Gameweek 8 Waiver Wire: Premier League Claims and Traps
Pedro Neto is the strongest Gameweek 8 waiver claim if his two-goal return left him free. Keane Lewis-Potter and Jack Rudoni offer more widely available midfield routes, while Emersonn is the forward to back despite three quiet scores. Tarik Muharemović and Calvin Bassey are lower-cost defender adds.
This is advice for Premier League draft leagues, where every player has one owner. Roster rate measures completed private Draft Fantasy leagues, so it estimates availability rather than guaranteeing that a player is free in yours. Check the live market in your Draft Fantasy Premier League league before submitting a claim.
The board uses Draft Fantasy regular scoring, which matches official FPL scoring. Custom-scoring leagues calculate points from commissioner-defined values, so extra rewards for defensive work, chances created or other actions can change the order.
The Gameweek 8 waiver board
| Move | Player | Pos | Rostered | Current evidence | GW8–10 | FAAB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority claim |  Pedro NetoCHE | Midfielder | 42.9% | 6 starts · 2.09 xGI |
| 7–12% |
| Starting claim |  Keane Lewis-PotterBRE | Midfielder | 14.8% | 7 starts · 2.26 xGI |
| 4–7% |
| Starting claim |  Jack RudoniCOV | Midfielder | 4.1% | 6 starts · 3.01 xGI |
| 3–6% |
| Forward value |  EmersonnIPS | Forward | 33.5% | 7 starts · 2.61 xGI |
| 4–7% |
| Low-cost add |  Tarik MuharemovićLEE | Defender | 34.3% | 630 min · 73 DC |
| 2–4% |
| Low-cost add |  Calvin BasseyFUL | Defender | 12.9% | 630 min · 51 DC |
| 1–3% |
Official FPL stats and Draft Fantasy completed-private-league roster rates, 20 October 2026; difficulty runs from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard).
The FAAB figures are editorial ranges from your remaining budget, not fixed player prices. Use the top of a range only when the addition improves your usual starting lineup. In rolling or weekly-reset leagues, keep the same decision order but price the move in waiver priority rather than cash.
Open Draft Fantasy and set your Gameweek 8 waiver queue before your league processes claims.
Buy Neto's six starts, not just his brace
Neto's 15-point Gameweek 7 will attract the largest bid on this board. The useful evidence underneath it is six starts, 504 minutes and 2.09 expected goal involvements across the season. He had also supplied an assist and 82 minutes in Gameweek 6 before scoring twice in Gameweek 7.
Chelsea now host Spurs in a difficulty-one fixture, followed by Manchester United at home and Sunderland away. That supports a real starting claim, but the price still needs a ceiling: Neto produced two, two and five points in the three rounds before his brace. Pay 7–12 per cent when he replaces a weak starting midfielder, not when he would become an expensive bench option.
Lewis-Potter offers role security; Rudoni offers the schedule
Lewis-Potter has started all seven matches and followed 66 minutes in Gameweek 6 with 76 minutes, a goal and nine points in Gameweek 7. His 2.26 expected goal involvements give the return some process, while Hull away and Nottingham Forest at home carry ratings of two and one. The difficulty-four trip to Brighton in Gameweek 10 makes him a two-week claim rather than an automatic long-term hold.
Rudoni is rostered in only 4.1 per cent of completed private leagues despite six starts, 465 minutes and 3.01 expected goal involvements. He has scored in consecutive rounds, but the stronger reason to add him is what comes next: Coventry host Fulham and Sunderland in back-to-back difficulty-one fixtures before an Everton trip rated two.
Choose Lewis-Potter when you want the seven-start sample. Choose Rudoni when you can accept a slightly shorter role record for the better three-week run. Do not pay for both unless both clearly beat midfielders already in your lineup.
Emersonn is the patience claim at forward
Emersonn has scored two points in each of the last three rounds, yet he has started every match and generated 2.48 expected goals. In Gamesweeks 6 and 7 alone, his combined 0.87 xG produced no goal. Expected goals do not promise a future return, but they do show that the quiet scores have not come from a disappearing role.
Ipswich host Nottingham Forest at difficulty one, travel to Hull at two and then host Bournemouth at two. That makes Emersonn a better forward claim now than after his 12-point Gameweek 4, provided your squad can manage his regular substitutions. The 4–7 per cent range prices positional scarcity without pretending that seven starts guarantee 90 minutes.
Muharemović and Bassey belong below the midfield claims
Muharemović has completed all 630 minutes, recorded 73 defensive contributions and returned 34 regular-scoring points. He also receives ratings of two, two and one through Gameweek 10. That is a stable defender profile, especially in custom leagues that reward defensive actions, but his 0.76 xGI is not a reason for an aggressive attacking-upside bid.
Bassey has also played every minute. His eight Gameweek 7 points came with a clean sheet, while the forward-looking case is a difficulty-one trip to Coventry and a 12.9 per cent roster rate. Treat him as a low-cost starter or rotation piece, not a player who should displace a reliable defender merely because of last week's score.
The free fixture-difficulty tool lets you compare these runs with defenders actually available in your league.
Two Gameweek 7 score chases to avoid
Jorrel Hato supplied 11 points in 90 minutes, but he played no minutes in Gamesweeks 5 or 6. Chelsea's Gameweek 8 rating is attractive; one return still does not establish a secure role. Keep him below the six players on this board until team selection supplies another start.
Brighton's Yasin Ayari, Luka Vušković and Olivier Boscagli all reached double figures in Gameweek 7. Their next two fixtures are Liverpool away at difficulty four and Manchester City away at five. Existing managers can judge each role on its merits, but those scores are not a reason to jump the current fixture queue.
Last week's board is ahead provisionally
All six recommendations in the Gameweek 7 waiver guide played at least 60 minutes. Solanke and De Cuyper combined for ten regular-scoring points against the predicted eight-point threshold, while Iwobi led the group with 11 points.
Those are provisional results. All ten Gameweek 7 fixtures are complete on the pitch, but the official event is not yet marked finished or data checked. Do not declare the prediction final or use one round of points to erase the role-and-schedule method.
Gameweek 6 is now final. Five of that board's six recommendations reached 60 minutes, meeting the role threshold exactly, but Groß, Hall and Kostoulas combined for seven points against a target of 12. The points condition failed. This week's order keeps secure starts near the top while putting explicit ceilings on the latest scorers.
Submit a queue that can survive one failed claim
- Name the lineup problem. Neto is the top midfield claim; Emersonn is the forward route; Muharemović and Bassey solve defence more cheaply.
- Add same-position fallbacks. Lewis-Potter and Rudoni should sit behind Neto rather than becoming unrelated bids.
- Name the outgoing player. Draft Fantasy waiver requests are one-for-one moves, so every successful claim must leave a valid squad.
- Price the rules you actually use. The fantasy football waiver rules guide explains FAAB, rolling priority, weekly reset and immediate free agents.
- Recheck team news. The verified Gameweek 8 deadline is 17:30 UTC on Friday 23 October; a 20 October availability flag is not a deadline-day guarantee.
Official competition data marked Gameweek 7 current, with all ten fixtures finished provisional, and Gameweek 8 next when this evidence was captured on 20 October. Player points, minutes, starts, expected returns, defensive contributions and availability came from official FPL data and player histories. Roster rates came from Draft Fantasy's fresh epl26 dataset, and each fixture rating was joined to the current official fixture by ID and venue.
Ready to turn the board into a real claim order? Start or manage a Draft Fantasy Premier League league, invite your managers and choose the waiver system that fits your competition.