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Zophar’s FPL Gameweek 9 Wildcard team

24 October 2025 293 comments
zøphar zøphar
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With the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline nearing, we’re hearing from our panel of guest writers. Here, eight-time top 10k finisher Zophar reveals his Gameweek 9 Wildcard team.

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FPL 2025/26 first draft team reveals: DC magnets + Bench Boost 1

DEFENCE

As shown in the image above, Daniel Munoz (£5.6m) and Jurrien Timber (£6.0m) are by far the most attacking defenders in the league, with this duo being the only pair to manage over 2.5 non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI) so far.

Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) comes close, but after that, there is a significant drop-off to the others.

Marcos Senesi (£5.0m) also features favourably, which further enhances his appeal given the numerous criteria he meets – nailed minutes, solid defence, potential for defensive contributions (DefCon), likelihood of earning bonus points and attacking threat.

Gabriel Magalhaes‘ (£6.4m) qualities are well known to FPL managers already. He’s arguably the second name on the team sheet after Erling Haaland (£14.7m).

So the four defenders I want to prioritise are clear to me – Gabriel, Timber, Senesi and Munoz, probably in that order.

The fifth spot will be a £4.0m defender. With so much value in that price bracket this season, it’s close between Joe Rodon (£4.1m) and Nordi Mukiele (£4.1m).

Mukiele averages 12.50 DefCons per 90 minutes (p90), ranking him as the third-highest defender in the league. Thus, his DefCon potential is excellent.

Rodon averages 8.5 DefCons p90, which is also very good but not as strong as Mukiele.

That being said, I do think the Leeds United defence is a bit better than Sunderland’s, so this is a close one. I don’t think I would play Rodon over Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) this week, and I do like the Mukiele cover for Senesi when Bournemouth are playing away at Manchester City in Gameweek 10, so that might tilt my decision. I think the open play attacking threat from Mukiele is also a factor.

This is one of my late decisions, but for now, I’m set on Mukiele.

ATTACK

 

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293 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. FantasyClub
    • 4 Years
    1 month, 15 days ago

    Lads...benching I.Sarr in favour of playing Ekitike & Thiago is the right call eh?

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    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      1 month, 15 days ago

      Probably

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  2. Al Pacho
    • 4 Years
    1 month, 15 days ago

    Start 3

    A) Gabriel
    B) Senesi
    C) VDV
    D) Esteve
    E) Gudmundsson

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  3. Bruno G
    • 3 Years
    1 month, 15 days ago

    Help! On Wildcard, trying to decide on Bruno or Semenyo ( Semenyo would also mean a stronger defence). Any thoughts?

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  4. Stranger Mings
    • 5 Years
    1 month, 15 days ago

    Worth gambling on 1 week punt on Estevao? It's rejinders replacement

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  5. Cruyff's Eleven
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    1 month, 15 days ago

    If a player is on penalties, but never scores one, is that still considered an upside?

    Discuss.

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  6. naill_ic
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 1 Year
    1 month, 15 days ago

    I have 1 FT and have Foden and Gyokeres. Would you
    A) Swap them for Saka/Wolt for a -4
    B) Roll my team

    Have 3 Arsenal already so can't just do Foden -> Saka

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    1. GreennRed
      • 14 Years
      1 month, 15 days ago

      A

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  7. Nooruddin
      1 month, 15 days ago

      What are the chances to get double game week in the first phase before game week 20?
      Hi probability or low or cannot occurr at all?

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      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 15 Years
        1 month, 15 days ago

        Unlikely, but not impossible.

        If Palace reach the EFL Cup quarter-final then they will have two fixtures in GW16 and one of these fixtures will have to be moved to a different Gameweek.
        The quarter-final has to be played before the semi-final in January and Palace do not have any free midweek slots before then, so this would force Palace to move one of their Premier League matches to a new date in the second half of the season.

