Fair warning: as of the writing of this article, the international break matches are still being wrapped up. So will some random player pick up a knock that isn't reported until a day or two later? It's happened before. Will a South American player simply be given a bit of rest upon returning due to the demanding travel schedule? We've also seen that in the past. The truth is, the first game back from international duty is always a bit tenuous. We just do the best we can with the information that we have. This tips article is really no different. But we'll soldier on, people! Whether you're reading (or listening) to this for actual advice, or whether you are just hoping something you see here confirms a play you already have in mind, we'll all just have to hope that we see fully fit squads come Saturday. Let's get to the tips, shall we?
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Guy's 5 Tips For Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 8:
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/287472453" params="color=27ad54&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]#1) Ibrahimovic still a good play?
(2:22 on the podcast. Click here to start the podcast from this point) I'm going to say ‘no'. His ownership has come down from its peak, but at still over 50% owned, people seem to have a great deal of trust in Ibrahimovic even though he hasn't really produced the goods now for a few rounds. In fact, Ibra's last goal was all the way back in GW4 against Man City. And in the 3 road fixtures that Man United have played, Ibra only has a solitary goal to show from all of those matches combined. And that's a key stat to consider because his next two fixtures are going to be against Liverpool and Chelsea - and both of those matches will be on the road. Liverpool have won both of their home matches this year with scorelines of 5-1 and 4-1; Chelsea are also averaging just a single goal allowed per match at home with results of 1-2, 3-0 and 2-1. By no stretch would this be an easy set of games for any team in the league - and it's not looking promising for the big United striker either. Now entering the 8th round of action, we can see trends from actual statistical data, and we no longer have to rely as heavily on projection models. Does Ibra have the goods to get a hat trick in any game he's in? He's proven as much in the past, he is a global superstar for a reason, after all. But do the numbers point that direction right now? Not one bit. He should be dropped until better fixtures come his way.#2) Be very careful with Diego Costa
(5:00 on the podcast. Click here to start the podcast from this point) It's a bit surprising to see that the most transferred in forward this week is Diego Costa. I mean, I get it from a certain perspective - he's on the goals right now. But he's also just a single yellow card away from suspension as well. Players like Costa are special in that sense - they seem to seek out cautions. In fact, he hasn't gone two consecutive matches this year without picking up a yellow, so if the math holds true...he's actually probably due for a yellow here in this upcoming match against Leicester. And don't blame me, it's not like I'm jinxing it or anything. I'm just telling what his statistical output says is the most likely outcome for him in this match. Now picking up Costa is a good thing as long as you're prepared for the next inevitable yellow. Like I said, I totally understand why a person would want him in their squad with his 6 goals and 2 assists already on the year. But have a backup plan already in place if he does get suspended. And that backup plan is going to depend on when you picked Costa for your team originally. If you're one of the bandwagoners that are taking him on now, plan on selling him and using the 10.1m for another quality striker for the round he'll be out. But if you're one of the group that's had him since the start, you have to think that stashing him on your bench is probably your best move. Costa started out at 9.5m in the game, and he's currently sitting at 10.1 with the influx of new transfers. Early owners of Costa stand to lose 0.3m in value from selling him off if/when he's suspended. Whether you take that leap or not is up to you. But if you plan on keeping him, make sure you upgrade a third forward to a legitimate starter that can play in his stead when the time comes.#3) Time to put our faith in Theo Walcott?
(7:44 on the podcast. Click here to start the podcast from this point) You almost hate to even say Walcott's name sometimes. It's almost as if even the whisper of his name can Butterfly Effect itself into a hurricane that will send a great wind into the world that will break the poor man's ankle. Let's face it, he's either incredibly unlucky or incredibly fragile. The real shame of the matter is that he's also equally talented. Already this year, Walcott has 3 goals and 3 assists. That's really only a goal less production than what Alexis Sanchez has right now for nearly 4m less price. But again, the problem is whether you can trust the man will stay healthy or not. Last year, Walcott played 1373 minutes. The year before that was even worse with only 447 minutes played. This year? He's already at 611 minutes. Suffice to say he's already batting at his average for minutes played (forgive the baseball pun, but I've got MLB playoffs on the brain as well). The real problem with Walcott, though, does relate directly to Alexis Sanchez. It would be uncommon to have two mids from the same team - and you see a lot of teams going either Walcott or Alexis for the Arsenal coverage. And the problem is that if Walcott goes down, you've got to make a double move to find the funds to bring in Alexis. For my money, I'd stick with Alexis. He's durable, he's dynamic and he's proven. He's played more minutes in the past two seasons than Walcott has played in the last 4 seasons and change. But if you do decide to go with Walcott right now for the interim, just have a backup plan in mind. How important is it to you to have Arsenal attacking coverage? They are the 3rd highest scoring team in the league - so it should be a priority for all players. And if you have Walcott and he goes down, do you have a plan to remedy that already in place? Just something to ponder right now for players who are bringing Walcott on this round at the detriment of leaving a player like Alexis out.#4) Sell off your WBA defense
(12:27 on the podcast. Click here to start the podcast from this point) Selling defenders and goalkeepers is a luxury that we don't often get to partake in. They're just not high on the list of ‘healthy' transfers that people often make. If your team is 100% healthy, what do you do with your weekly transfer? You look for a good forward in a good spot and you chase goals. And really, who can blame you? The problem is that we get too comfortable with the defense we have as long as they're healthy. And when a good defensive unit comes up on a poor set of fixtures, we turn a blind eye to the problem and just hope for a miracle. Case in point: WBA. West Brom has been perfectly serviceable up to this point. They're only averaging a goal allowed per game and they have a pair of clean sheets through 7 matches. Is that stellar? Well it's better than most, and it certainly hasn't been a liability in any sense. But that's all about to change. West Brom will host Tottenham this week, play Liverpool next week and then follow that up with a match against Man City. Any pundit out there would tell you that you're going to see West Brom lose that 1.0 GAA very quickly. In short, a dependable defender or keeper like McAuley or Foster have now moved into that zone where they will be more likely to have very poor returns. If you find yourself saddled with these types of players, try to make a move to a better player this week.#5) Sometimes ‘conventional' can kill your team
(14:40 on the podcast. Click here to start the podcast from this point) Have you had a look at the best team in the game recently? Some dude on the high score (490 points) most definitely wouldn't have that score if he listened to anybody's advice that you'd find online. Now, that's not an indictment on help articles (please continue to read this article) - but it does show that you can blaze your own trail for a spell and still be wildly successful. Will this player remain number one if he continues to buck the trend and not adopt a bit of the template? I doubt it. But he's had a marvelous run so far. And how exactly has he bucked the trend? He has neither Aguero nor Ibrahimovic. He has 3 Liverpool mids. And he has Deeney instead of Capoue like nearly everybody else. It's quite remarkable. But again, any online tips article is going to tell you that Aguero will need to be owned in order to be successful long term. And having so much faith in the Liverpool mids will eventually bite you against teams that are lucky enough to get a goal from all of their varied mids on a good week. But every now and again, if you get a wild hair and just want to cut loose and do your own thing for a bit, look at this #1 team in the world for inspiration. Maybe his idea won't be sustainable long term, but crazy plans can give you a big push if you're bold enough to put them into action. [alert type=yellow ]Isn't it about time that your FPL skills paid off? Click here to find out how to win £600 playing fantasy football in Gameweek 8.
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