Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 9

Welcome to Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 9

After yet another long break it may be wise to re-accustom yourselves to who is doing what, when and how. Fear not though, for those who cannot even remember what they had for breakfast this morning – Init, Matt and Rosco are on hand to tell you who you should be considering ahead of GW9.

Goalkeeper

Thomas Strakosha vs Burnley (H) – Matt X

Now I know I’m a sucker for a differential and love giving you all picks that are left-field but while this one may seem like I’ve finally cracked, there’s a sensible reason behind it. This move is primarily a short-term strategy that could save you a valuable 0.1 in your Wild Card drafts for Gameweeks 8, 9, and 10.

Most Wild Card drafts I’ve seen for these game weeks feature the goalkeeper duo of Turner and Areola, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re looking to free up some extra funds, consider replacing one of them with Thomas Strakosha (£3.9m).

Before Gameweek 8, Brentford announced that their new number one, Mark Flekken, would be unavailable for the next month due to an undisclosed illness (not Covid, but no further details were provided). This gives us the option of having a 3.9 million goalkeeper in a solid team. Strakosha made an impressive start by earning three points in his first game, thanks to making six saves.

While we don’t know exactly when Strakosha might lose his spot, let’s assume he starts the next three games. He begins this weekend against Burnley, a team that hasn’t been particularly threatening to defences this season. Strakosha and Brentford have been given a 36% chance of keeping a clean sheet in Gameweek 9, which ranks them just behind Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, and Manchester United. When you factor in potential saves, Strakosha could be a clever one-week pick due to his low ownership. Considering the expected points, AI models predict him to score around 4.7 points. If you’re using a Wild Card, he’s certainly worth considering.

Defender
Pedro Porro vs Fulham (H) – MattX

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

For defence we have to go with this seasons admittedly surprise package in Spurs. I don’t think people would disagree with me when I say Spurs were nor on pundits lips for topping the table, or even for top 4 early on. Having lost talisman Harry Kane, getting a new keeper between the sticks and a new manager, I was expecting a bit of a transition period but boy was I wrong?! Big Ange has come in and really put a stamp on the team. Maddison was a perfect buy, Van de Ven has proven solid at the back and Vicario has really taken like a duck to water in goals for Tottenham. Add in Sonny’s resurgence and Spurs are flying!

They are a little weak at the back but with the attacking style of play they are getting more OOP. The best example of this is right back Pedro Porro. Only being in 11.1% of teams he still classifies slightly as a differential and only costing £5.1m is a lovely price for someone who’s almost another midfielder for FPL managers! Since GW2, Porro has for 32 pts, played 89 minutes per game and started every game. He is the 5th best points scorer for them and is putting up amazing attacking numbers. An xG and xA of 0.8 for an xGI of 1.6 is fantastic. He should have had a goal and a monster haul against Luton so it bodes well for the future if the Spaniard keeps it up!

Midfield

Pedro Neto & Hwang He-Chan vs Bournemouth (A) – Rosco

Morecambe and Wise, Bert and Ernie, Tom and Jerry – we all have a soft spot for a great double act. In football, it’s no different; from iconic pairs like Sutton and Shearer to the memorable duo of Suarez and Sturridge, not to mention the lethal partnership of Wilson and Fraser, these pairs have made their mark on the beautiful game and, in the case of the latter two pairings, on our fantasy teams.
But it’s time to move over, Batman and Robin, because there’s a new dynamic duo in town. That’s right, you can keep your Xavi and Iniesta; we have no time for Carlos and Cafu, and frankly, the days of Zico and Socrates are long gone. Yesterday’s news won’t help us secure those precious FPL points that we all desperately crave.

Enter Pedro Neto (£5.7m) and Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m). While they may not carry the same aura as some of the legendary partnerships mentioned earlier, this season they’ve emerged as the stars of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kudos to Wolves manager Gary O’Neil for bringing out the best in a duo that many wouldn’t have even considered at the season’s outset.

Speaking to the media after their draw with Villa in GW8, O’Neil passionately explained how Neto found his form after being sidelined with a serious knee injury in April 2021. “We told him to get into the penalty area more. When he’s one-on-one, just go for it – don’t hesitate, just go.” “Every single time. Don’t worry if you lose the ball – take the chance. Go for it.” It sounds straightforward, but it’s clearly working. Neto (6) has provided the second-highest number of assists this season, only behind Ollie Watkins (7), and Hwang Hee-Chan has often been the one to capitalise on these chances.

