FPL Gameweek 8 Best squad, captain and deadline

My £100m XI: 3-5-2, Haaland armband, and a Brighton triple-up

A 3-5-2 this week, built around one simple fact: Manchester City host Ipswich, and Erling Haaland projects for roughly 10 points before you even double him. That's the spine of the team. Everything else is value hunting.

Between the posts I've gone cheap and brave: Trafford at £5.0m, owned by barely 1 in 10, with Leeds hosting Manchester United at Elland Road. It's not a soft fixture, but my numbers still like him as a save-points keeper, and the money he frees up matters more.

The back three is where the eyebrows go up. De Cuyper is the easy one — Brighton host Crystal Palace and he's my highest-projected defender this week at around six points. Guéhi gets the City clean-sheet odds against Ipswich, and he's a cheaper route into that defence than the premium names. Bogle is the punt: under 1 in 10 own him, and backing a Leeds defender against United is a leap — but he's £4.7m, he projects a respectable four-plus, and he pays for the midfield.

That midfield is the engine. Groß is the headline — Brighton at home to Palace makes him my top midfielder this week at just over eight projected points, which is why he wears the vice armband. Hinshelwood is the pick almost nobody will copy: owned by practically no one, same lovely home fixture, and my numbers make him worth the slot ahead of bigger names. Cherki rides the Ipswich fixture alongside Haaland. Rogers and Saka are the trust picks — tougher trips to Everton and Forest respectively, but both carry the kind of upside that turns a quiet week into a haul.

Up front, Haaland captains and it isn't close. Ipswich at home is exactly the fixture you hand him the band for — double digits before doubling, and about 7 in 10 managers own him, so not captaining him is the real gamble. João Pedro partners him; Chelsea away at Everton isn't glamorous, but he's the most reliable mid-priced forward in the game right now and 7 in 10 of you already know it.

The bench is pure enabling — Valdimarsson, Gusto, Kusi-Asare, Byfield — £17.8m parked deliberately so the XI can carry Haaland, Saka and two £7.9m midfielders at once. No line-ups are out yet; if the Brighton news goes sideways, Groß and De Cuyper are the ones I'd re-examine.

The call: captain Haaland, vice Groß, and don't blink on the Leeds pair — the savings are the whole point.

He's not cheap for a keeper at £6.1m, but my numbers have him as the most reliable source of clean-sheet points over the stretch, and with about 4 in 10 managers on him you're not taking a risk by matching the crowd.

The back four is where the value lives. De Cuyper at £5.1m is my top-projected defender over the six weeks — Brighton's clean-sheet potential plus his attacking involvement make him the first name in. Guéhi gives you a route into City's defence at £6.0m with only about 2 in 10 owning him, and Bogle is the eyebrow-raiser: £4.7m, barely 1 in 10 own him, yet he projects nearly as well as defenders a pound dearer. Calafiori rounds it out — roughly half the game owns him, so he's as much protection as pick. The one shield I couldn't fit was Gvardiol; Guéhi plus Bogle gets you more points for less money.

In midfield, Groß is quietly the engine of this squad — my second-highest projected player overall, usually good for 5-6 a week with set-piece upside, and he wears the vice-armband. Rogers and Palmer double up on Chelsea's attack; Palmer's ownership has drifted to about 2.5 in 10, which makes him genuine rank-climbing material if the big weeks return. Cherki is the fun one — on his day he can go massive. Bruno Fernandes is the other shield left out, and that's deliberate: these four project better.

Up top, Haaland and João Pedro pick themselves — three-quarters of the game own the former, seven in 10 the latter. Haaland takes the armband this week on this week's fixture alone: my numbers make him comfortably the biggest single-week score on the board, double figures expected before you double it.

The bench is £17.3m of function, not flash — Kinsky is a proper playing backup keeper, van Ewijk at £3.9m is outstanding value for an enabler, and Slater covers a blank. Kusi-Asare is a bench-filler, nothing more.

The call: hold this fifteen for six weeks, and Haaland wears the armband this one.