We’ve put together an early draft of our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Scout Picks for Gameweek 9.
As ever, we will finalise our selection much closer to the deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course, with seven teams in European action, Scout Squad nominations and a whole host of press conferences still to come.
If you’re new to this feature, there are certain restrictions for our picks:
- An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 9 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 9 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
We’ll not waste too much time explaining why Erling Haaland (£15.4m) features.
Yes, he’s blanked in three successive matches, but given Southampton’s dismal defensive displays over the season, any talk of going without the Manchester City striker is a non-starter.
At least one of Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) or Rico Lewis (£4.8m) also seems likely.
Gvardiol has scored more Premier League goals than any other defender since the turn of the year (six), the only real obstacle to him finding his way into our final selection is budget.
Who takes the third City slot is another topic altogether.
For now, we’ve settled on Gvardiol and Haaland, but a midfielder could follow, with midweek European minutes potentially coming into play.
Phil Foden (£9.2m), Bernardo Silva (£6.5m), Ilkay Gundogan (£6.5m), Savinho (£6.5m), Jack Grealish (£6.4m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.3m) are all hovering on our radars, it just depends what the consensus is over Pep Guardiola’s Gameweek 9 line-up.
A fitness update would also be welcome on Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m).
Cole Palmer (£10.8m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.5m), FPL’s second and fifth-highest-scoring midfielders respectively, will also surely be consensus Scout Squad picks against Newcastle United and Ipswich Town.
Brentford defensive representation, be it through Mark Flekken (£4.5m), Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m) or Nathan Collins (£4.5m), also looks on the cards.
IN CONTENTION
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