Getting your team selection correct in Draft Premier League is just as essential as your pre-season draft or your weekly waiver wire claims. And that’s exactly why we’re here to help with our Gameweek 8 Start and Sit article! We’re here to talk you through some of the big Fantasy EPL decisions you may need to make for the upcoming fixtures.
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Gameweek 8 Start and Sit
Whether you’re an obsessed EPL fan like our Fantrax HQ team, or a casual player new to the world of Fantasy EPL, you know to start your attacking players against relegation-threatened sides. We’re not going to waste your time dealing with the obvious! The goal of this article is to delve into notable players across each Fantrax position and let you know if you should be starting or sitting those players.
For our Start and Sit candidates, we’re going to highlight one player in detail for each position, as well as suggesting a few alternatives. Let’s get to it!
Defender Starts
Joel Veltman vs NOR
It’s officially play all your Brighton players week, as they play likely the worst side in the league, Norwich. The Canaries have only scored 2 goals all season, or in other words less than 0.3 goals per game. Brighton are given a 40% chance of keeping a cleansheet this week by the oddsmakers, but I think that may even be underselling their chances. With Tariq Lamptey looming over Veltman’s starting XI spot, Veltman has all the motivation in the world to keep playing well. Potter’s switch this season (so far) to a 3/5 in the back also provides more opportunities for Veltman as a wing back to get forward more.
Alternate Starts:
Liam Cooper vs SOU
Dan Burn vs NOR
Oleksandr Zinchenko vs BUR
Defender Sits
James Tarkowski vs MCI
Similarly to last week’s defender sit: Tarkowski is generally a great Fantrax player, but Man City is the toughest offense to play against as a fantasy defender hands-down. They’ve allowed the least fantasy points against them by defenders by far, and have consistently stifled opposing studs. The last 2 times City played Burnley at home they won 5-nil. I expect a similar bloodbath this gameweek as do the bookies who expect City to score 3 goals on average. That bodes terribly for Tarkowski and doesn’t sound like a good risk to take.
Alternate Sits:
Pontus Jansson vs CHE
Ricardo Pereira vs MUN
Also check out the Draft Premier League Gameweek 8 Waiver Wire!
Midfielder Starts
Nathan Redmond vs LEE
Redmond has not had a particularly great start to the season, but this article isn’t mean for only obvious picks. The stars may align for Redmond this week. He’s playing a Leeds side that have given up the 3rd most goals in the league and plenty of fantasy offense. His teammate, JWP, is out with a red game, which surely will not help his team, but may allow Redmond to consume all remaining set pieces. In a midweek cup game, in JWP’s absence, Redmond took all Southampton corners and free kicks. If he’s lucky, he might just be on penalties to. With all of that said we expect Redmond to have a great floor this week as well as some serious upside. He’s expected to score 28% of the time and assist 22% of the time which is very high for him relative to the past.
Alternate Starts:
Trevoh Chalobah vs BRF
Mathias Antonsen Normann vs BHA
Joe Willock vs TOT
Midfielder Sits
Douglas Luiz vs WOL
Luiz is on a fantasy tear scoring 11, 16.5, and 22.5 points in his last 3 gameweeks. However, if he starts (and this is a big if, considering he played for Brazil on Thursday) I would advise against playing him this week. Wolves are a team that generate much of their offense on the wings and thus they haven’t conceded many defensive stats to midfielders in the centre of the pitch, Luiz’s usual bread and butter. On top of that, in the last couple weeks, around 35% of Luiz’s fantasy points have come directly from set pieces. If Buendia starts this week, Luiz’s set pieces may quickly evaporate. If Luiz starts, he may not play 90 minutes, as Dean Smith may not want to push him too hard after his recent international travel. Too many negative factors this week against Luiz, so plan on playing someone else
Alternate Sits:
Abdoulaye Doucoure vs WHU
Conor Gallagher vs ARS
Dwight McNeil vs MCI
Forward Starts
Rodrigo vs SOU
Once again, in Patrick Bamford’s injury absence, Rodrigo has taken up the Leeds starting striker role. While he hasn’t scored a goal yet, he did put up a comfortable 9.5 points last week vs Watford (without any attacking return). Leeds likes to constantly be attacking and should generate plenty of offense. The oddsmakers give Rodrigo a 31% chance of scoring and a 21% chance of assisting this week. Keep faith in the Leeds man, and reap the rewards this week.
Alternate Starts:
Neil Maupay vs NOR
Adam Armstrong vs LEE
Kelechi Iheanacho vs MUN
Forward Sits
Ivan Toney vs CHE
Toney has been on a bit of a hot streak scoring 2 goals and 38.5 points in his last 3 starts. That streak likely ends here against Tuchel’s stifling defense. Brentford are a good, likely still underrated side, but Chelsea have a 50% chance of keeping a clean sheet against them still. Mbeumo does not have the floor necessary to withstand being kept out of the score sheet, and will likely not touch the ball frequently.
Alternate Sits:
Teemu Pukki vs BHA
Emmanuel Dennis vs LIV
Check out Draft Society’s Fantrax Weekly Player Projections page for more player evaluations for the upcoming week!
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