It was an inconsistent spread of results for the players we recommended as captains for Double Gameweek 7. The likes of Carlton Morris (£5.6m) made the most of two fixtures, scoring in Luton’s win over Everton and whilst he didn’t pick up an attacking return in the second fixture, a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Burnley, the appearance points still added up and helped Morris finish with 10 fantasy points across the gameweek. Elsewhere, Heung-min Son (£9.3m) was on the scoresheet for a sixth time in four league matches, recording a score of 7 FPL points in Spurs’ dramatic triumph against Liverpool. Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) had an assist disallowed in the same encounter and a booking for the Egyptian meant a return of just 1 point for him. Erling Haaland (£14.1m) suffered his second blank of the season as Man City suffered a first Premier League loss of the season away at Wolves.
We now look ahead and share our thoughts over some of the most eye-catching captaincy selections available for Gameweek 8.
Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) – Brighton vs LIVERPOOL
For Six gameweeks running, Mohamed Salah had managed at least one attacking return for Liverpool, the only player in the Premier League to do so. But that run came to an end in Double Gameweek 7 and in controversial fashion at that. He had set up Luis Dias to score before the offside flag went up. But despite VAR showing Diaz clearly onside, the goal remained chalked off what the PGMOL later admitted was a “significant human error”.
Such an injustice will have no doubt fired Salah up and you can expect a strong reaction from him and Liverpool in Gameweek 8 as they make the long trip to Brighton. Three goals, four assists and 44 fantasy points still represents a very good return so far across the campaign and Salah will be up against a Seagulls side who shipped six goals to Aston Villa last Saturday. Make no mistake, Salah is a very enticing choice for the armband.
Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) – Wolves vs ASTON VILLA
Many FPL managers will have sold Ollie Watkins over the past few weeks in order to bring in the likes of Julian Alvarez or Nicolas Jackson, the latter having been hugely disappointing in front of goal for Chelsea. Those fantasy bosses will have struggled to stomach Watkins’ Double Gameweek 7 return, a whopping 23 points in Aston Villa’s 6-1 thrashing of Brighton. Watkins racked up five attacking returns over the course of the demolition job in the form of a hat-trick and two assists.
That monster haul has seen Watkins achieve a significant feat. With 54 points to his name, the striker has become the highest scoring asset within FPL in all positions so far, surpassing Erling Haaland by a single point. He proved in Gameweek 6 against Chelsea that he can also score on his travels and will no doubt be a huge goalscoring threat once again in Gameweek 8 vs Wolves, making him a big contender for the captaincy.
Heung-min Son (£9.3m) – Luton vs SPURS
Despite a tough fixture on paper this past weekend against Liverpool, Heung-min Son was on the scoresheet again, showing that he is very much a fixture-proof asset when in the scoring form that he finds himself in now. Six goals across four gameweeks, including a hat-trick tells you everything you need to know and his FPL credentials prove that he is one of the best captain options for Gameweek 8 as Spurs now make the short journey to Kenilworth Road to do battle with Luton.
The Hatters have conceded 14 Premier League goals so far this season, that’s an average of two per game. It’s hard not to see them giving up clear-cut chances to Spurs and Son should be in a prime position to extend his recent run of goals. 51 fantasy points acquired so far in 2023-24 is a score bettered only by Ollie Watkins, Erling Haaland and Bukayo Saka.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.2m) – WEST HAM vs Newcastle
A player who has gone very much under the radar, perhaps due to the sheer number of midfielders who offer excellent FPL value in terms of both price and points scored. However, Jarrod Bowen’s numbers are now very hard to ignore and underline why he could be an excellent choice as captain in Gameweek 8. Only two midfielders have accrued a higher fantasy score this season than Bowen’s 48 points and he has already reached five league goals.
Bowen does face a very tough challenge in Gameweek 8 as Newcastle visit the London Stadium on the back of three consecutive Premier League clean sheets. But his pace on the counter-attack is a big attacking weapon as is his shooting ability from distance and the sheer offensive freedom he is given by West Ham boss David Moyes. The expectation is that Bowen will get chances to add to his current goal tally and captaining him may well be a smart move.
