Dec 14

Gameweek 8 Captain Tips

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FPLHolly is back this week with her selection of captain picks for GW8. Her infamous Clueless Husband pick returns, with hair styles the big influence this week. Read on for more. It's been a very long international break with a variety of injuries interfering with our FPL plans. Casting our minds back to GW7, Kane won the battle of Shield vs Sword with a brace compared to Lukaku's singular goal. Given all the injuries and some tricky fixtures ahead for some, it's as important as ever to get the captaincy choice right. Here's my picks for GW8.

Shield Pick: Harry Kane vs Bournemouth (H)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 1/3 It's been quite a few weeks for Sir Harold Kane, eclipsed by a Ballon d'Or nomination and he's finally ousted Lukaku from the shield spot. There's no denying that he's in blistering form after THAT slow August and even chipped in with a couple of goals over the international break. It was a relief for managers to see him score a goal at Wembley and with an easy match up against Bournemouth, I suspect he will be the leading captain choice for GW8. He's ranked 1st for shots (44), hitting the woodwork (5) and is on penalties. He also has a decent record against Bournemouth with 6 goals and 1 assist in just 3 appearances. There's a word of caution here though: Spurs face Real Madrid in the Champions League midweek, that could influence Kane's minutes - you have been warned!

Sword Pick: Romelu Lukaku vs Liverpool (A)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 7/2 It's been an eventful international break for Lukaku but it appears he's fit and ready for Liverpool this weekend. Kane's ousted him from the top spot with his explosiveness, but Lukaku's consistency can't be overlooked. The fixture looks tricky on paper but I expect United to break down the leaky Liverpool defence who've already conceded 12 goals this season. It was disappointing to see Lukaku struggle with injury against Palace and only get the one goal but he has scored against Cyprus in the internationals during a sub appearance. Kane looks to be the best option this week but Lukaku is a close 2nd and should definitely be considered.

Form Pick: Raheem Sterling vs Stoke (H)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 9/2 Sterling wins this spot this week, with the best form of all the attacking players in the league. He has 3 goals in his last 3 games and his starting berth now looks secure in this City side, although we can never quite predict Pep's rotation. He faces a Stoke side who have conceded 11 goals and are still struggling with their centre back fitness. Manchester City have been in electric form at the Etihad, as has Sterling, with goals in each of the games he has started there. With question marks over who starts up front, will Raheem get the armband this week?

Fixture Pick: Eden Hazard vs Crystal Palace (A)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 10/3 With question marks over Morata's fitness, Eden Hazard is back in our thinking for the armband against bottom of the league Palace. He looks to be back to his best after his injury lay off in the summer, getting 2 goals and 1 assist for Belgium over the international break. Palace have the worst defence in the league having conceded 17 goals already and with Hazard on penalties too, it looks inevitable that he will get on the scoresheet.

Punt Pick: Alexis Sanchez vs Watford (A)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 7/2 It was a woeful international break for Sanchez as Chile failed to qualify for the World Cup. He will be looking to bounce back this week against an attack minded Watford side. He is starting to find form with assists in his last couple of games for Arsenal and looks like he could explode at any moment. With his fair share of set pieces, it's only a matter of time until he gets on the scoresheet. He has an incredible record against Watford with 3 goals and 4 assists from 4 appearances, including a goal and two assists in this fixture last season. Is it time to take a punt? ‍

Clueless Husband Pick : David Silva vs Stoke (H)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 7/1 It was a captaincy failure for the clueless husband last week when Salah failed to deliver against Newcastle so the armband is on the move this week. For those of you tracking his progress, he's over 1 million places ahead of me, currently ranked 200,000 with all his chips intact. This week he's gone for "that Silva guy, because I've seen that he's got a shaved head like me"! Silva has 6 assists so far and was suspended for the second Spain match so should be pretty fresh for the weekend. Will you be going with his hairy pick?

Defensive "Park the Bus" Pick: Ben Davies vs Bournemouth (H)

Anytime Goalscorer Odds: 28/1 Clean Sheet Odds: 20/23 Our new feature got off to a successful start last week with Phil Jones defying the odds on the injury front to get a clean sheet and 6 points. This week, Ben Davies gets the honour after a mammoth start to the season. He is the top scoring FPL defender, supported by 2 goals and 3 assists in 6 appearances - they are the sort of figures you'd be content with from a premium priced attacker. This week he comes up against a Bournemouth side who've only scored 4 goals this season with just 1 coming away from home. Surely a clean sheet is in the bag and attacking returns look likely too. Are you brave enough to Captain a defender? Defenders were the key focus for my guest article on Sportito this week, and you can read all about it here. Until Next Week… Good Luck! Holly. Follow Holly for more FPL insight... Also be sure to check out Holly's brand new website where she is pulling together all the best of #FPL - Fantasy Football Community.

More FPL Gameweek Tips

Looking for more Gameweek 8 tips? @JWoodfield365 discusses the best gameweek picks and strategy in his weekly GW8 preview. Guest contributor @DavidMunday815, provides three options that could make the difference for those trying to get ahead of the pack - GW8 Differentials. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type="1_6" layout="1_6" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" mer_position="all" padding="" dimension_margin="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no" element_content=""][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]