FPL Banger Top Gameweek 9 Tips, Including A Best Captain Selection And Four Top Picks For Your Squads

Welcome to a new series for the 2024/25 season, provided by Siva & Sam, the twisted minds behind the weekly FPL Banger Podcast. After Sam’s successful Salah captaincy last week, it’s time to cook again with my Gameweek 9 tips.

FPL Banger Gameweek 9 Tips

Read on as FPL Banger pinpoints their top Gameweek 9 FPL tips, including their best captaincy selection and four top picks that could improve your sides heading into the weekend’s Premier League action.

BEST CAPTAIN

Erling Haaland (£15.3m) – Fixture: Southampton (H)

My declaration in our GW6 preview that I would captain Haaland every week until GW38 has not aged well to say the least. 3 blanks in a row was very concerning, but Haaland returned to form midweek, scoring twice against Sparta Prague as he channelled his inner Booker T with a scissor kick finish.

Southampton’s season meanwhile reached a new low last week with their collapse against Leicester, having led 2-0 for the first hour. All signs point to a Haaland haul on Saturday, and I might even consider activating the triple captain chip this week.

TOP PICKS

Matz Sels (£4.5m) – Fixture: Leicester City (A)

Any defence that can keep a clean sheet at Anfield should be taken seriously, and Forest followed up that famous win in GW4 with a creditable draw at Chelsea before winning 1-0 against Crystal Palace last week.

Sels was especially impressive last week, hauling 11 points. Palace had 20 shots, but with an average xG of 0.04 per shot, Forest effectively forced Palace into taking loads of low quality shots, which is always a recipe for goalkeeper hauls in FPL. Every year in FPL we get a standout 4.5m keeper and this year it is looking like it will be Sels.

Rico Lewis (£4.7m) – Fixture: Wolves (A)

“It is the way of the universe. Everything ends. In time, even stars burn out. This is why we form no attachments: all things pass. To hold on to something— or someone—beyond its time is to set your selfish desires against the Force. That is a path of misery.”

That was Pep Guardiola speaking about Kyle Walker.

Actually it was Obi Wan Kenobi speaking to Anakin Skywalker, but you get the idea.

Rico Lewis has well and truly broken into the Man City starting XI this season, and Walker’s injury with England recently has only improved Lewis’ starting prospects. Lewis has already returned 2 assists as a result of the high positions that all Man City defenders are able to take up, and with 0.7xG a goal is surely on the way soon.

Southampton at home feels like an ideal opportunity for Rico to get that long overdue double digit haul.

Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) – Fixture: Arsenal (A)

Sure, I could’ve taken the easy way out and picked Heung-min Son, Cole Palmer or even Phil Foden in this slot. But we don’t do template picks here, and Mohamed Salah is somehow, not a template pick this season.

We keep hearing that he’s too expensive in FPL – not for us though. The highest points scorer in FPL plays an Arsenal defence who will be without William Saliba and possibly even Riccardo Calafiori. Cue Salah facing Oleksandr Zinhenko, who in his own words tells us what will happen next:

“Salah drops wide, the ball to his feet and the distance between me and Salah was like 50 meters. Imagine he gets pace against me, I’m finished.

“When Mohamed is receiving the ball at his feet and he gets the pace, it’s impossible, impossible.”

Chris Wood (£6.2m) – Fixture: Leicester (A)

Since Nuno arrived at Forest last December, only 2 people have scored more league goals than Chris Wood: Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland.

The Kiwi Kane (or the Hobbiton Heskey if you prefer) is in fine company and while the absence of Morgan Gibbs-White was thought to be harmful to his attacking prospects, new signing Elliott Anderson has stepped up and fill the void, with a star performance last week against Palace.

Wood returning to the King Power Stadium where he was a cult hero a decade ago feels like another guaranteed goal + bonus points. He’s cheap, he’s on penalties, he’s in good form and he’s nailed. Don’t overthink this.

Thanks for reading the article in this new series for Sportscasting. Be sure to follow @FPL_Banger for more FPL tips and hints including their weekly podcast and team reveals.