GW7 Player Performance Review: Neto’s 15, Haaland’s Triple Captain, and Brighton’s Cheap Scorers

Gameweek 7 produced 26 goals in ten matches, a gameweek average of 59, and a top score of 122. The biggest individual return went to a Chelsea midfielder for the second week running. Pedro Neto scored twice at Everton for 15 points, a week after Jordan Henderson’s 18 against Bournemouth. Behind him came Brighton’s Yasin Ayari and Erling Haaland on 13 each, then Evanilson and Charalampos Kostoulas on 12. The armband market had its best week of the season, because the most popular captain was also the right one. Here is what the underlying numbers say about which of it repeats.

Two Chelsea midfielders have scored 33 points in two weeks between them. Neither started the season in many teams, and neither should be bought on that alone.

Pedro Neto: Fifteen Points From 0.37 Expected Goals

Neto’s two goals came from chances worth 0.37 expected goals between them, and before Saturday his season read 1, 7, 2, 2, 2 and 5. That is the honest reading: a very good afternoon from a player who had not been producing. The repeatable part is elsewhere in the numbers. He played the full 90 for the first time this season, recorded nine defensive contributions from a wing-back role, and is now owned by 2.7 percent of managers at 6.5m with Tottenham and Manchester United at home next. He is the differential in this week’s Captain Recommendations, with the minutes as the stated risk. One haul is a headline. Two would be a trend.

Haaland: The Triple Captain Delivered

About 724,000 managers played the Triple Captain on Haaland against Ipswich, and he scored twice for 39 points. He also recorded a bonus points system score of 71, the highest of the round. He has now scored in six straight gameweeks and has eight league goals from 5.69 expected goals, so he is finishing better than his chances, which is normal for him and still worth noting. The one scare came late, when he hobbled off. Enzo Maresca has since said he is fully available for Aston Villa.

Brighton’s Five: The Cheap Players Scored

Brighton beat Crystal Palace 5-0, and the points went mostly to the players the market had not bought. Ayari scored 13, Kostoulas 12, Luka Vuskovic 11 with an assist and twelve defensive contributions, Boscagli 10 and Gomez 8. The two most-owned Brighton players, Maxim De Cuyper and Pascal Gross, scored 6 and 5. Brighton now have five clean sheets in seven, the most in the league, and 23 goals, also the most in the league. Ayari is owned by 0.6 percent at 5.4m and Vuskovic by 5.8 percent at 5.1m. The catch is the fixture list, which sends Brighton to Liverpool and Manchester City next.

The Captain Verdict

Haaland was the most-captained player and returned 13, 26 for anyone who used the armband normally. Joao Pedro, the most popular vice-captain, scored two at Everton while Neto took the goals. Bukayo Saka returned three at Forest from no expected goals at all, and Bruno Fernandes scored one at Leeds, his sixth blank in seven league matches and his fifth in a row. Jeremy Doku, this site’s differential armband, managed six with an assist. The week rewarded the safe pick and punished most of the alternatives, which is how most weeks go when City play at home.

Ownership Shift Ahead of Gameweek 8

The transfer market has been shaped by injuries more than by points. Szoboszlai (338,000 out), Semenyo (330,000), Fernandes (252,000), Wissa (201,000) and Saka (143,000) lead the sales. Cherki (236,000 in), Tavernier (231,000), Gross (211,000), De Cuyper (187,000) and Rogers (171,000) lead the purchases, and all five have already risen by 0.1m. Gross and De Cuyper are the interesting ones: bought after a 5-0 win in which neither scored, ahead of two away trips to the top of the league.

One big score is a headline. A second one, backed by the chances behind it, is a trend worth building a squad around.