Welcome back for another article! 👋
Who are the best players to buy for GW9? Where's the template shifting to? There are some emerging trends that you might've missed—let's run through the best picks sorted by position.
⚠️ Pre-Deadline Warning ⚠️
As a reminder, there's a lot of midweek football on before GW9. The following teams are all playing in Europe: Arsenal, Newcastle, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Villa, Forest, and Palace.
The sensible thing to do is to wait before making any moves just in case. A seemingly good transfer now that gets you an extra 0.1m or 0.2m can backfire as a terrible transfer if someone gets injured in your team.
Goalkeepers 🧤
Arsenal have got a home game to Palace next, which has Raya topping the table with 4.1 points. They haven't even faced a shot on goal their last two games; that's how ridiculous their defence has been, and it's why many are doubled up, whether that's Raya and Gabriel, Timber and Gabriel, Gabriel, Saliba, etc. 4.83 expected goals conceded (xGC) is best in the league. 3 goals conceded in 8 is crazy, honestly.
Newcastle have conceded 5.81 xGC, which ranks second-best, which makes Pope an incredibly appealing option for 0.5m cheaper than Raya, and affords you the luxury of an extra outfield Arsenal player. Is it worth Raya to Pope to bring in an outfield Arsenal player? Probably not worth two moves, but that's down to preference; if, for example, the player you're bringing in is Saka, then it could work.
It's worth pointing out that the next 5 projections actually have Petrovic ahead of Pope, or basically even: 17.4 points vs 17.2 on FPL Review. That Palace game annihilated their xGC stats; they conceded 4.44 vs Palace, which was by far the highest of the gameweek, and they've dropped to 12th for xGC now. Chelsea have a great fixture run, though at the back of my head is that quote from Maresca when he said that Sanchez won't play every single game. I interpreted it as there could be a random game here and there that Sanchez misses in the league potentially. It may not happen at all, but it would be enough to put me off.
Defenders 🛡️
On the subject of Chelsea's fixture run, James and Cucurella are on the table. An 18-pointer for James last match: 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 clean sheet, 3 bonus points. Was discussing him in the transfer plans article—I just can't trust him to play every game; he's started 5 of 8. They're managing him very well, it must be said, but it is risky. Cucurella is the one. Chalobah also deserves a mention, who has started every game besides when he was suspended.
It's Forest home for Senesi, which has him on 4.4 points. However, if you don't have him at this stage, you could consider waiting until GW11 or 12. After Forest, they have Man City away, then Villa away.
What about Trippier, then? Only 5m, Fulham home next, who are riddled with injuries. He's an amazing pick given Livramento's injury. However, Livra could be back GW12, so you'll get 3 games out of Trippier potentially. That said, it's a nice block of 3 games if you're open to a short-term punt: Fulham home, West Ham away, Brentford away. Then it's Man City in GW12. Burn is the more sensible pick, but lower ceiling potentially. Botman and Thiaw are options, too, though it's a bit unclear what happens at CB when Hall returns soon.
Tarkowski just misses out on making the table with 4.2 points, looks good to play again for the foreseeable following the City game. Rodon is on 4 points, also playable, though the Nuno bounce could be underway. What about West Ham defenders, then? Mavropanos registers well for defcons/90, or if you'd rather chase goal involvements, then Diof is also 4.4m.