The international break has been one long anxious wait for FPL managers with so many popular FPL assets being flagged due to injuries/COVID. But one good thing is that there isn’t another international break till March and we have 9 FPL GW’s in the next 43 days.
Looking ahead to GW9 there are few teams including Man City, West Ham, Aston Villa to name a few having good fixture swings and it should prove to be a good move if we get in few lowly owned assets from these teams. So let’s deep dive and look at the top differential options for GW9!
This time our differential article has six players instead of five with all of them having less than 10% ownership and have a high chance of returning for that particular GW and beyond. Check out our top differential options for FPL GW9 below!
Note: All player ownership & price are from the data at the time of writing, subject to change as we move close to the FPL GW9 deadline
FPL GW9 Differential picks
1.Gabriel Jesus vs Spurs (A) £9.3 Mil TSB: 1.0%
Man City have struggled so far this season and that’s majorly due to the fact that they didn’t have a striker for the vast majority of the season with both Jesus and Aguero out injured. Man City have been a different team when Jesus has been on the pitch and the forward has scored in both the games he has played so far this season.
Jesus vs Liverpool stats Goal: 1 Shots: 2 Shots inside box: 2 Shots on target: 1 Big Chances: 2 xG:0.74 Bonus: 3
Jesus accumulated the second most big chances last season(34) amongst all players last season having played 1000 mins less than Vardy who topped the list for big chances last season with 36. The creativity of KDB means Jesus will be once getting those BC which should result in more goals. Against Liverpool, no player had more big chances than Jesus who had two of them. Man City have a huge fixture swing and he could be a huge differential option to consider ahead of the likes of sterling. As it stands Jesus is owned by just 1% of the managers.
Further Read: FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
2. Richarlison vs Fulham (A) £7.8 Mil TSB: 3.9%
We all know how well DCL has been playing this season. But he’s not the only one who’s important for Everton, Richarlison has also been a highly impactful player for the toffies and they have lost all three of the games which he missed due to suspension.
Everton scored 14 goals over the first five games with the Brazilian on the field. But they have scored only 4 in the last three without him. This should be corrected as Everton faces defensively poor Fulham, Leeds, and Burnley over the next three games. Leeds and Fulham are first and second for the most big chances conceded. Everton and Richarlison will look to capitalize on this and return back to winning ways.
Further Read: FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
3. Aaron Creswell vs Sheffield United (A) £5.1 Mil TSB: 8.5%
Aaron Cresswell has been one of the most improved and consistently performing defenders this season. Cresswell has registered the highest number of assists(3), key passes(17), and the most chances created(17) for defenders metrics which we have been so used to seeing held by Trent Alexander Arnold.
Cress has made 53 crosses so far this season which is the fourth highest amongst defenders what makes it impressive is that he has enjoyed a successful cross percentage of 20% which is better than all the three above him. He’s also on set-piece and FK duty for the hammers.
West Ham are very good aerially and have made the most header attempts(26) so far this season this means he’ll be amongst the assists sooner. Now that West Ham enjoy a good fixture run he’s one of the best defenders to own in FPL.
Further Read: FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
4. Ollie Watkins vs Brighton (H) £6.1 Mil TSB: 7.4%
Aston Villa have been receiving plenty of FPL attention this season thanks to their stunning start to the season. Super Jack has had the spotlight thanks to his excellent form but another guy who has been going about his job silently is Ollie Watkins.
The villa forward has already scored five goals against the Big Six. Since GW3 he has had the joint-most goals for forwards(6). Amongst forwards he had accumulated the second-highest big chances for forwards(9) as he is directly reaping the creativity of Jack Grealish. He has also had 44 Penalty box touches (Third amongst forwards) and made 9 key passes so far which is second only to Kane(18). The numbers look good especially considering the fact that Villa missed GW1.
Aston Villa enjoy an excellent run of fixtures from GW9 till 15 and the next three of the opponents are in the bottom half of the table. Watkins could be a very good differential option to consider for the period and we believe he’ll be amongst the points consistently!
Further Read: FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
5. Patrick Van Aanholt vs Burnley (A) £5.4 Mil TSB: 0.6%
Having missed the start of the season, PVA has returned from injury and has since replaced Mitchell at RB since GW7. Over the last two GWs Van Aanholt has got an assist and recorded 4 shots on goal, 2 on target, and three inside the box (second highest amongst defenders).
He has also made six penalty box touches over the last two games registering an xGI of 0.85 which is the highest for defenders over the last two games. PVA ranks fifth for shots on target and big chances for defenders having played just 198 minutes of league football.
Crystal Palace have some great fixtures lined up with Burnley, Newcastle, and West Brom over the next three GW’s. The attacking appeal combined with the clean sheet potential makes him a great differential defender to consider and a good replacement option for TAA/Robbo.
Further Read: FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
6. Diogo Jota vs Leicester City (H) £6.5 Mil TSB: 9.5%
No one ever expected Jota to have such an impactful start to life at Merseyside. However, the Portuguese attacker has made a stunning start to having scored seven goals for the reds already and is averaging a goal every 101 mins in the PL so far this season.
Mo Salah has tested positive for COVID-19 and is set to miss GW9 and potentially GW10 which further increases the appeal of Jota. Against Man City, Jota did pass the eye test with three shots on goal and one on target against a solid city defense. He ticks all the boxes and could be a direct Salah replacement until he returns.
Further Read: FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL for FPL Managers ahead of GW9 Deadline:
FPL GW9 Stats Preview: Hot takes on Teams and Players to watch out and avoid based on numbers
All that you need to know about FPL cup
2020/21 Premier League Team By Team Goal Contributions So Far This Season
History Of Fantasy Football And Origin Of FPL
What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of GW9 Deadline?
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