Friday evening More changes after Andoni Iraola’s press conference and new flags in the game.
- Szoboszlai (LIV, 14.2% owned, our rating 75): back from “out” to 50% in the game. Iraola said he and Víctor Muñoz both have a chance of facing Arsenal, but he does not know for sure whether they will be involved. The game is on Sunday at 16:30 UK time, more than a day after the deadline, so the automatic substitution will kick in if he does not play. Advice: if you own him and have a fit substitute on your bench, you can keep him. There is no case for buying him now: he has played 31 minutes in total over the last three gameweeks, and 226,000 managers have already sold him.
- Caicedo and Gusto (CHE): flags removed, both back to 100% in the game. This afternoon we wrote that Caicedo was still at 75%. Hato (0.8%) is now out in the game with an unknown return date. Lacroix is now listed as injured with an unknown return date, which matches our advice: sell.
- Tzolis (ARS, 3.9%, rating 61): from “out” to 75% in the game, in line with Arteta saying he trained on Friday. Branthwaite (EVE, 2.3%) is at 75% after a concussion. Everton do not play until Monday.
- Manchester City: according to reports from Enzo Maresca’s press conference (CityXtra), only Semenyo is missing for Brighton. That matches the game, where no other City player has a flag. Haaland (78.5%) stays number one in our captain picks.
Update (Friday 30 October, afternoon) After the press conferences of Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso.
- Rice (ARS, 12.2%, rating 83) and Calafiori (ARS, 49.4%, rating 83): Arteta said both trained on Friday together with Tzolis, and that if they come through Saturday’s session too, all three will be available. Both still have a 75% flag in the game. Advice: keep them, but have a fit substitute on your bench. Liverpool v Arsenal is on Sunday at 16:30 UK time, more than a day after the deadline, so the automatic substitution will kick in if either of them does not play.
- Madueke (0.4%, 75%): Arteta did not commit. “We don’t know yet” — a decision follows Saturday’s training. Tzolis (3.9%) is still listed as injured in the game, expected back on 1 November.
- Saka (7.7%): no change, still out with an unknown return date. If you still own him and have no reliable bench, this is the last moment to sell.
- Lacroix (CHE, 6.1%, rating 75): Alonso said the defender will not be ready before the international break and is out for a few weeks (the game still shows 50%). If you own him, sell; a cheap alternative is Van Hecke (TOT, £4.9m, rating 89, at home to Crystal Palace). Previews expect Fofana to take his place at Chelsea.
- Rest of Chelsea: Alonso confirmed that Caicedo is fit for United (still 75% in the game). Palmer (27.3%) has no flag and previews expect him to start.
- Arsenal’s defence is unchanged: Gabriel (rating 86) and Konsa (rating 81) have no flags, but they face the same tough trip to Anfield (difficulty 4).
- Captaincy: nothing has changed since this morning. Haaland (78.5%, at home to Brighton) leads our captain picks, with Tavernier (rating 90) second. No player owned by 3% or more has picked up a new flag since this morning.
Update (Friday 30 October, morning) What has changed since yesterday.
- Bruno Fernandes (MUN, 23.7% owned, our rating 85): asked on Thursday whether Bruno keeps the captaincy, Michael Carrick said there was no decision to make. Sky Sports reports that the two held clear-the-air talks on Tuesday, and previews (Sports Mole) expect him back in the starting XI on Saturday. Yesterday we wrote that we understood the managers selling him. That argument is weaker today. If you own him, do not sell him just because he was benched against Bournemouth. There is no strong case for buying him either: United go to Stamford Bridge (difficulty 4), and 270,000 managers have already sold him.
- Rest of United: Šeško is out for a longer spell (Carrick: a longer period, exact length still unclear). Mainoo is back in training and has a 25% flag. Rashford is at 75% (hip), but previews say he is unlikely to play.
- Lacroix (CHE, 6.2%): his flag has dropped from 75% to 50%. Do not buy him, and if you own him, play a fit substitute. Caicedo, Gusto and Hato are at 75% (each owned by under 1.2%). After Wednesday’s game Alonso called Caicedo’s problem minor and said Gusto had cramp. Palmer (27.3%) has no flag: he served his red-card ban in the cup on Wednesday and can face United.
- Flags removed: Neco Williams (NFO, 5.9%, rating 85) and Nobel Mendy (HUL, 4.7%) are back to 100%. Worse news: Bobby Thomas (COV, 9.1%) has dropped from 75% to 50% (calf), and Stach (LEE, 2.0%) is at 50% (foot).
- League Cup on Thursday: Everton 3-1 Newcastle (Garner, Hackney, Barry; Burn for Newcastle). The same teams meet again on Monday in the league, at St James’ Park, in the last game of the round. Dewsbury-Hall (rating 87) set up Barry’s goal, and Tarkowski and Pickford played the full game. For Newcastle, Hall (20.5%) played 90 minutes. Barnes was one of three players Matthias Jaissle replaced at half-time, but there is no report of an injury. Osula went off injured and now has a 75% flag.
