FPL Gameweek 8 Guide 2026/27: Injuries, Fixtures And Captaincy Picks Ahead Of FPL GW8

Our FPL Gameweek 8 guide covers the latest injury news, Saka replacements, captaincy picks, defenders and fixture swings. We assess Mbeumo, Tavernier, Ødegaard, Haaland and more ahead of the deadline.

A week ago, the hardest question for most Fantasy Premier League managers was which Arsenal defenders to double up on.

Now it's how many midfielders you can replace with the transfers you've got.

This past week, we've seen Bukayo Saka get substituted early away at Bayern Munich.

Antoine Semenyo is out for roughly 8 weeks with an injury he picked up over the weekend.

Dominik Szoboszlai's hamstring went again after half an hour at Brentford.

So the focus for Gameweek 8: Who's out, who comes in, who to captain, and where the next best fixture run lies.

FPL Gameweek 8 Injury News And Transfer Decisions

We are still waiting for the Friday pressers.

But currently, this is where we stand:

Bukayo Saka (£9.6m): Quad Injury And FPL Sell Verdict

Saka lasted ten minutes in Munich on Wednesday night before pulling up with a quad injury.

Mikel Arteta's words post-match were also not encouraging: "It doesn't look good at all, but we have to wait and see."

We can expect Saka to be out for GW8 at the very least.

Losing him means losing 3.62 xG, 4.82 xGI and 37 points from seven matches.

Verdict: Sell.

Bukayo Saka Season Stats (Source: FFHub)

Antoine Semenyo (£8.3m): Knee Injury And FPL Sell Verdict

Antoine Semenyo hurt his knee in the Gameweek 7 win over Ipswich Town.

Enzo Maresca said the scan was better than first feared, but it still points to around 8 weeks out.

Verdict: Sell.

Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.8m): Hamstring Injury And FPL Sell Verdict

Dominik Szoboszlai missed Gameweek 6 with a hamstring problem, returned to start at Brentford, and lasted half an hour before the same issue flared up again.

Verdict: Sell.

Erling Haaland (£15.7m): Fit For Aston Villa

Erling Haaland limped off after the GW7 win over Ipswich Town, but made the bench for Manchester City's midweek win over AEK Athens.

And since then, Enzo Maresca has indicated that he is "100% available" for Saturday's match away at Aston Villa.

Verdict: Keep.

Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.9m): Available For Ipswich Town

Morgan Gibbs-White missed Nottingham Forest's GW7 defeat to Arsenal with a muscle problem, but Oliver Glasner has confirmed he's available for Friday night at Ipswich Town.

Verdict: Hold.

Also worth knowing: Manchester City's Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovačić and Nico O'Reilly are doubts after GW7 knocks.

Piero Hincapié is back in Arsenal training and could face Everton.

Brentford are without the suspended Vitaly Janelt (1 match) and Yehor Yarmolyuk (3 matches).

FPL Midfield Replacements For Saka, Semenyo And Szoboszlai

The Saka, Semenyo and Szoboszlai injuries mean there are transfers to be made in midfield.

**Player Map: Form + Next-GW xP (Midfielders) (Source:** **TFA FPL Player Stats**)

Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m): Manchester United's Goal Threat

No midfielder has had more shots than Bryan Mbeumo's 24, and he's been on the end of 8 big chances.

He's tallied 3.95 xG, 4 goals, 1 assist and 41 points.

It's clear to see that things aren't going well at Manchester United, but Mbeumo keeps ticking along.

If United are in the goals, he's generally involved.

Marcus Tavernier (£6.2m): Bournemouth Form And Fixtures

Marcus Tavernier is on 42 points, with 4 goals, 10/16 shots on target and 10 bonus points already.

His 4.01 xGI and 12 key passes say the returns are earned.

Bournemouth are also heading into a favourable run of fixtures.

Martin Ødegaard (£6.8m): Arsenal's Midfield Option Without Saka

Martin Ødegaard has 3.48 xGI, 2 goals and 13 key passes.