Hwang had to be patient; before GW7, he was mainly used as a substitute, and in the one game he started (GW5), he only played until the 59th minute, every FPL manager’s nightmare. However, with four goals in his last five appearances, he’s now tallied 5 for the season, which is only surpassed by Isak, Haaland, and Son.

As many FPL managers are now favouring the high-budget combination of Haaland and Salah, the need for budget-friendly, reliable players is more crucial than ever. The Wolves duo fits the bill. Most managers will go for Neto; he’s a full 90-minute player, and I can’t deny that he would be my top choice. But if you’re feeling adventurous, why not consider Hwang? Hell, right now, doubling down on the pair might not be the worst idea. As Wilson and Fraser demonstrated a few seasons back, there’s no better feeling in FPL than celebrating a combo goal.

Forward
Ollie Watkins vs West Ham (H) – Inittowinit

“Donald Bradman, Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee, Bob Hawke, Thor, Rupert Murdoch,Barry Humphries, Harold from Neighbours, Shane Warne, Kylie Minogue, vi har slått dem ‘alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen! (we have beaten them all, we have beaten them all!). Anthony Albanese, can you hear me? Anthony Albanese … your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!”

(We jest, of course, and fully respect and admire each and all of the above, particularly Ian Bishop! And RIP to a good many of them.)

With the legal bit (and the niceties), out of the way……… take that you dirty Aussies!

Do you want to (virtually) rob The Ashes from us? Well then, we will send in Ollie.

Stump our Jonny, will you? Well then, we will send in Ollie.

Make it rain every day, will you? Well then, we will send in Ollie.

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie. Oi, oi, oi!

Or at least that is what his owners sang against Brighton, as he ripped them a new one (or three).

Truth be told, it has been a game of patience with him this season as he began with a whimper; no goals in his opening 5 games, in fact. Although he did get 4 assists in those, to at least keep us interested, and ticking along. And then finally he grabbed the winner against Chelsea to open his PL account. We specify ‘PL’ there as he had already hit a hat-trick vs Hibs in the Europa, to at least suggest that he had not forgotten where the net was. The signs were at least there then, and he brought them out into full display vs Brighton. Along with 2 more assists. He may not have then scored in the next game at Wolves, but again we can bring you an assist, as comfort. Make that 7 assists for the season, the most of any player, even assist kings Trippier & Maddison (5 apiece) are looking on in awe.

His oppo this week are West Ham, which may be a toss-up, but then he has Luton, Forest and Fulham on the bounce. That is a pretty good run for a lad who is seemingly hitting his goal-scoring straps.

BTW, and just in case you missed it, Ollie scored the winner on Friday, to send the entire nation of Australia, and Jack Grealish, back home unhappy. Now if they can just send us that Soccer Ashes trophy over in recognition, that would be just about grand.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

*Left-Field Pick*

Morgan Gibbs-White vs Luton (H) – Matt

Okay, I know earlier in this article I claimed to have not lost the plot just yet, but here I am, giving you another left-field pick and one with only slightly more ownership than Strakosha (who nobody had even heard of till last week). Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.8m) is owned by just 1.5% – a massive differential for this weekend. This one definitely feels more like a one-week punt rather than someone who we can rely on in the long term.

The young Englishman comes up against Luton this weekend and there aren’t too many other teams you’d actually target (MaybeSheffi eld United at a push) when looking at fixtures, but this is certainly one.

He is the fourth-highest scorer and highest-scoring midfielder for Forest (I know, I know), and seems integral to a lot of what Forest do, particularly going forward. He has the highest xA at the club and is 2nd highest for xG and xGI behind Awoniyi. This does make for strange reading if you just quickly glance at the stats as somehow, despite strong underlying data, MGW only has 2 assists and 0 goals in 8 games with those 2 assists coming in the same match vs Man United.

I’ll be honest, I actually thought he had better returns before writing this, mainly gleaned from what I’ve read on X (Twitter) about his performances. However, it speaks volumes that he is still being raved about and linked with Newcastle despite his output not yet matching those promising underlying stats.

I really feel Gibbs-White is the differential pick of the weekend given the opposition. Luton who are ranked 17th in the league both for shots conceded and shots on target, rock bottom for shots in the box, and 19th for big chances conceded. This all bodes well for Forest and Gibbs-White in particular as he’ll have to shoulder more attacking responsibility in the absence of Forest’s injured top-scorer Taiwo Awoniyi.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 9. This article was written by Init, Matt & Rosco.

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