FPL GW8 transfer targets: best buys by position

The best FPL GW8 transfer targets, on our projections for gameweeks 8 to 13, are De Cuyper among defenders, Saka among midfielders and Haaland up front. The deadline is Friday 23 October, 18:30 UK. Below are the top options by position, the best value, the low-owned picks, and where the crowd and our model disagree.

Who are the best transfer targets by position?

Defenders. De Cuyper (£5.3m, 41.1% owned) leads on 35.9 projected points over six gameweeks. Vuskovic is next on 30.7 at £5.1m and only 5.7% owned. Gabriel (30.3), Guéhi (29.9) and Calafiori (29.0) follow. Both De Cuyper and Vuskovic play for Brighton, so there is a case for one of them rather than both.

Midfielders. Saka leads on 34.9 at £9.6m, ahead of Rogers on 33.8 at £8.0m and Mbeumo on 33.5 at £7.8m. Groß is on 33.4 at only £6.2m, and Foden on 31.7 at £6.8m.

Forwards. Haaland is on 48.7 at £15.7m, the top projection on the list. Below him, João Pedro has 35.9 at £7.9m and Isak has 32.0 at £9.0m. Calvert-Lewin (25.1) and Kostoulas (24.5) are the cheaper routes.

Goalkeepers. The spread is tight. Trafford has 25.8 at £5.0m, Raya 25.6 at £6.1m, Tzolakis 24.7 at £4.7m, Donnarumma 23.4 at £5.5m and Verbruggen 23.1 at £4.6m. With so little between them, pick on price and fixtures.

Where is the best value?

Our value rule is projected points over the next six gameweeks per £1m, for players projected 12 or more.

• Defenders: De Cuyper gives 6.8 per £1m, then Thomas on 6.1 at £4.0m, and Vuskovic on 6.0.
• Midfielders: Groß gives 5.4 per £1m, then Henderson on 5.0 at £4.9m, and Tavernier on 4.8.
• Forwards: João Pedro gives 4.5, then Kostoulas on 4.3 and Calvert-Lewin on 4.2.
• Goalkeepers: Tzolakis gives 5.3, Trafford 5.2 and Verbruggen 5.0.

De Cuyper is the standout: the top defender on raw projection and on value.

Which low-owned players are worth a look?

These all sit under 5% ownership:

• Foden (£6.8m, 1.7% owned): 31.7 projected, the strongest of the group.
• Neto (£6.5m, 2.5% owned): 27.0 projected.
• Rúben (£5.5m, 2.0% owned): 25.2.
• Justin (£4.5m, 2.1% owned): 25.0 at a very low price.
• Muharemović (£5.0m, 4.9% owned) and Stach (£6.0m, 2.3% owned): 25.0 each.

Foden is the pick if you want one. The others are bench-slot value rather than ways to climb a rank.

What is the crowd buying and selling?

The most transferred in are Cherki, Groß, Tavernier, De Cuyper and Rogers. Four of those five sit among our top projections. Cherki is the outlier: our model has him at only 18.4 over six gameweeks, so the crowd is ahead of our numbers there.

The most transferred out are Szoboszlai, Semenyo, B.Fernandes, Wissa and Gvardiol. Szoboszlai (7.9), Semenyo (10.0) and Gvardiol (8.9) have weak projections, so our model agrees with those sales. B.Fernandes is the disagreement: he is projected at 31.6, which is hardly a sell on our numbers. Wissa is at 20.8.

What should I watch before the deadline?

Price changes can erode a transfer. Calvert-Lewin is 90.1% of the way to a rise, Guéhi 76.9% and Mbeumo 67.7%. Buying before a rise is worth a little, but not enough to override a bad fixture. Check price changes before you commit, and the differentials page for the full low-owned list. Our squad builder can test a combination under your budget.

How we worked this out

Projections are our model's expected points for gameweeks 8 to 13, built from fixtures, start probability and recent form. Value is those points per £1m. Ownership, prices and transfer counts come from the FPL game data. Projections are forecasts, not guarantees, and team news can change them.