Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 9

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 9, and for once a standard Saturday deadline of 11:00 GMT.

To say it’s been a rollercoaster of an international break would be an understatement. Injuries coupled with coronavirus (COVID-19) is not a pleasant cocktail for Fantasy managers. Whatsmore, we are approaching a crossroads in the season with fixture swings encouraging many to play their Wildcards.

To help you with your crucial transfer and armband decisions, this Gameweek Guide will summarise the latest news from a turbulent couple of weeks.

The all-important Team News: Neale brought us the latest in his two round-up articles; one from Friday’s press conferences and one from Thursday’s. Further details can be found in his notes on each club along with his Predicted Line-ups.

Neale has also put together a comprehensive list of minutes played over the international break, along with the journeys undertaken by those playing abroad. Brazilian Thiago Silva (£5.5m) looks set to miss Gameweek 9 as a result of his late return.

Sell Salah?

The most expensive player in FPL contracted COVID-19 during the international break, leaving owners in quandary. For Career Hall of Fame No 1, Fábio Borges, the decision to sell or keep will partly depend on how long Mohamed Salah (£12.3m) is ruled out for:

I seriously doubt It’s worth to sell Salah for a hit if he is ruled out for just one Gameweek (which seems the most likely scenario).

– Fábio

The latest from manager Jurgen Klopp suggests everything is in place for Salah to resume training as soon as he tests negative for COVID-19:

Although whether he’ll be ready to face Brighton in Gameweek 10 – Liverpool play at 12:30 GMT on Saturday – is anyone’s guess. And any indication of a longer absence will spark further sales: the Egyptian is already the most-sold player ahead of the deadline.

Sadio Mané (£12.1m) could temp managers as a replacement, Pro Pundit Holly pointed out that the Senegalse has underperformed in recent matches:

Sadio Mané has just one goal in the last four Gameweeks, coming from four big chances. It is unusual for Liverpool’s winger to be so poor in his conversions and you would expect a big improvement going forward.

– Holly

However Holly does mention that Salah is superior for shots, shots on target and shots inside the box – almost doubling Mané’s tallies across the board. So when fit, the Egyptian would appear the better option.

Moving to Manchester

Some managers may consider moving early on Kevin De Bruyne (£11.5m) while Bruno Fernandes (£10.6m) currently tops this week’s captain poll. 

Both Manchester clubs feature in the ‘strong’ section of teams with the best upcoming fixtures.

Getting De Bruyne is perhaps a week too soon given that City travel to Tottenham Hotspur, although many on Wildcards are including the Belgian in their XV’s. But following their trip to London, Pep’s troops enjoy an excellent run starting with home matches against Burnley in Gameweek 10 and Fulham in Gameweek 11.

Pro Pundit Az researched De Bruyne’s record against the relegated teams last season:

In the four games he played against the last season’s doomed teams, De Bruyne produced three goals and four assists. A great return. City won all of these encounters convincingly, with the 8-0 rout at home to Watford probably their highlight of the campaign.

– Az

As our Tom Selleck look alike then pointed out, Fulham and West Brom (City’s opponents in Gameweek 13) are yet to keep a shut-out on the road, displaying some mid-table defensive statistics. They appear ripe for Manchester City to rediscover their attacking mojo – and chief creator De Bruyne will doubtless be involved.

But facing West Brom this Gameweek has made Bruno Fernandes the most-bought player, with just under 700,000 acquiring the Portuguese at the time of writing.  

Fernandes currently sits in both the Wildcard teams of Pro Pundit Zophar and Simon March.

Over the course of the season, Fernandes is joint second with De Bruyne for chances created (20). And form is on his side, as moustachioed Az revealed:

What is interesting here is that despite creating the same number of chances as De Bruyne, Fernandes has fashioned the majority of chances for players in the last two games (12), putting up just eight opportunities in the six games prior to this weekend. 

This suggests that Fernandes is growing in importance in the United attack and we could see him becoming even more instrumental in all the good things that the Red Devils do in the coming weeks.

– Az

But there are other options to consider from Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team, Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) has caught the attention of both Holly and Lateriser:

Marcus Rashford has had 14 shots between Gameweeks 5 and 8, despite delivering just one goal from two big chances. He also ranks highly for shots on target (six) and shots in the box (eight): he should present an intriguing option as Manchester United finally find some form.

