GW8 Predicted Lineups: Penders in Goal and Arsenal’s Open Right Side

The deadline is 18:30 BST on Friday, so this week’s predictions have less time to be wrong than usual and less time to be corrected. They start from each side’s actual Gameweek 7 starting XI, adjust for this week’s injuries and suspensions, and check the result against one predicted-lineup tracker where it has a lineup for the club. Where the sources disagree, the section says so. The shape of the week is clear enough: Chelsea need a new goalkeeper, Arsenal need a new right winger, and Manchester City have three players to assess and one, Haaland, who is not in question.

Chelsea will start a goalkeeper with 15 minutes of league football this season. Nobody planned for that.

Manchester City (away at Aston Villa)

Predicted XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol; Bouaddi, Kovacic; Ndiaye, Cherki, Foden; Haaland.

Haaland starts. Maresca called him 100 percent available on Thursday. The other three forced off against Ipswich, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly, were due to be assessed that afternoon. If O’Reilly misses out, Josko Gvardiol is the natural replacement at left back. Semenyo’s knee injury opens a place in attack, and Maresca said Cherki and Foden can play together, which is the change from Gameweek 7, when Cherki did not start and Doku did. Foden scored a hat-trick against AEK Athens on Tuesday. Doku is the alternative to either.

Aston Villa (tracker XI): Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Mings, Bogarde; Kamara, Gomes; McGinn, Manzambi, Buendia; Jackson. Manzambi is a 75 percent doubt with a calf problem, and Wan-Bissaka is out for three to four weeks.

Chelsea (home vs Tottenham)

Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Penders; Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill; Neto, Caicedo, Henderson, Hato; Rogers, Palmer; Joao Pedro.

Ten of these eleven started at Everton. The eleventh is in goal: Emiliano Martinez fractured his jaw and is out until mid-December, Chelsea’s other two senior keepers are on loan elsewhere, and Robin Penders, 4.4m, is in line for his first league start. Reece James is out, Pep Chavarria is a doubt after pulling out of the Everton warm-up, and Malo Gusto is expected back from illness, which could put him in contention at wing-back. Neto played the full 90 at Everton for the first time this season and scored twice, so his place looks secure.

Tottenham’s Gameweek 7 side was Kinsky; Van Hecke, Tosin, Robertson, Van de Ven; Tonali, Gray, Kudus, Maddison; Marmoush, Solanke. Marmoush and Robertson are 75 percent, Bentancur is suspended and Pedro Porro is listed as returning on Saturday.

Arsenal (home vs Everton)

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Guimaraes; Madueke, Odegaard, Eze; Havertz.

Saka is the hole. He lasted ten minutes at Bayern and Arteta’s tone was bleak, so plan without him. Madueke, who scored the winner at Forest and moved across when Saka went off in Munich, is the likeliest replacement on the right. The sources disagree on the rest. The tracker, updated on Thursday morning, has White at right back and Eze on the left. In Munich, Arteta started Timber ahead of White and Madueke ahead of Eze, and one preview has Gyokeres up front with Guimaraes dropped. Hincapie could be available after his ankle injury. Konsa has kept his place through all of it.

Everton (tracker XI): Pickford; Maitland-Niles, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Garner, Armstrong; Rohl, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish; Barry. It is the same eleven that lost to Chelsea, and Everton have reported no new injuries.

Liverpool and Brighton

Liverpool predicted XI: Becker; Araujo, Van Dijk, Jacquet, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Munoz, Wirtz, Barcola; Isak. Brighton (tracker XI): Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Vuskovic, Dunk, Boscagli; Gross, Ayari; Gomez, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper; Kostoulas.

Liverpool’s front line, last week’s biggest question, is settled: Isak started and scored at Brentford, and Gakpo is fit and competes with Barcola. The question has moved to midfield. Szoboszlai’s hamstring has gone again, Gravenberch is back from suspension to replace him, Frimpong is out, and Munoz is a 75 percent doubt with a knee problem. Brighton’s XI is close to the side that beat Palace 5-0, with Hinshelwood, who scored in that match, in place of Chema Andres. Struijk is 75 percent and Mitoma, Minteh and Wieffer remain out.

Sunderland, Leeds, Manchester United and Bournemouth

Leeds predicted XI (3-4-1-2 as before): Trafford; Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic; Bogle, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Tanaka; Okafor, Calvert-Lewin. It is the same eleven that drew with Manchester United, and Leeds have reported no new problems. Sunderland lose Danso to suspension, and Brian Brobbey is expected to be ready after his hamstring injury, which would give them a centre forward they did not have at Bournemouth.

Bournemouth (tracker XI): Petrovic; Smith, Silva, Hill, Truffert; Adams, Cook; Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson. Manchester United’s Gameweek 7 side was Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Yoro; Tielemans, Baleba, Andrey Santos; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Amad. Martinez went off at half-time with a thigh problem and is 75 percent, Shaw and Mainoo are out, and Matheus Cunha, owned by 6.6 percent, did not start at Leeds. Check Friday’s news before counting on him.

All of the above is subject to change before the 18:30 BST deadline on Friday, 23 October, ninety minutes before Ipswich host Nottingham Forest. With the deadline a day earlier than usual, Friday’s press conferences are the last team news you will get, so check back before locking in anything built around a start.