        However, if their quarter-final opponents are another Premier League team, then that team would also have to move a Premier League match from the week in which the quarter-final is played, and that might or might not result in a DGW for that team in the first half.

        It is also possible that some other match might be postponed by some other cause such as bad weather and that this might be rearranged to a DGW in the first half.

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        1. Nooruddin
            1 month, 7 days ago

            Appreciate your response!
            So it's better to wait before I use my chips then. Till which game week worth waiting to get some hint you think?

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            1. RedLightning
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 15 Years
              1 month, 7 days ago

              Palace did beat Liverpool to reach the EFL Cup quarter-final, and now have 4 matches in an eight-day period from 11th to 18th December (two in the Europa Conference League and one in the Premier League as well as the EFL Cup quarter-final).
              I suggested earlier that either the quarter-final match or the Premier League match would have to be moved to a different Gameweek, but this could cause problems later in trying to find a suitable slot for the postponed Premier League match, and it is now thought more likely that the fixtures will remain in situ, there won't be a resulting BGW or DGW, and that Palace will just have to field an Academy team in the EFL Cup quarter-final.
              I still have a Free Hit to play, but I'm saving it for now. It could come in useful during the Christmas period when there may be injuries or mass rotations.
              If I haven't used it earlier then I might play it in Gameweek 19, the last opportunity to do so before it expires and we get a new set of chips in Gameweek 20.
              I might even not play it at all, since using or saving a free transfer then instead might possibly be more valuable.
              Free Hits in single Gameweeks can sometimes go horribly wrong - Chris Atkinson, who had been leading the Mods & Cons mini-league, played his last week and only scored 28 points.

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              1. Nooruddin
                  16 days, 7 hours ago

                  Hi, really appreciate your response.Is there any update on this? I guess there will not be any double GW before Wk20?
                  Even if it happens it could be Crystal Palace and which other teams?

                  Which is best week to use wild card, bench boost & free hit before wk20?

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                  1. RedLightning
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • Has Moderation Rights
                    • 15 Years
                    16 days, 6 hours ago

                    Extremely unlikely that there will be a DGW before GW20.
                    Play your Bench Boost when you have 15 starting players in your squad (and preferably when the players that would have been on your bench have favourable fixtures). It might be useful to have a few free transfers available that week in case you need to replace any players that have late injuries.
                    If your bench needs to be strengthened first then you could play your Wildcard the week before you play your Bench Boost, and afterwards you could use some of the additional free transfers that we get in GW16 to transfer value from your bench back into your starting eleven.
                    The Free Hit chip is for fixing temporary problems, not permanent ones. You could use it when you have a number of short-term injuries in your team, or when the fixtures that week favour a different set of players than you'd want for rother weeks.

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                    1. Nooruddin
                        6 days, 7 hours ago

                        Thanks for ur reply.

                        Sometimes when it comes to chosing between 2 players who're equally good, what are the top3 stats to chose from in terms of priority?
                        Is it form, then ICT, then bonus or xG? Who has higher form..and then who had higher xG so on?...

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                        1. RedLightning
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • Has Moderation Rights
                          • 15 Years
                          6 days, 5 hours ago

                          I'm not an expert on individual underlying stats, which might be one of my weaknesses.
                          If you want views on the relative importance of ICT, bonus and xG then you'd be better off asking someone like Zophar instead.

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          • The Reptile
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            1 month, 15 days ago

            Bo**cks - just seen that Gabriel is yellow flagged - was planning on BB this week..

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          • Ribus
            • 12 Years
            1 month, 15 days ago

            A) play Diouf
            B) Guehi -> James and bench Diouf

            Thanks

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          • Meechum
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 2 Years
            1 month, 15 days ago

            Couple Dilemmas:

            Start:
            A. Joelinton
            B. Murphy

            Front 2 or Front 3:
            1. Ekitike, Kroupi, Estevao
            2. Ekitike, Kroupi
            3. Ekitike, Estevao

            (Estevao is classified as a forward in Sleeper league).

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