FPL GW8 Scout Selection Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups

Welcome to our FPL GW8 Scout Selection blog! This international break has offered us FPL managers some time to reflect on our season so far, and plan ahead for what’s to come. Even if you’re still a long way away from your target rank, or sit mid-table in your mini-league – do not worry, there’s still over 80% of the season to go! That being said…

Our AAFPL Scout Picks have finally managed to gain some momentum, and we go into GW8 with a 5-2 lead over the Official FPL Scout Team, unbeaten since GW5. We’re confident that our scout selection this week won’t let us down, and that this form will continue into GW8 and beyond!

	GW1	GW2	GW3	GW4	GW5	GW6	GW7
AllAboutFPL Team	84	65	92	44	59	42	59
Official FPL Team	64	96	77	46	54	39	44

As always, our Scout Picks will be based on the eye test, stats, and analysis. Let’s first take a look at the fixtures for FPL GW8.

Link to all our FPL GW8 blogs including Scout picks, players to target, buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW8 Fixtures

FPL GW8 Scout Picks

FPL GW8 Scout Selection – Goalkeeper

Raya (5.6m) makes his debut for the AllAboutFPL Scout Selection team this week, having been on the shortlist many times this season, but never making the cut; now’s his chance to impress! We’ve had poor luck with our ‘keeper selections so far this season, with only one of our selections so far (Verbruggen in GW4), returning more than 2 points, but we’ve got confidence in Arsenal’s Number 22.

As mentioned in previous weeks, Arsenal continue to out perform the underlying data, having conceded just 6 goals from almost 9 expected goals against. Earlier this season, Raya was praised for some fantastic saves, so it would be logical to assume that the Spanish Shot Stopper is behind this over performance, however, that is not the case…

Arsenal actually have the best post-shot expected goals against in the league (5.1PSxG), highlighting that it is not Raya, but rather poor finishing, or perhaps luck, that has saved them (pun very much intended) up to this point. So, you may be wondering, why have we picked Arsenal’s goalie for FPL GW8?

Raya remains a great pick in FPL, regardless of the fact that Arsenal have been fairly lucky not to have conceded more goals than they have, they are still one of the best defenses in the league, currently sitting 5th for xGA, only marginally behind Villa in 4th. What’s more, they have a decent Away fixture against Bournemouth this week, a team who have also under performed their underlying data so far this season, but at the other end of the pitch…

Bournemouth have scored just 8 goals from almost 14xG, the 3rd biggest under performance in the league so far. Of course at some point Arsenal will start conceding goals at a higher rate than they are currently, as this rate of over performance is unsustainable for a whole season, but in GW8 against an attack which has so far underwhelmed, we still think their defense is a safe bet.

PS. As much as we’d love to go for Gabriel, due to his goal threat, there was a severe lack of quality GK options this GW, which is why we’ve opted for Raya instead. (Also Raya is cheaper!)

FPL GW8 Scout Selection – Defenders

After a successful week in GW7, with Trent gifting us 8 points and Lewis 4, we’ve stuck with a 3 at the back, but have gone with a slightly more budget friendly selection this time round, for reasons that will become clear in due course! Forest’s Milenkovic (4.5m) steps in to replace Gabriel, while TAA is replaced by Ipswich’s Leif Davis (4.5m).

We’ve tried to target the Forest defense already a couple of times in this series, and we’re putting our faith in Nuno’s men again this week! Milenkovic is a nailed 90 minute man, and has formed a formidable partnership with Murillo since his arrival at the club in the summer and has taken a Forest defense, which was being praised by many in the football community due to great underlying data towards the end of last season, to new heights. The Tricky Trees have conceded just 6 goals, joint second fewest in the league, and have the 3rd best PSxG behind Arsenal and Liverpool.

