The first gameweek back following the second international break of the season is in the books and saw 33 goals scored, with just four clean sheets. We run through the action that occurred and what it meant from an FPL standpoint.
Gameweek 9 began with the Merseyside derby and after a red card for Ashley Young (£4.4m) it was a battle between Liverpool’s attack and Everton’s defence. Eventually, Liverpool’s attack won out as the referee awarded a penalty for handball, which Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) converted to the delight of his large ownership. It got even better for them deep into stoppage time as Everton pushed bodies forward and fell victim to a counter-attack, Salah doubling his goal tally and his FPL score to 16 points.
Former Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil came back to haunt his former club as Wolves overcame the Cherries by two goals to nil. Pedro Neto (£5.8m) his long run of attacking returns with an assist, meaning he has now picked up at least one attacking return in each of the last seven gameweeks. Popular FPL asset Bryan Mbeumo (£6.7m) was back on the scoresheet as Brentford defeated Bournemouth 3-0, whilst Luton came from two goals behind to draw 2-2 with Nottingham Forest, Elijah Adebayo (£4.8m) scoring the equaliser, his second league goal of the season from the bench.
Erling Haaland (£14.0m) owners were once again left wishing for more even though the Norwegian ended his brief goal drought in Gameweek 9, ultimately accruing 8 FPL points. Haaland has never gone three Premier League games in a row without scoring and his strike doubled Man City’s lead over Brighton after fellow forward Julian Alvarez (£7.1m) had given them the lead. Despite Ansu Fati (£6.1m) pulling one back for the Seagulls, Man City held on to win.
A thrilling London derby saw Chelsea take a 2-0 lead following a Cole Palmer (£5.0m) penalty and a goal from Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.3m), whom Arsenal were so desperate to sign last winter. But the Gunners rallied and eventually dragged themselves level, Declan Rice (£5.4m) capitalising on an error from Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (£4.6m) before substitute Leandro Trossard (£6.5m) grabbed the equaliser.
The final match of Saturday tonight saw struggling Sheffield Utd host Man Utd. The Blades competed well with Erik ten Hag’s men despite going behind through the in-form Scott McTominay (£4.8m) and deservedly levelled from the penalty spot. But Man Utd were the stronger side comfortably in the second half and eventually broke Sheffield Utd’s resistance with a Diogo Dalot (£4.9) screamer.
The one game to take place on Sunday was at Villa Park, where West Ham came unstuck against Aston Villa. Douglas Luiz (£5.5m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.3m) both starred, the former scoring twice while Watkins recorded both a goal and an assist, bagging 11 fantasy points in the process. West Ham did get on the scoresheet in what was ultimately a 4-1 defeat, Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m) maintaining his run of having scored in every West Ham away league fixture this season with a deflected striker from outside the box.
Finally, on ‘Monday Night Football’, Spurs took over and eased past Fulham 2-0 in North London. Heung-Min Son (£9.5m) made it seven Premier League goals for the season before later on setting up James Maddison (£8.1m) for his first home goal in a Spurs shirt. The only disappointment from Ange Postecoglou’s perspective was that his side didn’t score more goals.
