Gameweek 8 recap: Bournemouth stun Old Trafford and the best possible XI
Gameweek 8 brought a 3–0 Bournemouth win at Old Trafford, Spurs winning at Stamford Bridge and Villa beating Manchester City. Here's who went furthest under par, who had a weekend to forget, and the best team anyone could have picked.
The results
| Ipswich Town 1–1 Nottingham Forest |
| Aston Villa 2–1 Manchester City |
| Arsenal 2–0 Everton |
| Coventry City 0–1 Fulham |
| Chelsea 0–2 Tottenham |
| Crystal Palace 0–2 Newcastle |
| Hull City 1–1 Brentford |
| Liverpool 2–0 Brighton |
| Manchester United 0–3 Bournemouth |
| Sunderland 0–0 Leeds |
Furthest under par
| Player | PAR | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas Jackson (Aston Villa) | 6.8 | 8.9 | −2.1 |
| James Hill (Bournemouth) | 6.9 | 8.8 | −1.9 |
| Zion Suzuki (Aston Villa) | 6.7 | 8.6 | −1.9 |
| Rayan (Bournemouth) | 6.8 | 8.6 | −1.8 |
| Mathys Tel (Spurs) | 6.4 | 8.0 | −1.6 |
| Antonín Kinský (Spurs) | 6.4 | 8.0 | −1.6 |
Nicolas Jackson's 8.9 in Villa's win over City was the rating of the weekend, and with a PAR of 6.8 he finished 2.1 under. Both of the big away wins paid off too. Bournemouth keeper Djordje Petrovic had the kindest PAR in the game at 6.2 and finished 1.5 under, and Spurs' Kinský and Tel both beat their 6.4 PARs by 1.6.
A day to forget
| Player | PAR | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man City) | 7.2 | 3.9 | +3.3 |
| Senne Lammens (Man United) | 7.3 | 4.8 | +2.5 |
| Olivier Boscagli (Brighton) | 6.8 | 4.5 | +2.3 |
| Youri Tielemans (Man United) | 7.4 | 5.2 | +2.2 |
| Marc Guéhi (Man City) | 7.3 | 5.2 | +2.1 |
| Pascal Groß (Brighton) | 7.1 | 5.0 | +2.1 |
Donnarumma's 3.9 at Villa Park is the worst score we've seen in UnderPar so far. Manchester United were favourites at home, so their PARs were high, and a 3–0 defeat left Lammens and Tielemans well over. Chelsea's Cole Palmer (+1.9) and Morgan Rogers (+1.7) had a weekend to forget against Spurs as well.
The best possible XI
This is the lowest-scoring team anyone could have picked within the rules: one keeper, at least three defenders and three midfielders, up to three attackers, players from at least six clubs, and no more than three from one club.
| Pos | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| GK | Zion Suzuki (Aston Villa) | −1.9 |
| DEF | James Hill (Bournemouth) | −1.9 |
| DEF | Abdukodir Khusanov (Man City) | −1.5 |
| DEF | Amar Dedić (Newcastle) | −1.4 |
| DEF | Luke O'Nien (Sunderland) | −1.3 |
| MID | Lewis Cook (Bournemouth) | −1.3 |
| MID | John McGinn (Aston Villa) | −1.2 |
| MID | Mamadou Sangaré (Brentford) | −1.1 |
| ATT | Nicolas Jackson (Aston Villa) | −2.1 |
| ATT | Mathys Tel (Spurs) | −1.6 |
| ATT | Oscar Bobb (Fulham) | −1.5 |
That team would have scored −16.8, better than Gameweek 7's best of −15.5. Bournemouth's Rayan (−1.8) just misses out because of the club limits: with three Villa players in, Bournemouth can only have two. Again, not one player in it had a PAR above 7.0.
How our tips did
Our picks and avoids were a mixed bag. Boubacar Kamara went 0.5 under, Diego Gómez finished exactly on par at Anfield, and Brandon Thomas-Asante went 0.6 over in Coventry's defeat. All three players we said to avoid finished over par: Matz Sels (+0.2), Kai Havertz (+0.8, on as a substitute) and Bruno Fernandes, who didn't play and scored +0.3.
Gameweek 8 in numbers
- 278 players got a FotMob rating, and 130 of them (47%) beat their PAR.
- Bournemouth's players went furthest under par on average (−1.05 each), followed by Newcastle (−0.52) and Aston Villa (−0.51).
- Chelsea's players had the worst weekend (+0.81 each), then Manchester United (+0.77) and Manchester City (+0.48).
- Goalkeepers did best this time, averaging −0.20, after being the costliest position in Gameweek 7. Midfielders were the costliest, at +0.06.
Next up: Gameweek 9 and the new bench
Gameweek 9 starts with Chelsea v Manchester United at 12:30 on Saturday 31 October, so the deadline is 11:00 on Saturday. The clocks have gone back, so that's GMT. From this week you also pick a bench of three, and only starters' ratings count. Read the new rules, then pick your XI and bench.