Fantasy Premier League Gameweek Nine: Wildcard Mayhem And Liverpool Resurgence

Is it time for Jurgen Klopp's team to start firing?
10:09, 29 Sep 2022

After a long international break, Fantasy Premier League returns this weekend with a full round of fixtures. We’ve had two weeks to stew over our teams and consider where to make improvements but as we approach the deadline, here are The Sportsman’s three tips for success. 

Beware of international injuries

Fulham’s Aleksander Mitrovic enjoyed another profitable international break as he scored his 50th goal for Serbia, but his heavily strapped ankle after the match caused concern for FPL managers. The full extent of international injuries are sometimes not know until the players return to their clubs, so keep an eye on those manager press conferences for any hints about a player’s fitness. 

In the meantime, we’ve put together a quick round-up of the players that could miss gameweek nine, featuring the likes of Mitrovic, Andy Robertson and Alexander Isak here. 

Wildcard mayhem

Many managers, myself included, saved their wildcard to use over this international break. As the natural mid-point between the start of the season and the World Cup, this seemed like a sensible strategy, but what wildcard players now find themselves in is a world of chaos. 

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With injury news, an international break and price changes to deal with, it has been difficult to work out exactly what you want your team to look like for the next six weeks. Remember to look beyond the first round of fixtures, and consider which clubs have good games, given every player will be given another wildcard to use during the World Cup.

Wilfried Zaha, James Maddison and Kieran Trippier are becoming increasingly popular due to their kind run of fixtures. If you plan to go big on Arsenal and Man City assets, remember they both have a blank fixture in gameweek 12, so make sure that you prepare well in advance for that. 

Gabriel Jesus for example, is still owned by 71% of managers, despite the fact that he has that blank gameweek coming up and is just one yellow card away from a one match suspension. 

Liverpool resurgence?

Andy Robertson’s value has collapsed as quickly as the pound, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah have also gone down in price. It’s fair to say this wasn’t the start most managers were expecting for Jurgen Klopp’s side and several of us have been stung by our loyalty to players that have so consistently produced in the past. 

But another way to look at it, is that these players are now at their lowest level of ownership, and lowest price. They face Arsenal away and Man City at home in their next three fixtures, but with Joel Matip and Thiago returning to the side, now could be the time to go big on a Liverpool resurgence in an attempt to climb the rankings. 

We never thought Liverpool players could be differentials before, but both Salah and Trent’s ownership levels are now at the 35% mark, which given their pre-season figures of 50% plus is a huge drop. Or, how about the returning Darwin Nunez?

Whether you stick or twist on Liverpool could define your season. 

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