FPL Top Picks for Gameweek 9

There are quite a number of interesting fixtures in gameweek 9 of the 2025/26 Premier League season from a Fantasy Premier League perspective. For example, Chelsea, the second-highest goalscoring team of the season will face off against Sunderland, the second-best defence of the season, and Manchester United, who finally had their first-ever back-to-back win in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim, will face off against Brighton, who are notorious for stopping the momentum of their opponents.

As you begin to put together your strategy for the upcoming gameweek, here’s our analysis to guide your strategy decisions and assets selection.

Analisis Minggu Permainan

Gameweek 9’s match schedule looks like this:

• Leeds United v West Ham United
• Chelsea v Sunderland
• Newcastle United v Fulham
• Manchester United v Brighton and Hove Albion
• Brentford v Liverpool
• Arsenal v Crystal Palace
• Aston Villa v Manchester City
• Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest
• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley
• Everton v Tottenham Hotspur

As alluded to earlier, Man United are on a good run of form, but they’ll be coming up against the Seagulls and their impressive attack. This could turn out to be the highlight of the weekend, especially with so many valuable assets featuring.

We would be treading carefully with this fixture, however, and are advising managers to do the same. Both teams have very similar attacking and defensive stats, which means that managers cannot exactly count on either team to deliver the goods.

An interesting fixture to look forward to is Bournemouth v Forest. Sean Dyche is back in the Premier League as Forest’s new manager and will be linking up with Chris Wood once again. Dyche, as manager of Burnley back then, was unhappy to be losing the New Zealander, and now that they’ll be working together in a much stronger team than Dyche’s Burnley, things may start to improve for Wood, who has been quiet this season.

Best Budget/Differential Picks for Gameweek 9

Here are our best differential picks for gameweek 9 of the 2025/26 FPL season.

Luis Florentino (£5.0m) — Burnley

Josh Cullen (£5.0m) is Burnley’s best midfielder when it comes to racking up defensive contribution points, but his ceiling is not as high as Luis Florentino’s, based on available stats. The midfielder is the best in the key metrics that make up defensive contribution points — blocks, interceptions, clearances, recoveries and tackles — among all Premier League midfielders who have made more than one start this season.

This has helped him rack up defensive contributions in all four matches he has started so far. Scott Parker is becoming aware of his defensive ability and is giving him more opportunities to start. This presents an opportunity for managers to boost their total points hauls with Florentino’s ability to rack up defensive contributions.

Leandro Trossard (£6.9m) — Arsenal

Only 0.4% of managers in FPL own Leandro Torssard, who has started four consecutive matches for Arsenal. He has also been key to their results in that time, helping him produce 21 points for FPL managers who own him.

He is one of the Gunners’ most overlooked assets, and this is an opportunity for managers this week, especially with their tough fixture against Crystal Palace in gameweek 9. Eyes will be on Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) and Viktor Gyökeres (£9.0m), leaving room for Trossard to create something.

Sean Longstaff (£4.9m) — Leeds United

Sean Longstaff is one of our top three differential picks for a gameweek once again because, despite his output, his ownership is under 1% (0.9% to be exact). Leeds have conceded the highest number of goals this season and have kept only one clean sheet. However, the former Newcastle man has attempted more assists (16) than his teammates, while also ranking high for shots on target in his team. He’s a great option for the bench, and for the next few gameweeks which will be very busy.

Best FPL Players for Week 9

Nick Woltemade (£7.4m) — Newcastle United

German striker Nick Woltemade has convinced everyone of his quality. The lanky striker is the second highest goalscoring striker behind Erling Haaland (£14.2m), with four goals in five starts. The Magpies are at home to Fulham, and it is common knowledge that St. James’ Park is a fortress for the Tyneside team.

His stats — average of 6.4 points a game, 0.91 goals per 90, 2.51 shots per 90, with a shooting accuracy of 36% — are encouraging enough, making him the best mid-priced striker option to back up Haaland in every squad.

Gabriel Magalhães (£6.4m) — Arsenal

Palace vs Arsenal will be a tough game, which is why we are selecting a defender instead of an attacker from the Gunners’ as one of our top 3 picks for the week.

Gabriel is the highest-scoring defender in the game after eight gameweeks, with 59 FPL points this season (averaging 7.4 points per game). The Gunners have kept five out of eight clean sheets, and Gabriel has been key to all of them.

Gabriel is also the biggest set-piece threat in the league, winning 58.1% of his aerial duels. This is a big opportunity for managers, who could get both attacking and defensive returns from Gabriel in a match that promises to be exciting.

Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) — Liverpool

Liverpool assets are not in vogue at the moment, but Cody Gakpo has managed to be more consistent than others. His total of 40 points is the highest of any Liverpool player, even Mohamed Salah (£14.5m). He also has the most shots of any midfielder in the game this season, and is joint-second among midfielders for chances created (17).

Brentford are Liverpool’s opponents this weekend, which is an opportunity for them to get back on track. Gakpo’s price is the more affordable one from their attack, and his stats also prove that he is the better option.