It was a frustratingly low-scoring week across the board for many FPL managers with an average of just 37 points.
Annoyance struck after Mohamed Salah was ruled out of Liverpool's trip to Manchester United due to an ankle injury and Sergio Agüero was an unused substitute during Manchester City’s victory over Crystal Palace.
The Egyptian King has now blanked for three consecutive gameweeks, offering managers an easy way out considering his enormous £12.4m price tag.
Salah is the second most transferred-out midfielder already this round and his numbers will likely drop further ahead of Liverpool’s matchup against Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 10.
Despite Agüero’s second blank of the season, Pep Guardiola’s side have two consecutive home encounters coming up against Aston Villa and Southampton.
The Argentine has started every game at the Etihad this season, recording six goal-involvements in the process.
Last season, the City legend amassed two goals and an assist in two appearances against the Saints and it will be a confidence booster given his record against Villa as well, accumulating six goals in his previous four fixtures against the Midlands giants
It could be worth holding out for one last chance, and it’s worth evaluating Agüero’s inclusion during the Cityzens’ midweek UEFA Champions League fixture against Atalanta.
He has already been transferred out by 42,000 #FPL managers since Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Man Utd ➡
It really wasn’t the best of weeks for the big hitters, with the likes of Harry Kane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kevin De Bruyne and Sadio Mané also blanking.
On a positive note, we might be witnessing the revival of an FPL hero. Are we finally getting to see the old Marcos Alonso that we all know?
For the first time since April, the Spaniard has recorded back-to-back attacking returns in consecutive Premier League appearances.
It had been a slow start to the 2019/20 campaign for Alonso, only managing to pick up one minute of action in the first four league games, but the full-back has now mustered up four 90-minute appearances in his last five games, collecting two assists, one goal and 29 FPL points in total.
At 3.2% of ownership at the time of writing, Alonso looks an expensive defensive differential valued at £6.2m, but could be well worth a shot, especially with a good run of fixtures.
Another big talking point from Gameweek 9 arrived during the return of Monday Night Football as Sheffield United continued to take the Premier League by storm with a victory over Arsenal.
The Blades have now tallied four shutouts this season and sit at the top of the ranks for clean sheets alongside reigning champions Manchester City.
John Lundstram leads the way as four of Chris Wilder’s defensive assets now sit inside the top eight defenders in FPL and it is time we seriously consider Sheffield United players for those extra clean-sheet points.
On another note, Jamie Vardy and Leicester City continue to impress as the Foxes impressively stand third in the Premier League table.
Vardy is now the joint-third top goalscorer and has been a sensation ever since Brendan Rodgers took charge.
The Leicester forward has already picked up an extra 10 FPL points through the bonus system and he doesn’t look as though he’s slowing down anytime soon following another goal and two-point bonus at the weekend.
With an attractive array of fixtures coming up Vardy is definitely worth considering, and he would be a good replacement for those looking to offload Harry Kane as Tottenham are yet to show any signs of returning to form.
