Gameweek 9 is a full round of ten Premier League fixtures, with no blanks and no doubles. The deadline is 11:00 UTC on Saturday 31 October (7:00 pm Perth time). Here are the Lab's picks for the week, based on the projections in our latest Fantasy briefing.
The fixtures
- Saturday 31 October: Chelsea v Man United, Bournemouth v Leeds, Brentford v Nott'm Forest, Coventry City v Sunderland, Hull City v Ipswich, Man City v Brighton, Tottenham v Crystal Palace, Aston Villa v Fulham
- Sunday 1 November: Liverpool v Arsenal
- Monday 2 November: Newcastle v Everton
Captain: Palmer
This week the armband is close to a coin flip. Haaland tops the projections on 6.66 points with a ceiling of 13, and Palmer is right behind on 6.57 with a ceiling of 12.9. A gap of 0.09 points is too small to separate them on the numbers alone.
So the choice comes down to ownership. Haaland has an effective ownership of 111.9 percent, which means most managers around you will have him captained. Captaining him protects your rank, but it will not help you climb. Palmer sits at 35.5 percent effective ownership, so a good week from him gains ground on most of your rivals.
Palmer has started every Chelsea game this season, he is on penalties, and Chelsea are at home to Man United. That is why he is our pick. If you would rather play it safe, Haaland at home to Brighton is a perfectly reasonable choice. Brighton do have one of the meanest defences in the league, which is part of why we are not leaning his way.
Players to bring in
Van Hecke (Tottenham, defender, 4.9m). Projected for 4.8 points, the highest of our cheaper options this week. Spurs are at home to Crystal Palace and have an average fixture difficulty of 2.4 over the next five gameweeks, which is the kindest run on our watchlist. He has started every game this season and hit the defensive contribution bonus in 38 percent of his starts.
Neto (Chelsea, midfielder). Projected for 4.76 points at home to Man United, with a ceiling of 12.4. He has started 88 percent of Chelsea's games and has a start probability of 0.94. At just 3.7 percent owned, he gives you a slice of Chelsea's attack without following the crowd.
Suzuki (Aston Villa, goalkeeper, 5.0m). Projected for 4.53 points at home to Fulham, which carries a fixture difficulty of 2. Villa's average difficulty over the next five is 2.8. If your goalkeeper slot is a problem, he is a sensible, low owned fix at 2.2 percent.
Differential: Ajer
Ajer is a 4.5m Brentford defender owned by just 4.2 percent of managers. He is projected for 4.58 points, at home to Nott'm Forest, and has hit the defensive contribution bonus in 43 percent of his starts. His start probability is 0.83, so there is some rotation risk, and Brentford's next five average a difficulty of 3.2. Treat him as a cheap punt rather than a sure thing.
Player to avoid: João Pedro
João Pedro is owned by 73.2 percent of managers, but he carries an unspecified injury and is listed at a 75 percent chance of playing. His start probability is just 0.71, and he has started 75 percent of Chelsea's games this season. His projection of 4.76 points is no higher than Neto's, and his effective ownership is 90.3 percent. We would not captain him this week, and if you are choosing between Chelsea attackers, Palmer and Neto look the steadier picks. Check the team news before the deadline.
Other team news
Saka (Arsenal) has a thigh injury with no return date, and Calafiori (Arsenal) is listed at 75 percent with a hip problem. Calvert-Lewin (Leeds) is at 50 percent with a foot injury. Szoboszlai (Liverpool) is out with a hamstring injury and no return date, and Semenyo (Man City) is out with a knee injury.
Chips
Hold all of them. With no blanks or doubles in Gameweek 9, there is nothing for a Free Hit, Bench Boost or Triple Captain to take advantage of, and there is no fixture swing worth burning a Wildcard on.
A word on projections
Projections are a guide, not a promise. Among the games already played last gameweek, none of the top five scorers came from the top five of our captaincy table, which is a good reminder that big hauls are hard to predict. Use these picks as a starting point and back your own judgement.