FPL GW9 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis, and Matchups

Welcome to our FPL GW9 Scout Selection blog! What a weekend of football! GW8 was, for many managers, a low point; the average points total was 36, the lowest so far this season, leaving many managers with some big transfer decisions going into GW9 and the subsequent fixture swing in GW9/10.

Unfortunately our Scout Selection team also suffered, managing a measly 26 points and 9 blanks! To make matters worse, the Official FPL Scout team scored a total of 46 points, meaning that our 3GW unbeaten run comes to an end…

	GW1	GW2	GW3	GW4	GW5	GW6	GW7	GW8
AllAboutFPL Team	84	65	92	44	59	42	59	26
Official FPL Team	64	96	77	46	54	39	44	46

That being said, we still lead 5-3 against the Official FPL Scout team, and we’re confident in our FPL GW9 Scout Selection! As always, our Scout Picks will be based on the eye test, stats, and analysis. Let’s first take a look at the fixtures for FPL GW9.

FPL GW9 Fixtures

Link to all our FPL GW9 blogs including Scout picks, players to target, buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW9 Scout Picks

FPL GW9 Scout Selection – Goalkeeper

Our GW7 Scout Selection ‘keeper Flekken (4.5m) returns to the team in GW9 to make his second appearance in the AAFPL Scout’s Team! Brentford face Ipswich at Home in GW9, and as we all know, Ipswich are a team to target both from an attacking and defensive point of view. Ipswich have the lowest xG (8.1) in the league, and have scored the joint second fewest goals (6). While Ipswich did have a tough start to the season, since GW4 they’ve played Southampton, West Ham and Everton, and scored just 2 goals in the process. Based on this, we’re backing Brentford to keep a Clean Sheet in GW9.

Ipswich Attacking Stats:

• xG/90 – 0.75 (19th)
• Goals – 6 (19th)
• Shots per 90 – 9.37 (20th)
• xG per Shot – 0.08 (20th)

However, it’s not just his opponent this week that makes Flekken such an enticing option between the sticks for our GW9 FPL teams, but also his ability to get Save Points. In 7/8 GWs so far this season the Brentford goalie has made 3+ saves (1 point), and in 4/8 he has made 6+ (2 points). In fact, Flekken makes the most saves per 90 of any keeper in the league, 5.3S/90! Of course it’s worth pointing out that Flekken is likely to face fewer shots than he has in recent weeks against Ipswich, their xG/Shot is also very poor, increasingly the likelihood of both a CS and save points, as even when the ‘Tractor Boys’ do get shots off, they tend to be of poor quality.

Furthermore, Brentford’s defense is on the up; in 2 of their 3 most recent GWs they’ve limited their opponent to under 1xG!

Further Read: Top FPL GW9 Differential Picks(<10% TSB) to Consider Ahead of Deadline

FPL GW9 Scout Selection – Defenders

Our three man defense consists of: Forest’s Milenkovic (4.5m) and a City Double-up in the form of Gvardiol (6.1m) and Lewis (4.7m). Let’s start with our star man from FPL GW8, Milenkovic!

As pointed out last week, we’ve been big fans of the Forest defense for some time now, targeting Sels as far back as GW3! Forest have conceded the 2nd fewest goals in the league. No, your eyes do not deceive you, that is a real statistic. Forest have a better defensive record than Arsenal and City. They have the 5th best xGA and the second best Post-Shot Expected Goals, and are currently sitting 8th in the table and just 4 points off top 4.

Milenkovic, as mentioned last week is a nailed 90 minute man, and still has the 3rd best xG/90 in the Forest Squad (players who have played over 500 minutes), only behind Chris Wood and MGW, so is the best Forest defensive asset to target, and arguably the second best Forest asset full-stop (only behind Chris Wood).

The Tricky Trees face Leicester this week, another team to target, who are bottom 5 for xG, and are the second biggest xG over-performer in the league; don’t let their tally of 12 league goals fool you! Forest have proven time and time again that they are capable of keeping clean sheets under Nuno, so we’re trusting them to deliver again for us in GW9!