– Holly

While Lateriser looked to a tactical shift that could benefit the FPL midfielder.

With Luke Shaw (£4.9m) out with a hamstring injury, Alex Telles (£5.5m) is set to return to the left-back slot following a bout of illness. This could dampen the prospects for Bruno, as he likely won’t be on all set pieces, and Telles is a lot more attacking which will allow Rashford to make more runs inside.

According to our upside-chasing Pro Pundit, the double pivot used by Manchester United in recent matches makes them better defensively, which in turn means Telles can hold the width on the left. Therefore Rashford is going to be playing further forward than Fernandes and making more central runs.

Both players featured in the Captain Sensible article for Gameweek 9.

But given top billing by Jan Sienkiewicz were Chelsea duo Timo Werner (£9.4m) and Hakim Ziyech (£8.2m).

Werner is included for his goal threat while Ziyech offers assist potential:

Over the last four Gameweeks, only Patrick Bamford (4.22) and Jamie Vardy (2.12) have recorded a superior figure for expected goals (xG) non penalty than Werner (2.08), remembering, of course, that he now takes the spot-kicks too; Since his debut in Gameweek 7 no player has created more big chances than Ziyech, helping him lead the Premier League for expected assists (xA), with a score of 1.10.

– Jan

Our double-points maestro noticed weaknesses in the Newcastle defence that could suit both Chelsea players – they have given up more chances down their right flank than any other side (22), while only Crystal Palace (37) and Sheffield United (33) have conceded more attempts from set plays in 2020/21 than Newcastle (32).

But, as ever in FPL, we are rarely free of all doubt. Describing Newcastle as a “head-scratcher”, Holly pointed out:

They’ve conceded the most goal attempts (74) in the whole Premier League, but are second-lowest for big chances conceded with three. They are frustrating attacks who are then producing low quality attempts.

– Holly

Is this enough to put you off captaining a Chelsea player? Not for “closet Chelsea fanLateriser, who currently has the armband on Werner.

However, there are a number of other armband candidates to consider. One player given just a brief mention in Jan’s article was Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.8m).

David, no stranger to captain success himself, highlighted the potential for Everton’s number 9 against a suspect Fulham defence in the Captaincy Video:

In the last four matches Fulham’s expected goals conceded is 6.01, which is the fourth worst in the league – they’ve only actually conceded four goals which means they’re over performing against their xGC: they should have conceded two more goals than they did.

And then if we go into the specifics of where these chances are getting conceded for Fulham, in that period they conceded 14 headed attempts which is actually the joint most in the league. So when you consider what Calvert-Lewin is best at – which is his aerial presence – it does seem like quite a nice matchup.

– David

Quite a nice matchup indeed. Pro Pundit Az went as far as calling Calvert-Lewin the “outstanding captaincy choice this week”.

Value Villains

Top of the season ticker for the next six Gameweeks, Aston Villa not only supply an armband option of their own in the shape of Jack Grealish (£7.5m), but also offer excellent value across their attack.

Picked out by Seb as his differential on the Scoutcast, Ross Barkley (£6.0m) could be an excellent complement to Grealish. The former Evertonian has been posting impressive underlying numbers. Writing in the Scout Notes for the Villa’s win over Arsenal David noted:

Barkley is putting that advanced presence to good use too. In the last four matches, no Premier League player has played more key passes than him.

– David

Pro Pundit Fábio Borges is even considering an attacking triple up, having added Ollie Watkins (£6.1m) over the international break to join Grealish in his squad.

Zophar debated Watkins v Patrick Bamford (£6.1m) on his Wildcard, favouring the Villa player given the fixtures. 

However, speaking on the FPL Wire, Lateriser questioned whether fixtures mattered for Bamford given that his impressive stats were put together despite playing against Manchester City and Liverpool. He suggested Bamford could be the better long term option. 

Comparing Bamford to Watkins and Che Adams (£5.9m), Holly explained what all the fuss is about:

Delving into the underlying statistics, Bamford is top among all players for big chances (seven) [over the last four Gameweeks] … He’s also the most impressive of the trio in terms of shots (18), shots on target (eight) and shots inside the box (16), posting the leading tallies of any player once again.

– Holly

With so many good players pushing for a place in our teams, sacrifices will have to be made. As Sam Bonfield concluded in her latest piece:

It is impossible to own everyone – but it is possible to set your team to return as many potential FPL points as possible by carefully distributing our FPL budget across the field.

