Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) delighted the record 3.5million Fantasy Premier League managers who handed him the captain’s armband for Gameweek 8 with his fifth double-figure haul of the campaign.
Liverpool won 5-0 at Watford, with Salah scoring one and assisting another to extend his lead at the top of the FPL player standings with 11 points before bonus. It was the fifth time this season the Egyptian has been the most-captained player.
Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.6m) took second spot for Manchester United‘s trip to Leicester City.
The Foxes have conceded a league-high 80 shots in their own penalty area, which bodes well for the 1.2m+ who have backed Ronaldo.
And more than 733,000 managers put their faith in Romelu Lukaku (£11.7m).
The Belgian will be looking to end a run of three successive blanks when Chelsea visit Brentford, and the underlying stats are encouraging: Lukaku ranks in the top two for shots and chances created among Thomas Tuchel’s side.
GW8 most-captained players
| Player | Captained by (000’s) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 3,547 | 11 |
| Ronaldo | 1,277 | – |
| Lukaku | 733 | – |
*bonus points yet to be added
The leading 100 managers selected two of the same three players as the masses, with Riyad Mahrez (£8.7m) replacing Lukaku.
Mahrez boasts an excellent record against Manchester City‘s opponents Burnley, having produced three double-figure hauls in his last four starts against them.
Most-captained by top 100
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 90 | 11 |
| Ronaldo | 2 | – |
| Mahrez | 2 | – |
*bonus points yet to be added
Joao Cancelo (£6.2m) topped the managers’ shopping lists for Gameweek 8.
The Portuguese is the No 1-ranked defender ahead of a kind run for Pep Guardiola’s men. Cancelo has kept five clean sheets and supplied two assists this term.
The best-value midfielder in Fantasy, Andros Townsend (£5.6m), was snapped up by more than 533,000 managers.
Townsend has amassed 43 points before GW8, including three double-figure hauls in his last four appearances. The Everton player has returned 7.7 points per million spent.
Hwang Hee-chan (£5.6m) completed the top three.
The South Korean has scored three goals in his four appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers, prompting over 378,000 to add him to their squads.
GW8 most transferred-in players
| Player | Transferred in by (‘000s) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelo | 596 | – |
| Townsend | 533 | – |
| Hwang | 378 | – |
*bonus points yet to be added
Injuries to Antonio Rudiger (£5.8m) and Ferran Torres (£6.9m) led to the pair being among the three most-sold players, ditched by a combined 850,000+ managers.
Despite being the second most-captained player, Ronaldo was also the second-most sold. All of Man Utd’s next four fixtures are rated at three or more in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings.
GW8 most transferred-out players
| Player | Transferred out by (‘000s) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Rudiger | 520 | – |
| Ronaldo | 440 | – |
| Torres | 329 | – |
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