Quite frankly, Gameweek 8 was a bit of a let down, with one man, in particular, saving the day as he kept up his stellar season.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah saved the day, scoring 26 points as captain thanks to his goal, assist and a clean sheet.
It seems like Salah is carrying every team at the minute, and if any reader doesn’t have him, what are you doing?
Our team scored 49 points last week, which is bang on the average total, and not bad to say Antonio Rudiger did not feature.
We also had a mare when it came to our forwards, with Romelu Lukaku, Raul Jimenez and Michail Antonio scoring four points between them. Yes, you read that right, FOUR!
Swiftly moving on and into Gameweek 9, where it looks a sensible decision to stick with Chelsea and Manchester City players, while Wolves could do some damage against a fragile Leeds team.
Goalkeeper – Aaron Ramsdale
Ramsdale only got us two points last week, but as we said in our last piece, we have picked him for the long-term, hoping he can deliver some consistent scores.
Aston Villa are Arsenal’s opponents on Friday and while the Gunners could easily concede, Ramsdale may collect some save points along the way.
Defenders – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rudiger, Joao Cancelo and Tino Livramento
Alexander-Arnold picked up a simple six points last time out against Norwich, but there’s every chance he can get himself more against Manchester United. The Red Devils are struggling at the minute and TAA is well known for his offensive exploits in the final third.
Rudiger should have recovered from an injury to take on strugglers Norwich City, while Cancelo was one of Man City’s best attackers against Club Brugge on Tuesday, scoring from left-back.
Chelsea to win to nil is worth considering at 5/8, with Norwich looking destined for an immediate return to the second tier.
Livramento completes our defence, coming in off the bench for Ben White, as we are keen to avoid an Arsenal double-up. The former Chelsea youngster scored six points while keeping a clean sheet against Leeds last week.
Midfielders – Mohamed Salah, Emile Smith Rowe, Raphinha
We are running out of things to say about Salah, but he looks a shoo-in to top the scoring charts in FPL, and it is still only October.
He has 83 points in eight matches, which is a phenomenal return. He has yet to pick up less than three points, and FPL players should bend over backwards to get him in their team until at least the Africa Cup of Nations.
Smith Rowe deserves more time before he gets the boot, while Raphinha should return after a week in quarantine on the back of scoring twice for Brazil.
Forwards – Raul Jimenez, Romelu Lukaku, Michail Antonio
Jimenez is one that we think can shine this weekend, playing against a Leeds team that have yet to click at the back.
The Mexico international is 19/10 to score anytime and punters might get a good run for their money.
No team has conceded more chances down the middle than Leeds and he should cause them problems.
Antonio has only scored more than two points on one occasion in five Gameweeks, so he is starting to worry us. For now, he keeps his place against Spurs, boosted by the fact he has netted in the pair’s last two meetings in Stratford.
Last but not least is Lukaku. Paulo Di Canio was moaning at him the other day, and the critics are getting their claws into the Belgian due to his goal drought, but we have to stand by him.
Not just because of his ability in front of goal, but mainly because he is playing Norwich, and that should be enough of an argument at this moment.
Lukaku is 2/1 to score two or more, and we have faith that he will not let us down.
Captain – Romelu Lukaku
*All odds correct at time of writing.
