FPL GW9 Preview
It was all going so well.
Then BOOM! Chaos.
Chelsea’s Champions League game on Wednesday threw the FPL Community into disarray as Romelu Lukaku (£11.6) limped off with an ankle injury.
The expected timescale for his layoff is still to be determined, but it could be until after the next International Break, 3 GWs away.
Selecting a replacement is the task ahead. A tricky one at that, as fellow Chelsea forward Timo Werner (£8.6) also went off injured with a hamstring injury. The likely starting Number 9 for Chelsea now would be Kai Havertz (£8.1), who is listed as a midfielder rather than a forward.
For me, we have three options moving forward…
Firstly, we can downgrade Lukaku to Jamie Vardy (£10.7) in 1 transfer. Vardy is the League’s joint top scorer with Mo Salah (£12.7) with 7.
Secondly, we can upgrade to Harry Kane (£12.1). Kane has only 1 League goal so far, but in all competitions has 7 in 11 games. The £0.5 price difference would mean a downgrade of another player and a -4 points deduction if you don’t have 2 available free transfers.
Thirdly, we can downgrade Lukaku to Brentford’s Ivan Toney (£6.5) and upgrade a midfielder to Havertz to get the Chelsea #9 to take advantage of their great fixture run.
Looking at Captaincy options, the Lukaku injury is doubly frustrating as Chelsea welcome Norwich to Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime, and would have been the standout Captaincy pick. Havertz would be a good alternative option from Chelsea.
Man City travel down to Brighton and Leicester travel to Brentford, yet Brighton and Brentford have been good defensively. Man Utd host Liverpool on Sunday, so Salah is a good option, as usual, as Man Utd’s defence hasn’t been great this season with key centre back Raphael Varane (£5.5) out injured.
Deadline is Friday at 18:30pm, don’t be caught out!
Remember, it isn’t too late to join the Official And He Takes That Chance FPL league, simply click on the link below.
fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/ut6b0t
Denny Ledger
Twitter: denny_ledger