro has scored in all three of his league games against Spurs.
The hope is that Spurs hold firm against one of the league's best attacks, with James Maddison back and scoring and Chelsea's own defence uncertain without Emi Martínez. Leaving Chelsea out will probably be the biggest regret of our wildcard.
Thiago, Gonzalo and Arsenal's defence
Our two forwards beside Haaland are Igor Thiago (Brentford, £7.8m) and Gonzalo García (Fulham, £6.1m). Both have had a rough start in front of goal: each has scored once from chances worth more than three goals, by FPL's expected-goals figure.
That is exactly why we kept them. Both take their club's penalties, and chances like that tend to turn into goals. Thiago goes to Hull, and his projection has jumped since Wednesday. Gonzalo goes to Coventry, who have let in seven goals in three home games. If either finally goes off, it will be a big week for us.
Gabriel and Calafiori stay. Everton have scored eight goals in seven games and three in three away from home, so a solid return from the Arsenal defence is what we expect.
Rudoni, Le Fée and the rest
Two of our cheap midfielders move from the bench into the eleven. Jack Rudoni (Coventry, £4.9m) has scored in each of Coventry's last two games and takes their penalties, but Fulham have let in three goals in three away games, so we do not expect much. Enzo Le Fée (Sunderland, £5.7m) faces Leeds and will probably disappoint again, though we will see.
In goal, James Trafford starts ahead of Bernd Leno. Trafford's Leeds go to Sunderland, who have scored once in three home games.
Our week
This looks like a harder Gameweek for us than for most. There is no Chelsea against Spurs, Saka is gone before he could wear the armband, two forwards still owe us goals, and two cheap midfielders are in tricky games. Going with Mbeumo instead of Haaland would be a risk on top.
A week like that is also how a green arrow happens. If Thiago or Gonzalo finally scores, or the armband call goes our way, a quiet week for the most-owned players could be a good one for us, and that is what we are hoping for.
The Gameweek 8 deadline has passed.
FPL Tilt's projected points are from the run of 23 October 2026 (07:07 CEST). Prices, ownership, transfers, goals, set-piece takers, expected goals and this season's results are Fantasy Premier League's, read on the morning of 23 October; our team is FPL team "No L", as shown in FPL's public picks. Maresca's words are from Manchester City's report of his press conference on 22 October. Arteta's words after Bayern Munich against Arsenal, the quad injury and the burglary at Fernandes's home were reported by ESPN; Fernandes's and Carrick's words and Carrick's position by Sky Sports. Records against this weekend's opponents are from the match reports of Sky Sports, ESPN and the Premier League.
The photographs are cropped and lightly edited from the originals.
Figures read on 23 October 2026. The projections are updated daily: Captain picks shows today's figures.