Forest Defence this season:

• 6 Goals Conceded (joint 2nd)
• 6.2 Post-Shot Expected Goals Against (3rd)
• 9.51xGA (8th)

Forest host Glasner’s palace in GW8, a side who have been struggling to find any semblance of the extraordinary form they were in at the end of last campaign, surely in part due to the loss of talisman Olise. Palace have scored the joint second fewest goals away from home in 24/25, which bodes well for Milenkovic’s clean sheet chances this GW. The Serb also boasts the third highest xG/90 in the Forest squad (players who have played 360+ minutes), behind only Chris Wood and MGW, making him an even more enticing FPL option due to his attacking threat (0.24xGI/90). Speaking of attacking threat…

Next up is the first Ipswich player to make the AllAboutFPL Scout Team… Leif Davis! There was a lot of hype around this man in pre-season, with many seeing him as this season’s Doughty, a budget defender from a newly promoted team with real attacking threat. So far this season both Davis and Ipswich have underwhelmed, with The Tractor Boys having kept just one clean sheet so far this Premier League campaign. It is not, however, Ipswich’s defensive record that makes Davis such an awesome FPL option this week, but rather his attacking output.

No defender has created more chances (17) or more big chances (5) than the English Left back so far this season. He has the highest xA/90 of any Ipswich player (360+ minutes), and the second highest xGI/90 only behind Delap.

If you weren’t already bored by the number of stats I’m throwing at you, here’s two more: 1st for crosses and 2nd for expected assists (amongst defenders). If Ipswich were targeting fixtures in which they hoped to keep a CS, then this week with Everton at Home would definitely be one. Everton have the 4th lowest xG in the league, and have created over 1xG in just 1/3 Away games this season. Due to the fixture and his excellent attacking numbers, Davis a great pick this week!

Our final defender is Manchester City’s Rico Lewis (4.7m), the only defender to retain their place from GW7’s team. He’s a great, cheap way into the City defense, which, whilst clearly worse in Rodri’s absence, is still one of the best in the league. At such a low price point, he’s great value compared to other City assets (such as Gvardiol), and is arguably just as prone to rotation as any other member of the city squad.

Wolves have been unlucky, and should not (based on both their performances and expected points) be bottom of the league. They are not necessarily a ‘team to target’ in the way that the promoted teams are, but they’re probably in the next tier; a tier I have aptly named ‘teams to target-ish‘. As with Davis, if Lewis fails to keep a clean sheet, he also has huge attacking potential: against Fulham the Englishman managed to create 1 chance, take 2 shots and have 4 touches in the opposition box which resulted in an assist and a total of 4 points in GW7.

Look at it this way, he’s a pretty nailed City asset for 4.7m, and while he is of course less likely to score/assist than Foden or Haaland, he gets more points for doing it – he’s a great pick for GW8 and beyond!

FPL GW8 Scout Selection – Midfielders

We have selected a very premium midfield this week, our quartet consists of, Foden (9.2m), Mbeumo (7.3m), Saka (10.0m) and Johnson (6.6m). Let’s start with Arsenal’s starboy…

Despite the yellow flag we’re pretty sure that Saka will start in GW8 against Bournemouth. He was substituted due to an injury in England’s first game of the international break, and then returned to London as it was clear that he would not be fit for England’s second match. Subsequently, we have heard from Carsley (England manager) that the injury the Arsenal winger sustained was not too serious, but that they didn’t want to ‘take a risk with him’…

If he’s fit (which it looks like he will be), then he’s a must-have for FPL GW8; the English attacker has managed an attacking return in all but one GW so far this season, amassing 2 goals and 7 assists across the first 7 matches of the premier league campaign. If we get news before the deadline that he is definately out (which is unlikely knowing Arteta), then Sterling (6.7m) could be a great differential, otherwise, Saka is the N.1 choice!

Next up in our very premium midfield is Manchester City’s Foden, who made our Scout Selection team in GW2, but wasn’t in the squad, so got us a grand total of 0 points. We have forgiven him, and he’s back in for our FPL GW8 Scout Selection team.

We all know Foden’s quality, and it’s unfortunate that injury and rotation has plagued the initial section of his 24/25 campaign, but after 77 minutes against Fulham in GW7 and some decent minutes while away with England, we’re confident that his first attacking return of the season is not so far away! What’s more they face Wolves in GW8 which, as mentioned above, is a team to target-ish. I wrote an article in pre-season about why Foden was a better pick than KDB and I stand by what I wrote. Despite Foden’s over performance last season (compared to his underlying numbers), their expected points per 90 was fairly similar last season, and has been that way for the past few years.

Foden has over performed is expected data on a consistent basis, so last season was not an outlier. In my opinion he is the best Man City Midfield option in the short term and long term. KDB is also injured this week, meaning that Foden is an easy pick for GW8.

