Steem Fantasy Premier League - Gameweek 8 Review

We are heading into gameweek 7 after yet a week of Champions League and Europa League football. English teams in Champions League have played matches against teams of good calibre. After their defeat against Lyon in the first round Man City now took an important 1-2 away win against Hoffenheim. David Silva was the hero scoring in the 87th minute after Aguero being on the scoresheet after only 8 minutes when he scored the 1-1 goal. Man United played Valencia at Old Trafford and with a 0-0 draw they now have a four match long non-winning-streak. 4 points after two matches in CL isn’t that bad though. Now they will have to face Juventus twice in their two upcoming matches in the competition.

On Wednesday Liverpool played Napoli away while Tottenham hosted Barcelona. Both matches ended in defeats for the english teams. Liverpool lost 1-0 and didn’t play well. Jurgen Klopp felt they deserved to lose: “Defeat is deserved. We had our moments but not too often. Our formation was not right, with the ball we were too hectic. A draw away would be OK, but we made a mistake. We didn’t prepare it well.” Liverpool didn’t manage a single shot on goal against Napoli and 3 matches in a row without a win isn’t what they had hoped for.

And for Spurs, as for almost every team in the world, there isn’t much to do when Messi is on fire. Spurs lost 4-2 with Messi scoring twice, assisting one and hitting the woodwork twice. An outstanding performance from Messi that Spurs just couldn’t handle. Kane (12.5m) and Lamela (6.4m) scored the goals for Spurs.

In Europa league Chelsea and Arsenal won their games against MOL Vidi FC (1-0) and Qarabag FK (3-0).

One thing to notice this week is that the gameweek deadline is on Friday 19.00 (UK time) when Brighton hosts West Ham.

Gameweek 8 fixtures are:

Match previews:

Brighton - West Ham

In the Friday evening match between Brighton and West Ham the Seagulls are looking for their first victory in six Premier League matches while West Ham have two wins from their last three. The Hammers failed to get any points from their first four league matches but since that they have earned seven points from fixtures against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United respectively. The form is good and it finally looks like Manuel Pellegrini has found a playing style that suits his team. West Ham have in recent matches looked solid and like a team that isn’t that easy to break down.

In Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross(6.7m) remains sidelined with an ankle injury, but Dale Stephens (4.4m) (hamstring) faces a late fitness test and could be back.Their striker Glenn Murray (6.5m) has scored five goals in his last four league matches against West Ham and is now looking for more. Murray has already scored four goals this season and could become a player to have in your team taking into consideration Brightons fixtures looks quite good until December.

For West Ham Andy Carroll (5.4m), Winston Reid(4.4m), Manuel Lanzini (6.4m) and Jack Wilshere (4.9m) are sidelined with injuries While Chicharito (6.2m) could return to the squad. After their great display in their 3-1 win over Manchester United last weekend Pellegrini is expected to field the same team against Brighton. Their talisman Marko Arnautovic (7.0m) has maybe never been on better form and is looking to add to his 4 goals this season.

Possible starting lineups:

Brighton: Ryan, Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bong, Knockaert, Propper, Kayalat, Iziquierdo, Locadia , Murray
West Ham: Fabianski, Masuaku, Diop, Balbuena, Zabaleta, Rice, Anderson, Obiang, Noble, Yarmolenko, Arnautovic

Liverpool - Manchester City

The biggest match of the season so far? Both teams are level on points at the top of the League with six wins and one draw from their opening seven. Last time Liverpool have lost to Manchester City at Anfield was in May 2003. It means they have a run of 17 matches at home in all competitions, with 12 wins and five draws. Since 2003 they I’m though quite sure they haven’t played a City team like the City team of today many times. On the other hand you could say Liverpool themselves haven’t had many teams better than this eaither. It won’t be easy for City to break down Liverpool. Liverpool haven’t conceded a goal in their last nine home matches and this is the second longest run of clean sheets at home in PL’s history. In the last match at Anfield between the the teams, back in January, the match ended in a 4-3 win for Liverpool. So going by that this could well spell an end for Liverpool’s clean sheet -streak.

Klopp will have monitor the condition of Keita (7.3) after he was substituted with an suspected injury in in the match against Napoli on Wednesday evening. Their central defender Virgil van Dijk (5.9m) seems to has shaken off his rib injury and the only player that for sure is out is Adam Lallana (6.9m) who is continuing his rehabilitation from a groin problem.

For Manchester City Kevin De Bruyne (9.7m) has returned to training earlier this week but won’t be ready for this game. Benjamin Mendy (6.3m) has missed the past few games with a foot injury and is doubtful while Ilkay Gundogan (5.6m) came off with a leg problem during the win at Hoffenheim in midweek and could miss the game. The player owned by most managers, Sergio Aguero (11.4m), is seeking his first goal at Anfield at the 10th attempt. In his previous matches he has managed only three shots on target.

Possible starting lineups:
Liverpool: Alisson; Robertson, Van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold; Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Mane, Firmino, Salah
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Delph; Bernardo, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Sane

Steem pick

I have done quite well with my steep-picks in recent time if you ask me. My steem-pick so far:
Gw 1: King 2p
Gw 2: Vardy -1p
Gw 3: Salah 8p
Gw 4: Hazard 11p
Gw 5: Silva 11p
Gw 6: Lacazette 8p
Gw 7: Kane 13p

I also have to admit I changed strategy after going with two differentials in the beginning (King and Vardy) and having 0 points after 2 gameweeks. After that I have picked more “safe” players. For this gameweek I pick a defender for the first time. And it’s Kane’s Spurs colleague Trippier (6.2m) who shows good form and plays Huddersfield away. Spurs defence aren’t reliable but so aren’t Huddersfield attack. With Tripper you also got the attacking threat. In six matches he has played so far this season he has got an assist in four. He also seems to have a good “partnership” with in-form Kane, having assisted Kane’s last three goals in the league. You should though be aware of the rotation risk with Tripper. Pochettino seems to be a fan of “fullback-rotation” so he could miss an odd game here and there. With Aurier (5.8m) out I just can’t see this happen on Saturday.

Please, let us know your thoughts for gameweek 8!

Disclaimer: This post is written by @matinho. The rewards of these posts are gathered in a pool to be rewarded to managers of the league and authors at the end of the season.

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