Premier League: Team of Round 8

Round 8 of the Premier League proved tricky in both our predictor and fantasy games as the average team score dropped from 59 in Round 7 to 50.1 this past weekend. Though there were plenty of points around - particularly during Sunday's action as those of you playing our 5-a-side game will know - Harry Kane's failure to score against Cardiff City was a standout disappointment following his popularity surge ahead of this round because of the fixture and his form that earned him a place in last week's TOTR.

This week's complete XI of top scoring players is shown below. Comfortable wins for Arsenal and Chelsea mean they are over-represented in this team (if looking at this in terms of our 11-a-side game rules) while just one very high-scoring defender means there were many equal contenders for a place in the backline places that are filled by Pereira and Schindler.

Defence

This week sees a first TOTR appearance for Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga who made some fantastic saves to earn a clean sheet against Southampton. The Spaniard, who arrived for a high transfer fee just before the opening game of the season, appears to have found his feet very quickly in the Premier League and is worth considering for your teams all whilst he and Chelsea are playing so well. Despite the Blues controlling the game on Sunday, Southampton did create some very good chances that were either wasted or blocked by some very sharp saves.

For the second week in a row, Matt Doherty makes the TOTR after following up his assist against Southampton with a goal against Crystal Palace. Wolves have been excellent and have also played the exact same team for all of their games so far this season meaning Doherty is a safe and strong pick barring any injuries! Joining Doherty in defence is Ricardo Pereira and Christopher Schindler who each failed to keep a clean in this round but did find the net themselves. Though Pereira and Schindler are the players to have made the above graphic, the lengthy list of other defenders to have also managed to score seven points in Round 8 is: Laporte, Robertson, Bong, Lovren and Bruno. That 0-0 at Anfield was frustrating for the many of us that own attacking Liverpool and City players but it did benefit those who kept hold of their defenders!

Midfield

His goal arguably deserved far more than the 5 points we award, but Gylfi Sigurdsson is in this week's TOTR regardless after his stunning strike against Leicester at the King Power. Sigurdsson is joined by Aaron Ramsey in midfield who is one of two Arsenal players that made this TOTR despite starting Sunday's game against Fulham at Craven Cottage on the bench (also Aubameyang)! Ramsey's goal is one you need to watch back if you haven't already as the Welshman skilfully finished a fantastic move he had already played a major part in.

Completing a midfield four is Chelsea duo Ross Barkley and Eden Hazard who combined neatly for Chelsea's first goal against Southampton. Barkley was given a chance to impress this week in place of the in-form Mateo Kovacic and took his chance perfectly with a goal, assist and Man of the Match award. Hazard, who matched Barkley's achievements of a goal and an assist, also created several other chances to gain an additional fantasy point. The Belgian is already well ahead of everyone else in terms of Superbru fantasy points so far this season despite beginning the campaign from the bench against Huddersfield and Arsenal. If you're in the 46% that don't own Hazard who looks set to score a lot of goals this season under Sarri, you're playing a very brave game.

Strikers

After last week's shortage of high-scoring strikers, we're blessed with three forwards who each scored very well in Round 8 as the increasingly impressive Arsenal pairing of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are joined by Bournemouth's Josh King. In fact, if there was room for a fourth striker, we'd be seeing two club's strike pairings in this TOTR as Bournemouth's Callum Wilson was another player to pick up points (10) in the Cherries' incredible 0-4 win at Watford.

Lacazette put in a Man of the Match performance at Fulham that included a brace to earn his 12 points but it was Aubameyang who actually came off the bench to eclipse Lacazette's fantasy tally and match that of King with an assist to add to his own brace. The Gabonese striker was clinical as he took advantage of a tiring Fulham team to reward those (perhaps fortunate) 5-a-side fantasy players who kept him in their teams despite him being named amongst the Arsenal subs in the first game of the day. If, like me, you changed from Aubameyang to Lacazette after seeing the team news, this was annoying! Though I can't grumble too much with 12 points in that Band 1 slot.

Let me know in the comments how you got on in each of our fantasy games during this eighth gameweek. We now head into the international break meaning there's no Premier League action until October 20th when a round featuring 8 Saturday games, 1 Sunday game and 1 Monday game will begin.

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