- Prices: 62 changes since the Gameweek 8 deadline, 15 of them rises. Calafiori has dropped to £5.9m (426,000 sales), and Haaland has risen to £15.8m (78.4% owned).
Always up to date: live transfer tips, refreshed every hour, are on our Who to Buy in FPL page.
The Gameweek 9 deadline is on Saturday 31 October at 11:00 UK time. The first match, Chelsea v Manchester United, kicks off at 12:30. Clubs also played in the League Cup this week, and that changes a few decisions: some players rested, others went all the way to penalties.
The key points
- Haaland did not play on Wednesday. Maresca gave him and four other players three days off. He is number one in our captain picks, and City host Brighton on Saturday.
- Chelsea played at Liverpool on Wednesday with close to their strongest side, all the way to penalties. Rogers (50.2% owned) played the full match. Chelsea are first up on Saturday, at 12:30.
- Lacroix came off on Wednesday with a hamstring problem and has a 75% flag.
- Rice and Calafiori still have 75% flags. Arteta will say more before the trip to Liverpool, which is not until Sunday.
- More than 1.1 million managers have sold João Pedro. He is the most-sold player in the game, and rightly so: he is out for several weeks.
League Cup: who played on Wednesday and who rested
Cup points do not count in FPL. What counts is who has fresh legs for the weekend. We picked players who are widely owned or rated highly by our model.
| Player | Ownership | On Wednesday | Gameweek 9 match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland (MCI) | 78.3% | did not play, time off | Sat 15:00, home v Brighton |
| Cherki (MCI) | 38.2% | full match | Sat 15:00, home v Brighton |
| Guéhi (MCI) | 16.9% | full match | Sat 15:00, home v Brighton |
| Groß (BHA) | 46.2% | full match | Sat 15:00, away at City |
| De Cuyper (BHA) | 42.5% | about 15 minutes | Sat 15:00, away at City |
| Rogers (CHE) | 50.2% | full match, scored a penalty | Sat 12:30, home v United |
| Neto (CHE) | 4.3% | full match | Sat 12:30, home v United |
| Lacroix (CHE) | 6.3% | off at half-time, injured | Sat 12:30, home v United |
| Isak (LIV) | 17.2% | about 10 minutes | Sun 16:30, home v Arsenal |
| van Dijk (LIV) | 15.1% | 72 minutes | Sun 16:30, home v Arsenal |
| Gakpo (LIV) | 6.7% | full match, scored a penalty | Sun 16:30, home v Arsenal |
| Tavernier (BOU) | 19.9% | first half | Sat 15:00, home v Leeds |
| Evanilson (BOU) | 9.3% | did not play | Sat 15:00, home v Leeds |
| N. Jackson (AVL) | 13.4% | did not play | Sat 20:00, home v Fulham |
| McGinn (AVL) | 3.2% | about 20 minutes | Sat 20:00, home v Fulham |
Wednesday’s results: Manchester City 2-2 Brighton (City won 4-3 on penalties), Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Liverpool won 6-5 on penalties), Bournemouth 3-0 Aston Villa, Fulham 0-1 Crystal Palace, Sunderland 3-2 Brentford. On Tuesday Arsenal went out to Fleetwood, as we reported yesterday.
Chelsea have the least rest. From Wednesday’s match to Saturday’s kick-off is about 2 days and 16 hours, and United did not play at all this week. Tavernier came off at half-time on Wednesday, but there is no report of an injury and he has no flag in the game.
Who to captain
Our captain picks tool measures how many real scoring chances a player creates and how hard his match is this gameweek. Here is the top five:
| Rank | Player | Our rating | Risk | Upside | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haaland (MCI) | 87 | 15 | 87 | home v Brighton |
| 2 | Tavernier (BOU) | 90 | 15 | 67 | home v Leeds |
| 3 | Mbeumo (MUN) | 87 | 22 | 63 | away at Chelsea |
| 4 | Gibbs-White (NFO) | 86 | 15 | 58 | away at Brentford |
| 5 | Le Fée (SUN) | 86 | 8 | 57 | away at Coventry |
Haaland has clearly the highest upside this gameweek: 87, against 67 for Tavernier in second. He also rested on Wednesday while Brighton played. It is the simplest captaincy call of the gameweek. Pick a vice-captain from a different match, Tavernier for example.
Who to buy
If you have money for a premium: Haaland, if you do not own him yet (78.3% do). Among the cheaper strong midfielders we rate Tavernier highest (£6.4m, 90, the only “strong buy” in the game), followed by Mbeumo (£7.9m, 87).
A forward for around £6m: Evanilson (£6.2m, 89) is the highest-rated forward in the game. He did not play on Wednesday, and Bournemouth host Leeds on Saturday. Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m, 82) is the most-bought player of the week. He also rested and has the easier fixture (home to Fulham, difficulty 2).
