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. Tasty Jerk
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Start Justin or Lamptey?

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

      Lamptey

      1. Le Bluff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Agreed.

    2. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Lamps

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

    A) Play Charlie Taylor and bench Salah
    or
    B) Salah to Bruno for -8 (already on -4)

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

      A if you are getting Bruno for only 2-3 games.

    2. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Would need to captain bruno for B. I prefer A

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

      A

    4. Chucky
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      thanks all.

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

    Martinez
    Kilman Konsa Chilwell Mitchell
    Son Rashford Ziyech Zaha
    Kane Wilson

    Steele Brewster Branthwaite Salah

    Kane Salah and Wilson -8 to
    Vardy Bruno and DCL?

    Salah and Wilson to Bruno and DCL or Watkins - 4

    Cheers

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

      B with DCL

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

        Cheers so difficult to decide what to do with spurs players

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

          get vardy next week for free.

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

            That's the plan but was worried about him up against a weak Liverpool defence and would need to get Salah back in some how as well!

  4. UKG
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Is Telles starting this week or Williams?

    1. PL Ball
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Most probably Telles.

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

        Agree.

  5. Bench-Life
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Do we think Wilson will start - or better to bench him to avoid 1-point cameo?

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

      Doubt he would make a sub apperance, what was the last update from manager?

      1. Bench-Life
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Thanks - not sure what Manager said in detail, other than he was making a decent recover but they were keeping eye on him. Probably worth the risk to start him

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

      I reckon he'll start

      1. Bench-Life
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Thanks - will put him in

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

    Anything worth a hit chaps? 0.8 ITB.

    Martinez
    Chilwell, Zouma, Kilman
    KDB, Son, Fernandes, Ziyech
    Kane, DCL, Bamford

    (Steer, Justin, Bissouma, Mitchell)

    Plan is:

    GW10 - Zouma -> Cancelo
    GW11 - Son -> Grealish
    GW12 - Kane & Bissouma -> Salah & Brewster

    Cheers.

    1. Il Capitano
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      No hit needed here

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

    Start 2:

    A) Brewster H WHU
    B) Taylor H CRY
    C) Saiss H SOU
    D) Mitchell A Bur

    1. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

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

        And?

        1. Kryten
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          B

    2. Le Bluff
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A
      B

    3. Chucky
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      BC

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

      Cheers, at least Taylor

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

      b

      a toss up between a and c

  8. ZeBestee
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    I have decided to have fun; and use my FH chip.

    Fabianski
    Chilwell Cresswell PVA (AWB, Dallas)
    Rashford Bruno Ziyech Grealish (4.5)
    Richarlison Werner (C) DCL

    Anyone is welcome to shred this team apart or offer thoughts. No Pool, but Jota interests me.

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

      Personally i’d try to include Vardy.

      That pool def wont park the bus

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

      I would add Jota and try to squeeze in Telles for Cresswell

  9. Lecky Legs FC
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Who to captain this GW?

    A) DCL
    B) Rashford

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

      B is fun, A is a bit safer.

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

      B

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

      a

  10. Maddamotha
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Which one?

    A) Salah > Ziyech
    B) Salah, Podence > Ziyech, Bruno (-4)

    Will C Bruno instead of DLC if B.

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

      B

  11. Botman and Robben
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Who to place 1st on bench:
    A. Bissouma
    B. Dallas

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

      Bis

    2. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

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

      A

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

    Captain:

    a) Grealish
    b) KDB
    c) Kane
    d) Hamez

    1. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      a

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

      A

    3. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

    4. Frozen Mukluks
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Jack

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

      A

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

      A

    7. Big_Bear
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Kane

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

      lovely

      cheers all!

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

    Start konsa or Kilman

    1. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Konsa

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

      Konsa

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

      Konsa

    4. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Kon

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

    WC team

    Martinez
    Cancelo Chilwell Coufal
    KDB Bruno(C) Ziyech Grealish Jota
    Vardy Watkins
    Forster Bamford Vestergaard Justin

    GTG? Right bench order?

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

      Big fan bar the captain (but that's me being irrational).

    2. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Looks good would of went dlc up top somehow gl

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

        Who to ditch for?

  15. corderz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bench one:

    A) Coufal
    B) Chilwell
    C) Robbo
    D) Cancelo

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

      A

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

      Coufal (when in doubt bench the lowest value)

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

      A

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

      a

  16. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Best move here guys?

    A) Salah -> Bruno/KDB
    B) Trent -> Cancelo/Chilwell
    C) Save FT

    McCarthy
    Bellerin, Zouma, Lamptey, Holding
    Son, Zaha, Barkley
    Kane, Jimenez, Antonio

    Steer, Bissouma, Trent, Salah
    Bank 0.0m, 1FT

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Salad to Bruno as you have Antonio is may not be ready.

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

      if you don't want salah later, get kdb

      if you do, b

  17. AC Yew
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Anyone else got Bruno but Captaincy on someone else. Feeling D(C)L

    1. Ninjaa
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Im on Bruno but have DCL

    2. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      o/

  18. All For One
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Salah on -334, why has his price not dropped yet?

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

      It will tonight

      1. Rupert The Horse
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        It resets after the deadline.

    2. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      FPL towers guys are benching him. 🙂

  19. MarcusAurelius
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Start Nat Phillips over Justin?

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

      No, liv will concede

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

        Sorry, wrong post. But start Justin

      2. Get up ya bum
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Liverpool will concede... Less than Leicester

    2. Kryten
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Not sure fabinho back in training probably justin to be safe

  20. Ci Siamo
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Richarlison or Hamez captain?

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

      Richarlison as he’s bloody class and on pens.

    2. Springbank
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Yeah Richarlison

  21. Weeb Kakashi
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Martial (C) worth it? He is due i feel.

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      No no no

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

    On WC.

    A) DCL
    B) Richarlison

    Want to go with Richarlison but not sure!

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

      Richarlison

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

        THanks.

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

      I'd also go with Richarlison

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

        Thanks.

  23. Areyouthereyet
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any news on Rashford?

  24. Gubbins94.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Start Mitchell, Justin or Lewis?

  25. Sid1891
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    No Rashford cappers and if there is any explain why?

    Iike few others said Bruno is obviously safe bet.

    30 mins before l make a choice on this, don’t want to be stubborn though

  26. Ninjaa
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Justin or Lamptey???

    1. Il Capitano
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Lamp

  27. ZeBestee
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Hamez or Richarlison?
    Rashford or Vardy?

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Vardy and James

  28. iL PiStOlErO
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Asking one more time. Leaning on A but dont know if I should double up on Villa boys.

    Mendy Steer
    TAA Justin Mitchell KWP Taylor
    Bruno Sterling Son Romeu Bissouma
    Kane DCL Watkins

    1.5 itb, 1ft

    A) TAA + Bisso to Cancelo + Grealish for-4
    B) TAA + Bisso to Cancelo + Zaha for -4
    C) TAA + Bisso to Cash + Ziyech for -4
    D) just TAA to Cancelo

    Cheers.

  29. b91jh
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Coufal+4.4 on bench or Soucek+3.9? KWP is the remaining sub.

    On wc. Thanks.

  30. Fozzyb34r
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any fellow Ziyech cappers?