Let us now turn our attention to our Sky Blue defensive duo of Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol… Last week we put our faith in Lewis, and he returned us an abysmal 2 points, so instead of turning our back Guardiola, this week we’re doubling down this week and going for Double City Defense! City have the 4th best xGA so far this season, and have conceded 9 goals in 8 Premier League games – clearly their defense is worse than last season, but it’s their fixture this week that makes a defensive double up so appealing…

The Citizens welcome Southampton to the Etihad in GW9, a team which has scored 6 goals (2nd fewest in the league) from 12.47xG (13th in the league). The Saints clearly have issues in front of goal due to constant changes in their starting XI, particularly in forward areas. Furthermore, Archer, who will likely start up front against City on Saturday, has struggled to score consistently in the Prem, and has scored 2 goals from 3.4xG so far this season.

As I wrote last week, Rico Lewis is ‘a great, cheap way into the City defense, which, whilst clearly worse in Rodri’s absence, is still one of the best in the league.‘ Lewis offers so much value for managers who are looking to attack City’s good fixtures, but for those who have a bit of extra cash to spare, Gvardiol is the one to target.

While the Croatian’s underlying attacking numbers are worse than Lewis’, he has proven twice this season already that he has the confidence and ability to score from range, and score his FPL owners some big points. Gvardiol takes twice as many shots per 90 as Lewis, and averages more key passes per 90. Both are great FPL options in their own ways, which is why this week we’ve gone for both of them for our FPL GW9 Scout Selection team!

Further Read: FPL GW9 Transfer Targets & Watchlist Based on Eye Test & Stats

FPL GW9 Scout Selection – Midfielders

Our midfield quartet this week consist of: Tottenham’s Johnson (6.6m), United’s Bruno Fernandes (8.2m), and Two Talismen in the forms of Mbeumo (7.4m) and Palmer (10.9m). Let’s start with Cold Palmer!

While we toyed with the idea of Foden again this week, after being stung twice (GW2 + GW7), we’ve decided to go for Chelsea’s star-boy Palmer. Somehow this is only Palmer’s second cap for the AAFPL Scout Team, having made his debut for our team in GW3. He’s back, with a Home fixture against a struggling Newcastle side, who suffered a 1-0 loss to Brighton in GW8.

Palmer Attacking Numbers:

• 0.51xG/90
• 0.63xA/90
• 0.79 Goals per 90
• 0.66 Assists per 90
• 3.55 Shots per 90

His quality is undeniable, and despite a poor performance against Liverpool in GW8, his stats are still out of this world. His opponent this week in Newcastle have been over-performing their underlying numbers so far this season, and, according to expected points should be on 9 points, rather than 12.

Newcastle have conceded the majority of their chances through the middle (32) and down the right hand side (33), which is exactly the area that Palmer loves to operate in. The stats back this up, as Chelsea are very central and right hand side heavy in terms of chances creation: 37 through the middle and 29 down the right wing compared to just 22 on the left. Palmer is unlikely to be shut down in the way he was against Liverpool in GW8, so he’s a great pick for GW9!

Mbeumo keeps his place in the team for the 3rd Gameweek straight, despite having blanked in GW8. As mentioned in the GK section of this post, Brentford have a very attractive fixture against Ipswich in GW9; we should be targeting both their attackers and defenders!

While Thomas Frank does tend to frequently alter his system, meaning that often players change position from one game to the next, Mbeumo tends to operate on the right hand side, often drifting in to the centre of the pitch, which his heatmap illustrates. Brentford’s chance creation stats also highlight this, with 28 of their 65 chances created so far this season coming from Mbeumo’s flank. He’s both a chance creation and goal scoring machine, and was an easy pick for this weeks Scout Selection!

Bruno makes his debut for the AAFPL Scout team, despite United’s poor performances in recent weeks. I was very negative about United in last week’s article, so this week, as an apology, we’ve gone for Bruno! In all seriousness, Bruno F is a great FPL pick this week, with great underlying numbers and a fairly good fixture against 15th place West Ham.

While Fernandes’ (or Fernandsh as it is correctly pronouned) underlying numbers are quite underwhelming compared to previous seasons, he is still putting up a fairly healthy 0.28xG/90 and 0.19xA/90, totaling an expected goal involvement of 0.47/90 – not bad! West Ham have so far conceded most of their chances down the left wing and centrally, meaning that both Bruno and Garnacho are great options this week, but as he’s on pens and didn’t travel mid-week, we’ve gone for Fernandes!

