“Best captain” and four “top picks”

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

FPL Banger Gameweek 9 Tips

Read on as FPL Banger reveals the best FPL tips for Gameweek 9, including the best captain selection and four top picks that could improve your teams heading into the Premier League this weekend.

BEST CAPTAIN

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

My statement in our GW6 preview that I would captain Haaland every week until GW38 has not aged well, to say the least. Three blanks in a row were very worrying, but Haaland returned to form in midweek and scored two goals against Sparta Prague by channeling his inner Booker T with a scissor kick finish.

Southampton’s season hit a new low last week with their defeat against Leicester after leading 2-0 in the first hour. All signs point to a Haaland win 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 defense that can keep a clean sheet at Anfield should be taken seriously and Forest followed that famous win in GW4 with a respectable draw at Chelsea before beating Crystal Palace 1-0 last week.

Sels was particularly impressive last week, scoring 11 points. Palace had 20 shots, but with an average xG of 0.04 per shot, Forest effectively forced Palace to take a lot of poor quality shots, which is always a recipe for goalkeeping moves in FPL. Every year in FPL we get an outstanding 4.5 meter keeper and this year it looks like it will be Sels.

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

“It is the way of the universe. Everything ends. Over time, even stars burn out. This is why we do not form bonds: all things pass away. To hold on to something – or someone – beyond its time is to pit your selfish desires against power. This is a path of misery.”

That was Pep Guardiola talking about Kyle Walker.

It was actually Obi Wan Kenobi who spoke to Anakin Skywalker, but you get the point.

Rico Lewis has really broken into Man City’s starting XI this season, and Walker’s recent injury with England has only improved Lewis’ chances of starting. Due to the high positions that all of Man City’s defenders can occupy, Lewis has already registered two assists and with 0.7xG, a goal is certainly on the horizon.

Southampton at home looks to be an ideal opportunity for Rico to reach a long overdue double-figure haul.

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

Sure, I could have made it easier for myself and picked Heung-min Son, Cole Palmer or even Phil Foden for this slot. But we’re not doing assist picks here, and Mohamed Salah is somehow not an assist pick this season.

We keep hearing that he is too expensive in the FPL – but not for us. The FPL’s highest-scoring player will be playing against an Arsenal defense that will be without William Saliba and possibly even Riccardo Calafiori. Keyword: Salah meets Oleksandr Zinhenko, who tells us in his own words what will happen next:

“Salah misses, the ball lands on his feet and the distance between me and Salah was about 50 meters. Imagine him picking up the pace against me, I’m done.

“If Mohamed gets the ball at his feet and he picks up the pace, it’s impossible, impossible.”

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

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

New signing Kane (or the hobbiton Heskey if you prefer) is in good company, and while the absence of Morgan Gibbs-White was seen as damaging to his attacking prospects, new signing Elliott Anderson has stepped in and filled the void with a star-studded performance last week against Palace.

Wood’s return 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 at full strength. Don’t think about it too much.

Thank you for reading the article in this new series for sportscasting. Be sure to follow @FPL_Banger for more FPL tips and advice, including the weekly podcast and team reveals.