Cheap defenders:
- Van Hecke (TOT, £4.9m, 89): the highest-rated defender in the game, at home to Crystal Palace.
- Bogle (LEE, £4.8m, 87): Leeds did not play in the cup this week.
- Leif Davis (IPS, £4.0m, 85): the cheapest of the group, with Ipswich away at Hull (difficulty 2).
- Mitchell (CRY, £4.5m, 84): only played half an hour on Wednesday.
Less popular options (under 6% owned):
- McGinn (AVL, £5.4m, 87, 3.2%): only 20 minutes on Wednesday, then Fulham at home in the last match of Saturday.
- Le Fée (SUN, £5.7m, 86, 2.8%): fifth in our captain picks and did not play on Wednesday.
- Tonali (TOT, £5.3m, 86, 1.9%): Tottenham did not play this week and host Palace.
- Neto (CHE, £6.6m, 87, 4.3%): a high rating, but he played the full match on Wednesday and Chelsea kick off first on Saturday.
Our Recommended Squad for Gameweek 9
Our Recommended Squad plays a 3-5-2 and leaves £7.1m in the bank. Haaland is captain and Tavernier vice-captain.
- Goalkeeper: Verbruggen
- Defence: Van Hecke, De Cuyper, Bogle
- Midfield: Tavernier, Groß, Rogers, Mbeumo, Neto
- Attack: Evanilson, Haaland
One honest note. The squad has three Brighton players (Verbruggen, De Cuyper and Groß), and Brighton travel to the Etihad on Saturday. It is the toughest away fixture of the gameweek (difficulty 5). The squad picks players by rating, and the rating looks at five gameweeks of fixtures, not one. If you are only planning for this gameweek, you do not need all three.
The crowd versus our model
On most purchases the crowd and the model agree. The most-bought players are Nicolas Jackson (954,000), Tavernier (675,000), Isak (372,000) and Evanilson (355,000). All of them have a “buy” verdict from us, and Tavernier a “strong buy”.
The exception is on the selling side, as usual. Bruno Fernandes is the fourth most-sold player (236,000), while we rate him 85 with a “buy” verdict. This time we understand the crowd: United go to Stamford Bridge (difficulty 4), and after he was left on the bench against Bournemouth his place in the team is less certain. Our model cannot see that, because it does not read the manager’s decisions.
Cherki is among both the most-bought (131,000) and the most-sold (221,000). He is owned by 38.2% of managers. He played the full match on Wednesday, is rated 84 and is eighth in our captain picks.
Injuries and flags before the deadline
- João Pedro (CHE, 62.8%): injured for several weeks. Details in our article from Tuesday.
- Calafiori (ARS, 51.0%) and Rice (ARS, 12.4%): both 75%. The match is on Sunday at 16:30, after the deadline.
- Lacroix (CHE, 6.3%): 75%. Alonso said after the match that it would take a couple of days to assess the injury.
- Bobby Thomas (COV, 9.3%) and Neco Williams (NFO, 5.9%): both 75%.
- Out: Szoboszlai, Saka, Semenyo, Shaw.
- Flag removed: Wirtz (LIV). He played half an hour in the cup on Wednesday.
The full list, refreshed every day, is in our Injury Centre.
Gameweek 9 fixtures
| Kick-off (UK time) | Match | Difficulty home / away |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 31 Oct, 12:30 | Chelsea v Manchester United | 4 / 4 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 15:00 | Bournemouth v Leeds | 3 / 3 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 15:00 | Brentford v Nottingham Forest | 3 / 3 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 15:00 | Coventry v Sunderland | 3 / 2 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 15:00 | Hull v Ipswich | 2 / 2 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 15:00 | Manchester City v Brighton | 3 / 5 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 17:30 | Tottenham v Crystal Palace | 2 / 3 |
| Sat 31 Oct, 20:00 | Aston Villa v Fulham | 2 / 3 |
| Sun 1 Nov, 16:30 | Liverpool v Arsenal | 4 / 4 |
| Mon 2 Nov, 20:00 | Newcastle v Everton | 3 / 3 |
Newcastle and Everton also meet in the League Cup tonight, and then again in the league on Monday.
Five minutes before the deadline
- Do you have João Pedro, Szoboszlai, Saka or Semenyo in your starting XI? Each of them will score zero.
- Do you have a playing bench option to cover Calafiori and Rice?
- Is your vice-captain in a different match from your captain?
- Are you avoiding a -4 hit for a transfer that could wait a week?
- Have you remembered that the deadline is at 11:00, not in the evening?
Playing in our mini-league? You can join all season. League code: 3ix1cw.
Gameweek 9 deadline: Saturday 31 October, 11:00 UK time.
This article was prepared with the help of AI from official Fantasy Premier League data and our rating engine on the morning of 29 October 2026, League Cup match reports (ESPN, PA) and managers’ comments (Yahoo, Hayters, RotoWire), then edited and checked by our team. Numbers may change before the deadline.