Finally we have Johnson representing Spurs in this weeks team. As predicted, Ange’s side bounced back after their crushing 3-2 defeat to Brighton with a resounding 4-1 win against West Ham in GW8, with Son, Bissouma and Kulusevski all scoring. Unfortunately Johnson missed out on any attacking returns last week, but that has not deterred us, he remains a great FPL pick!

Johnson is comfortably taking the most shots of any Spurs player, and is a constant goal threat, getting himself in 1-on-1 situations and getting into the box week in week out. His 0.55xG per 90 is bettered only by Solanke in the Spurs squad, at just 6.7m he’s a steal, especially with a tasty fixture against Palace coming up this week.

Further Read: FPL GW9: Player Performance Analysis by Position & Price Point

FPL GW9 Scout Selection – Forwards

Haaland (15.2) retains the captaincy for the fourth week in a row (yes I know it’s boring sorry), but this week it’s less to do with damage control and safety, and instead more to do with his fixture: Southampton at home. The Norwegian scored twice in mid-week in the Champions League, ending his 2 game goal drought; he’ll be keen to end his 3 game PL goal drought against Southampton in FPL GW9.

When the fixtures get tougher for City then Haaland’s permanent position in the AAFPL Scout Team may come into question, but until then, he stays, and with such an appealing fixture against a promoted team at home, he’s a no brainer for the captaincy.

From one goal scoring phenomenon to another, Chris Wood makes the team for GW9, following some extraordinary performances in recent weeks for Forest. Against Palace, the Kiwi took 4 shots (3 on target), created 1 chance, accumulated 0.89xG and scored once. If you watch the highlights from that game you’ll see how much of a threat he was all game, constantly getting into great positions, getting on the end of crosses and generally being a nuisance for the Palace backline.

Leicester, Forest’s opponent in GW9, have conceded almost all of their goals from within the penalty area (9) and six-yard box (4); prime Chris Wood territory. Forest’s number 11 has scored 4 of his 5 goals taken 15 of his 16 shots so far this season from inside the penalty area. He’s arguably the best Forest asset (sorry Milenkovic), and should be on everyone’s radar going into GW9.

Finally we have Jimenez (5.7m). The Mexican attacker has returned in every one of his last 5 PL appearences, scoring 4 and assisting 1. Gameweeks 1-3 he was confined to Fulham’s bench but from GW4 onwards he’s been Silva’s first choice forward, and has re-payed the faith shown in him by his manager. Raul is currently averaging 0.97xG/90 and 0.34xA/90, and scoring at a rate of around 0.85 goals per 90. He’s also the 7th highest scoring forward in FPL despite only having cemented a starting role in the team in GW4.

Fulham play Everton Away this GW; Dyche’s team have conceded the 5th most expected goals and the joint 4th most goals in the league. The fixture is important, as Everton are not great defensively, but the main reason we’ve selected Jimenez is his underlying numbers and form – he’s on fire at the moment!

Further Read: FPL GW9 Wildcard Team & Drafts to Consider | Wildcard Guide

Full FPL GW9 Scout Selection

Please note that our bench includes a 4.0m ‘keeper, a 2 x 4.0m defender, and a 4.5m midfielder, as all of the players selected are expected to start and have significant game-time in FPL GW8. Team Value is 97.2m.

Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW9

FPL GW9: Player Performance Analysis by Position & Price Point
FPL GW9 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis, and Matchups
FPL Gameweek 9 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold & Sell
Top FPL Gameweek 9 Captain Picks Based on Analysis & Metrics
FPL GW9 Wildcard Team & Drafts to Consider | Wildcard Guide
Top FPL GW9 Differential Picks to Consider Ahead of Deadline
FPL GW9 Transfer Targets & Watchlist Based on Eye Test & Stats
FPL GW9 Tips- Haaland Dilemma, Solanke Situation and More
FPL GW9 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More

Link to all our FPL GW9 blogs including buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 9 of the 2024/25 FPL Season?

We’ll be covering differential picks, transfer targets, Buy, Hold, Sell analysis, Scout picks, Gameweek preview, Captaincy metrics, FPL GW9 tips, and more. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for all our blogs. We’ll also be posting regularly about the same on our social media accounts so follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and keep our notification ON.