He was excellent in Munich: an assist for Eberechi Eze, 3 chances created and took corners from the right.

With Saka out, he could also take penalties.

Arsenal are the week's top-projected attack (2.08 goals v Everton) and host Hull City in GW10.

Johan Manzambi (£6.0m): An Aston Villa Target For GW9

Johan Manzambi has 30 points from just 254 minutes: 2 goals, 2 assists, 5 bonus points and 14 shots in 4 appearances.

He scored Villa's winner at Newcastle in GW7 and has already risen in price.

He missed the midweek Champions League game with a small knock, but scans were positive, and he's expected back quickly.

Manchester City at home is a hard GW8, so he's better as a GW9 buy ahead of Fulham (H), Manchester United (A), Sunderland (H) and Ipswich Town (A).

FPL GW8 Captaincy: Haaland And The Alternatives

Captaincy matrix GW8 to GW13 (Source: Rob T)

On the numbers, GW8 is the tightest captaincy call of the season so far.

Solio has Haaland on 6.3 projected points at Villa Park, just 0.1 ahead of Saka, with Bruno Fernandes (6.1), Cole Palmer (6.0) and João Pedro (5.8) bunched behind.

Take Saka out, and the picture simplifies.

City are projected to score 2.03 goals, while Villa have only a 12% clean sheet chance and are missing Amadou Onana, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Matteo Ruggeri.

Haaland is in roughly 77% of FPL squads.

Not captaining him this week is a big bet against the field, and the projections don't give you a reason to make it.

Projected goals and clean sheet odds GW8 (Source: Rob T)

If you want to go against the grain, Bruno Fernandes at home to Bournemouth is the most defensible punt.

Palmer against Tottenham Hotspur is the other option, although one could argue that João Pedro has become more talismanic for Chelsea.

FPL GW8 Defenders: Arsenal Clean Sheets And DEFCON Picks

Defenders: key stats and DEFCON points (Source: Lateriser12)

Arsenal at home to Everton is the banker clean sheet of the week at 49%, with Everton's projected goals (0.71) the lowest in the league.

The catch is Riccardo Calafiori (£6.0m).

He's third among defenders for xGI (2.19) and had 4 shots in Munich, 3 from set pieces, but this is the third game in six days.

He rarely started all 3 in that kind of turnaround last season, and Hincapie is back in training.

Gabriel Magalhães is the safer Arsenal pick for minutes.

The defender I'd most like to own is Coventry's Bobby Thomas, still £4.0m and already on 31 points.

He's joint-second for shots (12) and among the five defenders already on 10 DEFCON points.

And Coventry have the best run of anyone: Fulham (H), Sunderland (H), Everton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Leeds (A).

Murillo (NFO) has an identical profile, 12 shots and 10 DEFCON points, and travels to Ipswich Town on Friday.

Maxim De Cuyper tops defender xGI at 2.60, but trips to Liverpool and Manchester City make him a possible bench option for the next fortnight.

**Player Map: DEFCON defenders (Source:** **TFA FPL Player Stats**)

If you'd rather pay up, Brighton's Luka Vušković (£5.1m, 5.5% owned) leads all defenders with 13 shots and 4 big chances, with great DEFCON potential.

Brighton's next two are the problem, so he's one to buy after GW9, not before.

Attacking DEFCON defenders (Source: FFHub)

FPL Fixture Planning: Coventry City And Bournemouth

Two teams stand out for anyone with transfers to spare.

Coventry City are green almost all the way through GW12, which is why Thomas makes sense.

Bournemouth turn the corner after this week, with Leeds (H), Ipswich Town (A) and Nottingham Forest (H) in GW9-11, which is the case for Tavernier.

On the other side, Brighton go to Liverpool and Manchester City in the next 2 gameweeks, and Manchester United have a tough run with Bournemouth (H), Chelsea (A), Aston Villa (H), Liverpool (A).