Mbeumo retains his place form last weeks team, having re-payed the faith we showed in him, scoring once and securing FPL managers who owned him 8 points. He produced well over 1xGI in that game, and scored for the third game in a row, highlighting how he can and will thrive as the main attacker in the absence of Wissa.

On the surface, Manchester United Away is a terrifying fixture, however, based on recent history and United’s performances so far this season: there is nothing to fear. Ten Hag’s side have the 7th worst xGA in the league, with the data suggesting that they should have conceded almost 6 more goals than they have.

The Red Devils have conceded the joint 4th most goals and the 2nd most expected goals against at home this season, only ahead of Wolves, behind the likes of Everton, Ipswich and Southampton. Brentford sit 4 places ahead of them (at time of writing) in the league, and will be looking to extend that gap on Saturday at 3pm.

Our final Midfield pick is Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson, who scored again in the International break to extend his scoring streak to 7 games in a row, but was forced off at half time in Wales’ first game due to a suspected injury. The Welsh manager Bellamy insisted that it was just precautionary, and FPL managers will be breathing a sigh of relief, as Johnson then returned to London to recover and rest as he was suspended for the second game of the international break.

Spurs have been in great form recently, capitulation against Brighton aside, and Johnson has been front and centre of their success. The Welsh winger is only behind Solanke in xG/90, averaging a huge 0.57xG/90, and scoring at a rate of 0.52G/90 in the league. Any midfielder who is putting up these sorts of attacking numbers should be of interest to all FPL managers, and at just 6.6m, Johnson is a very cheap way into a very productive Spurs attack.

FPL GW8 Scout Selection – Forwards

Our team is completed by a lethal front three of Haaland (15.2), Havertz (8.2) and Solanke (7.6m), which, while completely impractical in real life, will hopefully score our FPL GW8 Scout Selection team some big points!

Haaland failed to score for a second consecutive game, which surely means the world is going to end soon, right? His numbers are still through the roof, and going against him could prove catastrophic, therefore we’re playing it safe and sticking with him in our team and as our captain for GW8.

Havertz also retains his place, having scored and secured 2 bonus points in GW7, and continuing his phenomenal form at the Emirates. While the Gunners do play Away from home this week, we’ve gone with the German striker again, as he is still averaging over 0.8xG/90, and is being serviced by a player who is providing 1 assist per 90, and close to 1xA/90, in Saka.

Bournemouth are no pushovers, but Arsenal have really started to up their game from an attacking perspective in recent weeks; let’s just hope that the international break has not interrupted that rhythm! Arteta’s side are top of the league for xG, and 3rd for goals scored, while Bournemouth are bottom half for goals conceded; it’s unlikely that Arsenal will score more than three goals for a third consecutive league game on Saturday, but I don’t expect The Cherries to cause them too many problems

Finally we have Solanke, a player who is putting up even higher attacking numbers than Havertz, and is playing in a team that is second only to the aforementioned Arsenal for xG. It was clear from the start that Solanke would thrive in Ange’s system at Spurs; he is presented with so many great opportunities in the box, and possesses fantastic link-up play – it was a match made in heaven!

Their opponents in GW8 are West Ham, a team who have really struggled to get going under their new manager. The only teams they have beaten so far are Palace and Ipswich, two teams who are down towards the relegation zone, failing to get past the likes of Villa, Fulham and Brentford. The Hammers conceded 3 against Chelsea and 3 against City, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they are put to the sword once again by Solanke and the rest of the Spectacular Spurs attack.

Full FPL GW8 Scout Team

Please note that our bench includes a 4.0m ‘keeper, a 2 x 4.0m defender, and a 4.5m midfielder, as all of the players selected are expected to start and have significant game-time in FPL GW8. The team value is 100.5m.

Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW8

FPL GW8 Wildcard Team & Drafts to Consider | Wildcard Guide
Best FPL GW8 Differential Picks(<10% TSB)
FPL GW8 Fixture Swing Analysis – Teams and Players to Target
FPL GW8 Scout Selection Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups
FPL GW8 Transfer Targets and Watchlist
FPL GW8 Tips- Premium Midfielders, Budget Assets & More
FPL GW8 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More

Link to all our FPL GW8 blogs including buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 8 of the 2024/25 FPL Season?

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