A home encounter with Crystal Palace earns Nottingham Forest duo Nikola Milenkovic (£4.5m) and Chris Wood (£6.2m) a place in the best XI for Gameweek 8 of Fantasy Premier League.
Centre-back Milenkovic has produced attacking or defensive returns in three of his first six appearances in 2024/25 Fantasy, combining an assist with two clean sheets.
Wood, meanwhile, sits just three points off second place in the forward standings, scoring four goals and earning 39 points.
They are selected in a dream XI that lines up in a 3-4-3 formation, with Erling Haaland (£15.4m) handed the armband and Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) named vice-captain.
Arijanet Muric (Ipswich) £4.4m
Ipswich Town’s No 1 offers multiple routes to returns at home to Everton. Despite claiming only one clean sheet across his last four outings, Muric has still averaged 4.0 points per match in that run, also collecting four save points and three bonus points.
Gabriel (Arsenal) £6.2m
Two goals and three clean sheets highlight the Arsenal centre-back’s strong all-round potential at AFC Bournemouth. Gabriel’s 10 shots in the box and four big chances – situations where the player is expected to score – both rank first among defenders this season.
Josko Gvardiol (Man City) £5.9m
Manchester City’s Croat boasts strong away form ahead of the champions' trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gvardiol has averaged 6.0 points per away match, producing a goal, a clean sheet and two bonus points across three road trips.
Nikola Milenkovic (Nott’m Forest) £4.5m
Milenkovic hosts a Crystal Palace side who have struggled in attack, scoring only one single goal across their last three contests.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) £10.1m
Arsenal's winger has been the most consistent attacker in the early stages of 2024/25 Fantasy, with just a single blank in seven outings. Saka is expected to recover from a knock for the Gunners' visit to Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
Phil Foden (Man City) £9.2m
An ownership of five per cent makes the Man City midfielder an outstanding differential against Wolves. Foden's opponents have conceded a league-high 21 goals, while their 26 big chances allowed also rank among the worst three sides this season.
Brennan Johnson (Spurs) £6.6m
Tottenham Hotspur's Welshman enters a home fixture against West Ham United in the most prolific scoring form of his career. Johnson has netted in seven successive matches for club and country, a run which has made him the second most-bought player in the Gameweek, with 246,000+ managers bringing him in.
Emile Smith Rowe (Fulham) £5.7m
Fulham's summer signing from Arsenal is yet to blank at home this season, averaging 8.3 points per match at Craven Cottage, thanks to two goals and an assist. The Cottagers entertain an Aston Villa side who have conceded a combined three goals to promoted pair Leicester City and Ipswich across their last two away trips.
Erling Haaland (Man City) £15.4m
Owned by a mammoth 73 per cent of managers, Man City's Norwegian will surely be the runaway captaincy favourite against Wolves. Haaland delivered his best score of 2023/24 Fantasy in his previous meeting with Gary O'Neil's side, scoring four goals and earning 21 points.
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) £9.1m
The Aston Villa star is the top-scoring forward in Fantasy over the last four Gameweeks, earning 32 points, thanks to four goals and an assist. Watkins was a big success in the corresponding fixture at Craven Cottage last season, scoring twice to collect 13 points.
Chris Wood (Nott'm Forest) £6.2m
As the focal point of Nott'm Forest's attack, Wood has had seven big chances this season, at least five more than any team-mate.