– Sam

Community latest

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 9 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

Finally, a quick heads up that the Gameweek 10 deadline is on Friday next week. 

And may your arrows be green!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

2,161 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Slim25
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Martinez
    Digne, Chilwell, Semedo
    Rodriquez, Zaha, Son, Grealish *Salah*
    DCL, Kane
    (Button, Lamptey, Brewster, Mitchell)

    2 free transfers, what option would be best? Cheers!
    A: Salah > Bruno (1.6m in bank, would allow me to get swap Bruno to Salah next gwk)
    B: Salah & Son > Bruno & Ziyech (2.6m, would look at getting Vardy for Kane next week and Salah in gwk 12)
    C: Keep Salah and play Lamptey/Brewster

    1. Muller Reus Corner
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

      1. Slim25
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Cheers!
        Cap Bruno or DCL?

  2. IRBOX ⚽
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Richarlison (C) is so very tempting

    1. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Nice one, feeling miss opportunity here by not doubling up on EVE next 2-3 GWs

    2. Pacer.
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Go on then.

    3. Pacer.
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      This is one of those things where you don't do it but get to spend the rest of the week claiming you called it, isn't it.

  3. andres
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bellerin anyone?

    1. El Guasón
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Don’t trust Arsenal

    2. LegendMoon
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      what year is it?

      1. andres
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        2020

        1. LegendMoon
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          just making sure, that's a no on Bellerin then

    3. AD2110
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I’ve got him. Could do well vs Leeds

    4. nolard
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I have him.

  4. pug_chops
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Who to start?
    A) Wilson (Che H)
    B) Mitchell (Bur A)
    C) Justin (Liv A)

    1. El Guasón
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Wilson - on pens, if hamstring not healed he won’t play

      1. pug_chops
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Thanks. Makes sense. I have double Chelsea defence so at least if he plays and scores it would ease the pain

  5. Catastrophe
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bench order correct?

    Justin (liv)
    Bissouma (avl)
    Mitchell (bur)

    ...Mitchell most likely 1 pt cameo?

    Cheers

    1. enrico.palazzo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I have the same bench. Unsure myself but currently have it as you do

  6. Oggle22
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    G2G? 1ft worried about DCL Bruno and Watkins scoring big
    Martinez
    Kilman Konsa Chilwell Mitchell
    Son Rashford Ziyech Zaha
    Kane Wilson

    Steele Brewster Branthwaite Salah

    Cheers

  7. Rinseboy
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Team set up look ok this week?

    Martinez
    Chilwell Robbo Lamptey
    Son Grealish Ziyech Foden Bruno(c)
    DCL Kane
    Saiss Brewster Mitchell

    1. Muller Reus Corner
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yep

  8. El Guasón
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Sell Podence (Sou H) for Jota (Lei H) for a -4 hit?

    Worried Podence won’t start and he’s always taken off around 60 min

    1. Muller Reus Corner
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yeah

    2. Kaptenen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Just done the exact same transfer for a hit yesterday.

  9. Tshelby
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Kilman nailed?

    1. BENOIT
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Dad died midweek?

      1. Tshelby
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Not so funny?

        1. Peter Ouch
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          not a joke, his dad passed away midweek

          1. Tshelby
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 4 months ago

            Ouch bless him.;

      2. HNI
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Kildad

  10. Garlana
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    would you take a -4 to remove Jimi for any other striker for the longterm this week?

    1. mookie
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I'm not.

    2. how many hits?!!
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I was thinking the same thing, Jiménez out for Vardy, I would’ve done the Vardy transfer next week for a -4 anyway, so taking -4 this week to do it is no net loss. Thinking Vardy could go nuts against a depleted Liverpool defence, Jiminez will probably get his normal one goal but Vardy could outscore him by 10 points this week.

  11. Muller Reus Corner
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Is my team and bench order gtg?
    Ryan,
    Cancelo, Zouma, Coufal
    Bruno (c), Sterling, Grealish, Ziyech, Son
    Kane, DCL
    (Forster, Targett, Mitchell, Brewster?

