Top FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks Based on Analysis and Metrics

Finally, the streak was broken in an early kick-off on a certain legend’s birthday. Written in the stars? We are now 7 out of 8 when it comes to successful captaincy picks, as the Model renders its first blank from a Cristiano Ronaldo benching. We are back after the second International Break of the season for the FPL Gameweek 8 captain picks metric, looking to start a new streak, is that possible? Only time will tell. Trust the metric!

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FPL GW8 Captaincy poll ~ Wisdom Of the Crowd

[Total_Soft_Poll id=”17″]

Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah (77.80%) leads our polls this week by a landslide. Chelsea’s summer signing Romelu Lukaku (5.54%) comes in second place with the fewest votes a runner-up has seen this season. Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son (3.99%) comes third, as Kevin De Bruyne (3.82%) and Cristiano Ronaldo (3.54%) complete our captaincy candidates for Gameweek 8.

Underlying Numbers of the Captaincy Candidates

FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks underlying numbers of captaincy candidates

Mohammed Salah tops our picks for Underlying Numbers yet again. With 20 Shots Inside the Box, 8 Big Chances in total and an xG total of 4.68, the Egyptian leads the Attacking Stats factor for players. 

Cristiano Ronaldo comes in behind Salah, with 14 Shots Inside the Box, 5 Big chances and an xG total of 3.48.

Romelu Lukaku just about loses out to the Manchester United forward, having mustered 16 Shots Inside the Box, 4 Big Chances and an xG total of 3.31.

Heung-Min Son has unimpressive numbers according to his standards in the last 6 matches, with just 10 Shots Inside the Box, 3 Big Chances and an xG of just 1.79.

Kevin De Bruyne rounds up our picks when it comes to underlying attack numbers, managing 6 Shots Inside the Box, no Big Chances and an xG of 0.57, since his return to full fitness after being injured at the start of the season.

Further Read: FPL GW8 Differential Picks to Consider Ahead of Gameweek 8 Deadline

Underlying Numbers of the Candidates Teams

FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks underlying numbers of candidate teams

Liverpool have the best underlying numbers as a team in the last 6 games. An impressive total of 91 Shots Inside the Box and 24 Big Chances, helps in boosting their xG to 15.76, by far the best as compared to the teams in focus in this week’s analysis.  

Manchester City come in second behind Liverpool with 74 Shots Inside the Box and 19 Big Chances in Total resulting in an xG of 12.66. 

Chelsea come in third behind the reigning Champions, with 63 Shots Inside the Box, 16 Big Chances in Total and an xG of 10.62. 

Manchester City fall behind the league leaders Chelsea managing 68 Shots Inside the Box, 17 Big Chances and an xG of 9.67. 

Tottenham finish last when it comes to underlying numbers. Having managed just 36 Shots Inside the Box and 8 Big Chances, their numbers paint the whole story of their start to the new season. An xG of just 5.80 has them languishing in the bottom half of the table when it comes to Expected Goals (xG).

Further Read: A Guide to FPL GW 8 Wildcard | Talking points, Enablers, Team Structure

Fixture Difficulty of the candidate team in FPL GW8

FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks fixture difficulty

In the Third Phase of the Article, we look at the Fixture Difficulty of our 5 Candidates. We have used Drafthound’s Clean Sheet odds and the Odds of Conceding more than 2.5 goals. You can check out the same as well for free on Drafthound along with fixture analysis, predicted analysis, and more.

Burnley, who are facing Manchester City this week, have the weakest odds. Clean sheet odds of just 7% pretty much tells you that the bookies really fancy Manchester City to score at least one goal in this match. Burnley have also been given a 54% chance of conceding more than 2.5 goals this week, meaning City scoring 3 goals is more likely than not.

Watford come in behind Burnley, with just 11% chance of keeping a CS and a 45% chance of conceding more than 2.5 goals this week against Liverpool, as the bookies expect Liverpool to give Ranieri a hard time in his first match in-charge.

Brentford have also been given low chances of returning a clean sheet. Being given only a 20% chance of keeping a CS, Brentford aren’t expected to keep Chelsea out. They have also been given a 37% chance of conceding more than 2.5 goals.

Leicester City have been given a 22% chance of keeping a Clean sheet against Manchester United. They have also been given a 22% chance of conceding more than 2.5 goals as their disastrous start to the season defensively is expected to continue, having not kept a clean sheet since the first game of the new season. 

Newcastle United, after being taken over by the new Saudi owners, have been given a 23% chance of keeping a Clean Sheet. The Magpies have also been given a 25% chance of conceding more than 2.5 goals against an under-pressure Tottenham side. 

