If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 9.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 9 DEADLINE?
Be quick! All transfers and team selections need to be done by 18:30 BST on Friday 24 October.
BUY, KEEP OR SELL?
In this week’s regular article about transfer trends, we’ve asked whether managers should give up on a few highly owned names.
For example, it’ll be interesting to see how long Joao Pedro (£7.5m), Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) and Tijani Reijnders (£5.7m) remain in the template of ‘The Great and the Good’.
Chelsea’s forward has been awful of late, but is a unanimous Scout Squad pick because he’s about to face Sunderland. Bookmakers think the Brazilian is the most likely player to score. At least Gyokeres – also goalless in four league games – is scoring in the Champions League and getting lots of shots.
Both he and Reijnders are backed by ‘Goals Imminent’ – the same data that correctly predicted Jean-Philippe Mateta‘s (£7.6m) Gameweek 8 success.
As for the Manchester City midfielder, he played only 59 minutes versus Everton. Zophar believes it could be time to get rid, staying away from all three in his Wildcard activation.
CHIP AWAY
Complicating the debate for others on a Gameweek 9 Wildcard is that Chelsea and Arsenal have superb short-term fixtures, as does fellow forward Nick Woltemade (£7.3m). His gorgeous flicked strike against Brighton and Hove Albion made it four goals in five for this week’s most-bought individual.
Many managers intend to Bench Boost because low-priced Burnley and Leeds United defenders are about to face the bottom two sides. Shut-outs are possible. Meanwhile, cheap forwards Marc Guiu (£4.3m) and Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.5m) look likely to start, as a reward for their recent goals.
But owners of hurt defender Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) will either have to sell him or postpone using this chip. Pro Pundit Lateriser is one of those. He’s eyeing up another upcoming Gameweek, especially now that doubts have been raised over Gabriel Magalhaes‘ (£6.4m) status.
DYCHE AT FOREST
Could it even be time to back a Nottingham Forest rejuvenation under new boss Sean Dyche? After all, they beat Porto on Thursday night.
So much was expected of the Tricky Trees’ defence because of last season’s heroics, but popular pre-season picks have yet to keep a domestic clean sheet.
Indeed, considering Nikola Milenkovic (£5.3m) and Murillo (£5.3m) would’ve been their position’s two highest-scoring 2024/25 players had defensive contribution (DefCon) points been taken into account, they’re hardly picking any up. This is despite there being far more Premier League DefCon points than at this stage last time.
Approach Forest with caution.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 9 CAPTAIN
Unsurprisingly, Erling Haaland (£14.7m) is the recommended armband recipient of our Captain Sensible study. So far, his season has included 24 goals in just 14 matches for club and country.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.9m) is in second place, with Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) completing the podium.
TEAM REVEALSSCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – includes all three captaincy candidates, as well as Woltemade.
As Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.3m) has undergone surgery and will be out for a while longer, Michael Keane (£4.5m) is suggested as one of three good differential picks.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 9!
