Ten gameweeks into the season (nine in truth when you take out GW7) and we’ve got a new highest weekly average. In gameweek 9, the average FPL manager scored 68 points, thanks to a whole bunch of players, both highly and lowly owned, who recorded double-digit hauls. Erling Braut Haaland, of course, led the way with 23 FPL points, courtesy of a third home hat-trick in a row for him, while his teammate Phil Foden copied the Norwegian by scoring the remaining 3 goals versus United for an impressive 19 points. The only player to wedge himself in between the two City stars was Brighton attacker Leandro Trossard, who remarkably scored thrice at Anfield.
Gameweek 10 then, is offering us a few tasty fixtures, both from an FPL and a neutral fan’s point of view. Another tasty fixture could be bingo Canada for online entertainment. In the first category, we have the visits of Wolves and Southampton to Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, as well as Leicester visiting Bournemouth and Aston Villa travelling to Nottingham Forest. In the second category, Sunday’s clash between leaders Arsenal and struggling Liverpool stands out, though when looking at the current table, the true clash of the weekend is between fourth-placed Brighton at home to third-placed Spurs.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 10 is set at 13h30 (UK time) on Saturday, October 8th.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per October 7th, 2022)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Mendy (CHE), Ederson (MCI), Alisson (LIV) | Pope (NEW), Martinez (AST), Ward (LEI) | |
| DEF | Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Emerson (TOT), Walker (MCI) | Trippier (NEW), Saliba (ARS), James (CHE) | Emerson red card, Walker injury |
| MID | Salah (MCI), Luis Diaz (LIV), Kulusevski (TOT) | Trossard (BRI), Foden (MCI), Maddison (LEI) | All transferred-in midfielders hauled in GW9, Kulusevski injury |
| FOR | Mitrovic (FUL), Toney (BRE), Isak (NEW) | Haaland (MCI), Kane (TOT), Toney (BRE) | Isak injury, Mitrovic possible injury, Haaland form |
Premium pick
Three hattricks in three home games. Fourteen goals and 3 assists from 661 minutes of Premier League action. The highest-owned player in the history of FPL. We know we’ve been trying to look beyond Erling Haaland’s (£12.2m) stats and performances as we all kind of know what he’s capable of, but not this week. It’s Southampton at home and the big man was taken off in the break on Wednesday after scoring a quick brace in the first 32 minutes of the Champions League game at home to FC Copenhagen. Haaland is the premium fantasy pick of choice for gameweek 10 and you’ll find him in our captaincy section as well. Just let this sink in for a moment: At the age of 22 (Haaland’s current age), Lionel Messi had scored 45 goals and Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 50 goals. Haaland currently has 173 goals to his name.
Non-premium pick
Despite Leicester’s terrible start of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, James Maddison (£8.1m) has managed to tick along quite nicely and GW9 provided the Englishman’s stand-out moment, for now at least. In the 4-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest, Madders scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist for a nice total of 18 FPL points. Excellent returns for a player who, at the time, was owned by just over 10% of all fantasy managers. He has now scored in two consecutive games and sits on 5 goals (and 2 assists) from seven league starts. Suddenly, the Leicester star is one of the best-value midfielders in the official game, with only De Bruyne, Trossard and Foden outscoring his total of 47 FPL points. Up next are Bournemouth, who have already conceded 19 goals, followed by Crystal Palace and Leeds at home, and Wolves away. We think Maddison could very well keep on delivering over the short and medium term.
The budget enabler
We were going to go with Wesley Fofana here, especially after his mid-week goal against AC Milan in the Champions League, but the Chelsea defender got injured in that same game and looks to be out for the foreseeable future. Instead, we’re going with Philip Billing (£5.3m), who has been a mainstay for Bournemouth in the advanced offensive midfielder role. The Cherries have scored just six goals so far this season, which is not a lot, but the Danish midfielder took care of two of those, one in GW6 at Forest and one in GW8 at Saint James’ Park (GW7 was postponed). Besides that, it’s important to take into account that Bournemouth have played City, Liverpool and Newcastle away, and Arsenal and Wolves at home, in their first seven league outings of this season. The fixture load is becoming a lot more promising now, including home games against Leicester, Southampton and Everton, and visits to Fulham and Leeds, over the next seven gameweeks. Billing is a guaranteed starter for Bournemouth, so he brings you that plus favourable fixtures at a price of just £5.3m. On top of that, he also plays Southampton at home in GW12, when Man City and Arsenal blank.
The differential
Jarrod Bowen (£8.1m) has not yet managed to continue the blistering form that saw him record a whopping 12 goals and 17 assists in the Premier League last season, and that’s an understatement. West Ham as a whole are not as free-flowing as they were last season and the fact that Bowen did not manage a single attacking return over the first seven games of the 2022-23 campaign is major proof of that. Things might be about to change though, because the Hammers forward finally got off the mark against Wolves in gameweek 9, scoring 1 goal and providing 1 assist for a nice 14 FPL points, and West Ham’s league schedule has cleared up a bit. It’s Fulham at home this weekend, who have conceded 15 goals in eight games, followed by Southampton and Liverpool away, and then Bournemouth at home. Bowen is an integral part of David Moyes’ set-up in East London, though it should be noted that the Hammers are playing Conference League as well this season and the 25-year-old forward got in 86 minutes on Thursday against RSC Anderlecht. The upcoming league game against Fulham is only set for Sunday, so we’re confident Bowen will be used from the start, but keep an eye on team news nonetheless.
The (vice-)captaincy
The GW10 armband goes to Erling Haaland for City’s home game against Southampton. Simple as that.
Alternatives for the Norwegian, though we’re not really recommending looking for them at the moment, are available as well. Even within the Man City roster, the likes of Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne (rested midweek) could pay off handsomely as captains. Outside of City, we see James Maddison visiting Bournemouth, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang welcoming Wolves to Stamford Bridge, and Wilfried Zaha hosting Leeds. Considering Liverpool’s unreliable form and leaky backline, even Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus are decent captaincy picks for Arsenal’s home game versus Liverpool. Finally, the real differential hunters might consider Ollie Watkins at Forest or Anthony Martial at Everton.