    1. Rhodes your boat
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Gtg

    2. El Guasón
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      GTG reckon Kane scores vs City

  12. Magic Zico
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Which one?
    A. Playing aggressive: Son>Hamez (-4) for ful LEE bur fixtures
    B. Keep Son this week and Son > KDB GW 10 as many others

    1. Buck The Trent
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Does A mean no KdB in GW10-11 ?

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        KDB Hamez from GW10 but no Vardy ... if B GW10 KDB Vardy

    2. Rhodes your boat
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  13. Chhana
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    chances of Sterling and Wilson playing?

    1. Peter Ouch
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      they will

      1. Chhana
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        FT already used, i hope they play

  14. Buck The Trent
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Best long term GK?

    A Martinez (nice fixtures, DGW)
    B Mccarthy (+0.2 cash, back up in Forster, mixed fixtures)

    1. School of Poch
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

    2. Gandalf
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A, looks like a good set and forget right up until 2nd wc

  15. School of Poch
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play one

    A: Lamptey
    B: Cancelo

    1. Muller Reus Corner
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  16. Alli
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Start?
    A. Justin
    B. Mitchell
    C. Dallas

  17. Nightf0x
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Wilson out with -4 to

    A) watkins
    B) bamford
    C) no, keep

    1. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      c

  18. Coys96
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    I went Salah -> Rashford instead of Bruno... anyone do the same?

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yup

    2. Gudjohnsen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      The right move imo

      But I'm a sheep so I went with Bruno.

  19. HNI
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Which is best?
    1)Bruno C for -4
    2) Grealish vs BHA
    3) Dcl vs Fulham
    Still not done salah to.bruno for +4...

    1. mookie
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Grealish imo

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I'm going with 2

  20. JaydenLFC87
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play Mitchell or Castagne??

    1. Tango74
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Castagne , I think Mitchell won’t play now as PVA back

      Same as Justin will be dropped soon

  21. Rhodes your boat
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Do I need to take a hit here?? balbuena and sterling doubts. 0ft 1.5itb but saving money ITB to get salah back

    Martinez
    Chilwell lamptey balbuena
    Sterling bruno(c) son soucek
    Vardy Werner dcl

    Forster Mitchell Burke dunne

  22. Lexi2014
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Werner or DCL Captain? Been switching all week!

    1. Mr. O'Connell
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      DCL. Werner will blank.

  23. lordkippe
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Brewster a decendt 8th attacker ?

    1. Buck The Trent
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yeah

    2. FourLokoLeipzig
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Jury’s still out. He could really do with being passed fit and grabbing a goal this weekend to get his blades career off and running

  24. Nightf0x
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Capt.

    A) dcl
    B) bruno

    1. mookie
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  25. krumcake
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bench two:

    A) Chillwell (new)
    B) Cancelo (tot)
    C) Kilman (SOU)
    D) Lamptey (avl)
    E) Tagett (BHA)

    1. mookie
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      How does Chilwell make the list?

      1. krumcake
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        I won't bench him. Just wanted to list all my defenders for context. 😀

  26. SAKA AND EMILE SMITH ROWE
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    A) James & Ziyech
    B) Chilwell & Zaha

    Have Werner as my other Chelsea attacker

    1. tokara
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      No brainer, B

  27. Pogboom
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    On a Wildcard, suggest please.

    1. Kane + JRod + Coufal
    2. Bamford + De Bruyne + Cresswell

    Don't own Son or City attacker.
    Own DCL.

    1. krumcake
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      2

  28. DD DUBAI
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Who are the best 3 defenders for this week???

    Price not a problem.

    Thanks!!

    1. Vlekz
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Telles chilwell Cresswell

      • Vlekz
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Digne too

      • JenkoJunko
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Repost but need more! On WC. Which three...

        A. Cancelo / Cresswell / DCL
        B. Justin / Coufal / Werner

        Thanks all and GL

        1. Vlekz
            3 years, 4 months ago

            A

          • Pogboom
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 4 months ago

            A

          • FPL FAN
            • 3 Years
            3 years, 4 months ago

            A

        2. Vlekz
            3 years, 4 months ago

            For the next 2?

            A)Rich(ful LEE)
            B)werner(new TOT)

            I have no other Chelsea and have DCL

            1. tokara
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 4 months ago

              None

              1. Vlekz
                  3 years, 4 months ago

                  Ummm that sadly isn't a choice. I don't want double United attack and already have DCL Vardy bruno grealish kdb. Max budget is 9.6(could be a mid too)