FPL GW9 Preview

The last International Break before the World Cup has now been and gone, which puts Gameweek 9 on the horizon.

I’ve said since pre-season the International Break between FPL Gameweek’s 8 and 9 is a perfect time to Wildcard so it’s only right to look into what a Wildcard Watchlist would look like.

To caveat the list, we need to think about Fixtures between Gameweek 9 and Gameweek 16, as it is then the World Cup and everyone gets Unlimited Free Transfers for the duration of the tournament.

Crystal Palace are the only side not to face a Top 6 side and sit top of the Fixture table for this period. Newly promoted Bournemouth and bottom of the table Leicester make up the top 3. Bottom of the list for Fixtures are Arsenal, Brighton and Man City, with the Arsenal v Man City game in Gameweek 12 already postponed.

It is certainly clear that a Wildcard is a sensible option, with many of us starting the season with several players from Arsenal, Brighton and Man City, but do we want to sell them? And do we really want to stock up with Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Leicester players?

Goalkeeper wise, Guaita (£4.5) from Palace with Ward from Leicester (£4.0) as backup seems like a good combination if we are to target Fixtures. Newcastle’s Pope (£5.2) is a good alternative, combining good Fixtures and a good amount of Save and Bonus points.

Defensively, Palace centre back Guehi and Justin of Leicester are both £4.3 so are good Budget defenders. I would avoid Bournemouth defenders completely. Elsewhere, Newcastle’s Trippier (£5.4), Chelsea’s James (£6.0), Man City’s Cancelo (£7.2) are steady picks to start week in, week out. Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold (£7.4) and Arsenal’s Saliba (£4.9) make good cases to stay in our sides.

In Midfield, Leicester’s Maddison (£7.9) and Palace’s Zaha (£7.2) are the ones I would seriously be considering on a Wildcard. Liverpool’s Salah (£12.9) and Man City’s De Bruyne (£12.3) are the standout Premium options. Andreas (£4.6) of Fulham remains the Budget Midfielder of choice with Arsenal’s Martinelli (£6.6) still providing the best value despite the poor Fixture run. Brighton trio MacAllister (£5.6), Gross (£6.0) and Trossard (£6.6) are an unknown quantity now Brighton have a new manager but could be a hold for now if you own them.

Up front, Haaland (£12.3) is already 23 points clear of second top scoring Forward Kane (£11.4) and is as close to Essential as you will get. In the Medium price range there are plenty of choices, with Isak (£7.1) of Newcastle, Toney (£7.3) of Brentford and Mitrovic (£6.9) of Fulham all providing good options.

Captaincy this week, I would say Salah home to Brighton is the standout, with Haaland facing Manchester United in the Manchester Derby. Arsenal face Spurs in the North London Derby.

Gameweek 9 Deadline is Saturday 1st October 11:00am.

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Denny Ledger

Twitter: denny_ledger