Visit Drafthound.com for more free stats, data, and more!

Projections Rank of our FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks

FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks ~ points projection

In the Fourth Phase of the article, We have used the Anytime Returns and Projected Points Tools available at Fantasy Football Hub. With the help of the Anytime Returns Tool, I have derived the Safety Rank, which helps in determining the Safest Captaincy Option of the week, while I have used the Projected Points Tool to determine the Explosion Rank, which helps in determining the Most Explosive Option of the week. 

Kevin De Bruyne, has the highest Anytime Returns Projections at 76%, while his Projected Points stand at 7.7 for the week.

The popular pick of the week, Mohammed Salah has the second-highest Anytime Returns Projections at 72%, and his Projected Points are joint-highest at 7.7 with De Bruyne. Both De Bruyne and Salah are expected to be amongst the points this week.

Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son has an Anytime Returns Projections at 65% while his Projected Points at 6.8, rounding up the podium places in terms of these Predictions.  

Cristiano Ronaldo has an Anytime Returns Projections at 58% and Projected Points at 5.6, enabling him to finish above Romelu Lukaku in fourth. 

Lastly, Romelu Lukaku with an Anytime Returns Projections at 55% and Projected Points at 5.3 finishes at the last place.

Further Read: FPL GW8 Fixtures To Target With Team Analysis

Conclusion – Final Rank from our FPL Gameweek 8 Captaincy metric analysis

FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks final rank
In the Fifth and Final Phase of the article, I have aggregated the Ranks derived above to pull out the Cumulative Rank Factor (CRF). The Candidate having the lowest Cumulative Rank Factor is the most ideal Captaincy Option according to this metric. 


The Community seems to be taking on the legend again, by going for Mohammed Salah in an early kick off. Our model is also in agreement with the Community sentiments, as Salah comes out to be the top pick this week, with a CRF value of 6, we are all gearing up for Round 2, aren’t we? 

Kevin De Bruyne comes in behind Salah at second, with a CRF of 9. There is a tie between Ronaldo and Lukaku as both the new signings this season, render a CRF value of 14 each. 

Heung-Min Son finishes last with a CRF value of 16.
FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks ~ Mo Salah tops our metric making him the best captaincy choice

Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL Gameweek 8:

FPL GW8 Differential Picks to Consider Ahead of Gameweek 8 Deadline
A Guide to FPL GW 8 Wildcard | Talking points, Enablers, Team Structure
FPL GW8 Matchups: MCI vs BUR, AVL vs WOL, EVE vs WHU
FPL GW8 Fixtures To Target With Team Analysis
Budget Forwards to Consider Ahead of FPL Gameweek 8
Fixture Analysis for GW8 Wildcard
Teams and Players to Target for the next 5 Gameweeks in FPL
FPL GW8 Transfer Trends Analysis | Popular Transfer Combinations
Popular Player Comparisons Ahead of FPL GW8 ~ Son vs Vardy, Mbuemo vs Toney and Foden vs Grealish
FPL GW8 Double-Digit Returns Metrics-Wildcard Special

Best FPL Defenders To Target Ahead Of FPL GW8
Players In Focus Based On Eye Test Ahead Of FPL Gameweek 8
FPL GW8 Wildcard Structure and Best Possible Drafts and Combinations

Link to all our FPL Gameweek 8 blogs.

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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 8?

We’ll be covering fixture analysis, differential picks, GW8 Wildcard drafts, captaincy metrics, transfer trend analysis, expected line up, press conference summaries, Buy, hold, sell analysis for FPL GW8, our expert panel team reveals and more. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for all our blogs and subscribe to our free newsletter through the link below. We’ll also be posting regularly about the same on our social media accounts so follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook keep our notification ON.

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AK - Anurag Khetan

AK is a big Chelsea fan and has been playing FPL since 2012/13. He has finished in the top 5k three times with a Best Overall Rank of 1,140 in the 17/18 season. He's 250th in the FFS HoF and is ranked 7th in India in All-time FPL Rank on Premier Fantasy Tools. He believes in the Eye test and uses statistics to verify them. AK takes a keen interest in Football tactics and strategies on the field. He can be found here: https://twitter.com/AK_FPL1
AK is a big Chelsea fan and has been playing FPL since 2012/13. He has finished in the top 5k three times with a Best Overall Rank of 1,140 in the 17/18 season. He's 250th in the FFS HoF and is ranked 7th in India in All-time FPL Rank on Premier Fantasy Tools. He believes in the Eye test and uses statistics to verify them. AK takes a keen interest in Football tactics and strategies on the field. He can be found here: https://twitter.com/AK_FPL1

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