GW7 Review: Haaland Over Groß Pays Off, Brighton Hit Five and Our Differentials Flop

By Geomi George · Published 22 October 2026

Gameweek 7 produced a 59-point average, a top score of 122, and a weekend that rewarded the two obvious calls and punished almost every clever one. Haaland scored twice, Brighton put five past Palace, and, Haaland and Raya aside, the Team of the Week was filled by players owned by fewer than one manager in ten. Here is what happened, an honest score for the preview, and what to carry into Friday's early deadline.

The scores that mattered

The Team of the Week was led by Chelsea's Neto (15 — two goals, a clean sheet and maximum bonus at Everton, owned by under 3%), with Haaland (13, two goals in the 3-2 over Ipswich) and Raya (9, a clean sheet and three bonus at Forest) the only template players in it. Brighton's 5-0 put four of their players in the eleven: Ayari (13), Kostoulas (12), Vuskovic (11) and Boscagli (10). Bournemouth's 2-0 over Sunderland produced Evanilson (12) and Tavernier (10), Villa's Manzambi (11) won it at Newcastle, and Fulham's Iwobi (11) scored the only goal against Hull.

The season table has a new look: De Cuyper leads on 59, with Haaland and Groß level on 58, and Brighton's Vuskovic fourth on 51 at 5.8% ownership and £5.1m.

Where the points went missing

• Cherki did not play. The week's most-bought player, taken in by 226,000 managers, did not get on the pitch at the Etihad and returned 0. There was no flag beforehand. Gvardiol lasted 29 minutes for 0, Guéhi 1, and Semenyo left after 13 minutes with a knee injury that now has no return date.
• Chelsea's attack delivered a clean sheet instead. João Pedro, Rogers and Palmer returned 2 each in a 2-0 win; Neto and Hato took the points. Chelsea's first clean sheet of the season came in the fixture we said their defence made a hard sell for their forwards, which is cold comfort for 73% of the game.
• Bruno Fernandes: five blanks in a row. One point at Leeds, form now 1.0. Mbeumo (8) and Calvert-Lewin (9) scored the goals in that game.
• Tarkowski on 0 after a full 90 at home to Chelsea, his first zero of the season. Schade was substituted at half-time on 0.
• Dubravka, week seven. Owned by one manager in six, zero points for the season.

How our preview calls landed

The captain call was the week's most important one and we got it right for the right reason. Our model leaned Groß; we overruled it on ownership, because the gap was under two points, and backed Haaland. Haaland returned 13 for 26 with the armband; Groß returned 5 for 10. The backtested Best XI, which follows the model and captained Groß, scored 56, three below the average, and is now 18 behind the average manager over seven rounds. Brighton v Palace was the other call that held: we named De Cuyper, Vuskovic and Verbruggen as the clean-sheet beneficiaries and they returned 6, 11 and 6. Telling João Pedro owners to leave the armband alone at Everton saved them a 4-point captain.

The rest was poor, and some of it badly so. We said to treat Isak as out; he started at Brentford and scored for 9. We called Cunha the United player with momentum; he played six minutes. We put Dewsbury-Hall and Barry up as a route into Chelsea's defence; they returned 2 each as Chelsea kept it clean. We called the Coventry defenders the live bargains at Spurs; Spurs won 3-1 and Dasilva finished on 0. Brobbey, described as cleared, was flagged again by Saturday and did not play. Of the five differentials we named, Vuskovic was the only one that returned. That is the kind of week that argues for fewer, better-supported punts, and we will write the next preview that way.

The market has already moved

Buyers went for Cherki (226,000 in, before Saturday's non-appearance), Tavernier (218,000), Groß, De Cuyper and Rogers, all of whom rose. Going the other way: Szoboszlai (329,000 out, now injured with no return date), Semenyo (317,000, same), Bruno, Wissa, Gvardiol, Saka and Gibbs-White. Wissa and Gibbs-White have fallen in price. The price predictor has tonight's likely moves.

Injuries to watch

• Szoboszlai (LIV) and Semenyo (MCI) — both out, no return date. Sell.
• Saka (ARS) — thigh, 50%. Hold until Friday's press conference; a 50% flag with Everton at home is worth one day's patience.
• Brobbey (SUN) — hamstring, 75%, missed the Bournemouth game. O'Reilly (MCI) — back, 75%.
• Pedro Porro (TOT) — back around 24 October. Mendy (HUL) and Tzolis (ARS) — out until the end of the month.

Looking ahead to GW8

A Friday evening deadline this time, because Ipswich v Forest opens the round on Friday night. Chelsea host Spurs on the softest home rating of the weekend, Coventry v Fulham is rated easy for both sides, Brentford at Hull and Forest at Ipswich are the soft away trips, and City go to Villa. Liverpool v Brighton and Arsenal v Everton are the two that decide most mini-leagues. The grid is on the fixtures page, the Best XI has already rebuilt for GW8, and your mini-league has the GW7 table settled.