Round 8 of this season’s Premier League campaign starts on Saturday lunchtime in the east midlands with floundering Nottingham Forest taking on Chelsea at the City Ground as the English top flight action returns after the international break.
Nottingham Forest find themselves amidst a highly concerning nine-game winless run in all competitions and having suffered six defeats within this period, manager Ange Postecoglou is now under increasing pressure to start delivering results. Meanwhile, Chelsea headed into the international break on the back of an impressive 2-1 home win against the then league leaders, Liverpool.
Read on to find our recommended players for your Round 8 fantasy team including a few who have flown under the radar at bargain prices along with some usual suspects and all at a total cost of just €73.3m!
Formation: 3-5-2
Robin Roefs (Sunderland vs Wolves) – €4.9M
Sunderland will return to their Stadium of Light for this upcoming encounter against bottom club Wolves on Saturday afternoon where the Black Cats will be keen to respond to a 2-0 defeat last time out away from home at Manchester United this weekend.
Saturday’s visitors, Wolves, have managed to score just one goal in their three outings on the road which gives Sunderland’s Dutch goalkeeper Robin Roefs a decent chance of keeping another clean sheet here.
Roefs has kept three clean sheets in Sunderland’s seven league matches to date and with an average Sofascore Rating of 7.33, the Sunderland stopper still continues to show value at just €4.9M.
Nordi Mukiele (Sunderland vs Wolves) – €5.6M
Another Sunderland bargain can be had in the shape of French defender Nordi Mukiele who has been a consistent performer at the back for the Black Cats so far this season, possessing an average Sofascore Rating of 7.18 overall in the Premier League this term.
Indeed, Mukiele has achieved ratings of over 7.0 in five of his six appearances for Sunderland in all competitions and another consistent performance is expected against Wolves on Saturday.
Sven Botman (Brighton vs Newcastle Utd) – €6.1M
Although Newcastle United currently occupy a disappointing 11th place in the Premier League table so far this season, Eddie Howe’s side have certainly made themselves tough to beat away from home this term.
Indeed, Dutch defender Sven Botman has been part of a miserly Magpies defensive unit which has kept clean sheets in all four of their competitive away games this season, and with a Sofascore average rating of 7.30, Brighton look set to struggle to break through Newcastle United’s defences this weekend.
Malick Thiaw (Brighton vs Newcastle Utd) – €6.0M
After finding himself on the bench in the early weeks of this season’s top flight campaign for Newcastle United against Leeds United and Wolves, German 6 foot 4” defender Malick Thiaw has since gone from strength to strength, recording Sofascore ratings of 7.0 or greater in four of his last five games in all competitions.
Having earned a clean sheet in Newcastle United’s solid 2-0 home win against Nottingham Forest before the international break, Thiaw is expected to retain his place for this trip to the south coast.
Sean Longstaff (Burnley vs Leeds United) – €5.3M
Leeds United have more or less managed to hold their own upon their return to the Premier League as the Yorkshire club have registered two wins, earned two draws and lost three of their opening seven games to date.
Undoubtedly one of the shining lights so far this season though has been the arrival of midfielder Sean Longstaff from Newcastle United as he has chipped in with a goal and an assist to date whilst producing consistent displays week in-week out for Leeds and earning a Sofascore average rating of 7.13.
Moises Caicedo (Nottm Forest vs Chelsea) – €8.4M
An absolute Rolls-Royce of a midfielder within this Chelsea outfit, Moises Caicedo is the fourth-highest points scorer in this Sofascore Premier League fantasy season and it comes as no surprise that he also tops Chelsea’s Sofascore player ratings at an impressive 7.67 as well.
The Ecuadorian midfield general has notched three goals for Chelsea already this season including one against Liverpool in The Blues’ 2-1 win against Liverpool on his way to a rating of 8.0 last time out.
Expect Caicedo to boss the midfield against a struggling Nottingham Forest outfit on Saturday.
Jeremy Doku (Manchester City vs Everton) – €7.4M
Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is chosen for our Sofascore fantasy team second week on the trot but there’s a couple of reasons for this; firstly, Saturday’s opponents Everton are set to be without Jack Grealish in midfield as he is ineligible to play against his parent club, and this may well free up space for Doku to operate in.
Secondly, Doku has contributed three assists so far this season for Manchester City along with posting Sofascore ratings scores of 8.0 or over in five of his last nine appearances in all competitions!
Eberechi Eze (Fulham vs Arsenal) – €8.5M
Arsenal midfielder Eberechi Eze is one of two Arsenal players picked in our Round 8 team as The Gunners prepare for the short journey across London to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage in Saturday evening’s all-London clash.
The former Crystal Palace star has notched twice so far this season for his new side Arsenal as well as hitting the back of the net in England’s 5-0 demolition of Latvia during the week, so his confidence will be high heading into this encounter.
With an average Sofascore rating of 7.0, Eze looks a decent option this week against Fulham.
Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth) – €5.5M
Arguably one of the bargains of this week’s round as the Japanese midfielder was part of the national team that defeated Brazil 3-2 in midweek despite being 2-0 down!
Daichi Kamada has also produced consistent performances for his club Crystal Palace so far in this season’s Premier League campaign and a major contributing factor in Palace’s previous 11-game unbeaten start to the season prior to their 2-1 defeat away at Everton before the international break.
With a Sofascore average rating of 7.24 Kamada looks a decent addition to our Round 8 team this week.
Bukayo Saka (Fulham vs Arsenal) – €9.8M
Forward Bukayo Saka has certainly enjoyed the month of October so far as the Arsenal and England star has scored three goals and provided an assist in his four games overall so far this month whilst posting some really impressive Sofascore ratings into the bargain.
With an average rating this month of a touch over 8.0, Bukayo Saka looks hot property right now and we are expecting Saka to exploit any weaknesses or opportunites afforded by Saturday’s opponents Fulham at Craven Cottage.
In addition, Saka has scored 3 goals and an assist in his previous 8 games against Fulham.
Igor Thiago (West Ham vs Brentford) – €5.8M
Brentford make the short trip across the nation’s capital to take on West Ham at the London Stadium in Monday night’s offering in the Premier League with The Bees’ main man Igor Thiago looking to notch a fifth goal this season at the expense of a struggling Hammers outfit.
Four goals in the English top flight to date along with being Brentford’s penalty taker as well as a Sofascore average rating of 7.10, suggests Brazilian marksman, Thiago, looks to be a shrewd signing for this week’s fantasy team at a bargain price.