1. xFPL review

A look at the Expected Fantasy Premier League (xFPL) points table for gameweek eight reveals a trend similar to last weeks. The top three expected scorers justified their point hauls with their statistical performances. Further down the list there are a few surprises. Schlupp with a xFPL score of 10.5 stands out, and indicates the fortuitous nature of Wolves’ clean sheet at Palace. Balbuena can also consider himself unlucky to come away from the Amex without any points, as he displayed a goal threat and clean sheet potential. Priced at just 4.4 ahead of West Ham’s kind run of fixtures from gameweek 11, he could be one to consider. The highest scorer of the gameweek, Doherty, posted a xFPL score of only 6.5, and scored from his one shot that Hennessy would have been disappointed to let in given the angle and the low probability of scoring.

2. Is Hazard this season’s Salah?

Last season it took Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers several gameweeks to realise that Salah was a set and forget captain option, despite the Egyptian returning points week in week out. This was perhaps due to his bargain starting price of 9.0 and the fact that he was a new face in the Premier League. In a week where several of the highly captained options such as Kane, Salah and Aguero failed, Hazard shined rewarding his owners with a captaincy haul of 28 points, and as his xFPL score in the table above shows it was no fluke. The Belgian has only failed to return FPL involvements in one gameweek so far which is something no other player across the game can lay claim to. With penalty duties in his locker, minimal threat of rotation and a free role under Sarri, captaining the Belgian wizard every week certainly appears to be a viable option.

3. Bournemouth continue to defy expectations

16 points from eight games and sixteen goals scored. These are the stats you would normally expect from a ‘top six’ side not one that finished 12^th last year. Their 0-4 win away to Watford was perhaps the most surprising result of gameweek eight, given Watford’s excellent start to the season and their home form under Gracia. The scoreline was definitely affected by Kabasele’s sending off, but the Cherries have been posting impressive numbers across the last few gameweeks to indicate that was not the only reason. Bournemouth are ranked sixth for shots in the box (66) and fourth for goals scored (16). With their attacking assets such as Fraser (6.0), Wilson (6.3) and King (6.3) still undervalued, it would be wise to acquire at least one for your FPL side going forward, particularly as Southampton and Fulham are up next, two sides that sit in the bottom five.