Gameweek 8 is the round where being wrong costs double. That is not a figure of speech: it is a Double Points round, which means every score is doubled, good or bad — how to play a Double Points round goes into it properly.

The deadline is Fri 23 Oct, 20:00 UK, the exact minute Ipswich kick off against Nottingham Forest. All ten matches are still to come when you commit.

FPG is simple: pick one Premier League team each round. If they win, you score points. Win and you're up a point, lose and you're down one, draw and nothing moves, and the rules fill in the rest. Double all of that and the question changes. It stops being who wins and becomes who you can still afford to be wrong about.

Seven Rounds of Doing What Everyone Else Did

The most-backed team has won outright twice in seven rounds. Chelsea opened the season 3-2 at Fulham for the 22 players on them, and last round 38 of the 123 took Brighton, who won 5-0 at home to Crystal Palace — premierleague.com called that "their biggest win over their rivals in 70 years".

The rest of it: Liverpool drew in round 2, Fulham lost at home to Crystal Palace in round 3, and Aston Villa lost to Nottingham Forest in round 4. Round 5 split the crowd 15 and 15 between Everton and Nottingham Forest, so half of them got the 1-0 and half got the 0-1. Then in round 6 the 20 players on Newcastle watched them lose 4-1 at Coventry.

Newcastle get a second look from the crowd this week. They go to Crystal Palace on Sunday, and Palace are the side who shipped that 5-0. Tempting. Newcastle have also lost two of their last three, which is how these things usually start.

The Picks the Table Has Already Spent

You get two picks of each team per season, and the obvious teams are going fast.

Chelsea have been used up entirely by 9 players, with 48 more down to their last one. Brighton: 10 and 44. Arsenal: 9 and 38. Manchester City: 7 and 42. These four are the shortlist everyone reaches for in a round that doubles, and that is the trap. Spend your last one here and the next time they look like the obvious answer, you cannot take it.

Go the other way and there is room. Nobody has finished their Leeds or Sunderland picks. Ipswich have had fewer spent on them than any team in the game: 2 players out, 17 down to one.

Chelsea v Tottenham Is the One to Leave Alone

Sat 24 Oct, 17:30 UK, and the round's only derby. A derby adds +1 to a win and takes a point off a draw or a defeat — how derbies score in FPG has the mechanics — and this round doubles whatever you walk away with.

Chelsea won 2-0 at Everton last round. Tottenham beat Coventry 3-1 and have not lost in two. Chelsea are without their captain, though: Sky Sports reports Reece James is "expected to be out for around three months after knee surgery" (as of Fri 16 Oct).

A tight match, a derby's extra sting on anything short of a win, and a round that multiplies the damage. Brilliant television. Awful pick.

Going It Alone Pays Double As Well

If you're the only player on a team and they win, you get an extra +1, and this round that bonus sits inside the part that gets doubled. Climbing the table with a lonely pick explains the play.

Nobody collected it last round. The closest thing to quiet ground this time is Friday night: Ipswich, the least-picked team of the season, at home to a Nottingham Forest side that has lost three on the bounce.

What I'm Backing, and Why It's Dull

Arsenal at home to Everton, Sat 24 Oct, 15:00 UK.

Two wins on the spin for Arsenal, 2-1 at home to Leeds and then 1-0 away at Nottingham Forest. Everton have managed one win in their last three, and they come into this off a 0-2 home defeat by Chelsea. Home side, better form, and nothing in the fixture asking you to be brave.

The one thing that should bother you: Arsenal were taken apart 3-0 at Brighton in round 5, so the floor here is lower than their last two results suggest.

One honest exception. Four points separate the leader from the pair behind them, and a doubled round is the one week I would fancy a differential to close a gap like that — so if you are one of the two, Friday night at Ipswich is the braver version of this post. Everyone else: take the dull one.

FAQ

Who should I pick in Gameweek 8? Arsenal at home to Everton. They have won their last two, Everton have one win in three, and the home win is the version of this round least likely to cost you twice.

When is the FPG Gameweek 8 deadline? Fri 23 Oct, 20:00 UK, the same minute Ipswich v Nottingham Forest kicks off. Nothing in the round has happened by then.

Is Chelsea v Tottenham worth picking in Gameweek 8? It is the round's only derby, and a doubled round is the wrong week to take on a derby's extra downside. Both sides are in form, which makes it the hardest result on the board to call.

Nobody gets a second go at a doubled round. Lock your pick in at fpg-app.com before Friday night.

Written by Toby Gaskell, Founder of FPG