So gameweek 8 was a struggle for a lot of us in the FPL community. Lots of our captains didn’t return and overall it was a low average score for the week.

For me, the gameweek was no different. In defence my dependable Burnley players scored 13 points between them which was nice, but not a lot from anyone else.

My midfield was even more unflattering with only Mason Mount doing anything of substance and my strike force which I had high hopes didn’t deliver, with only the Chelsea man Abraham getting in amongst the scoring points.

My captain for the week was Aubameyang, who after doing so well in the previous weeks, blanked….just my luck!

Anyway, regardless of all that, I got a small green arrow with 41 points (above the average) – so now I’m sitting around the 660k mark with 2FT in the bank, I’m not overly worried about my rank. I am backing myself to accelerate towards the back end of the year and second half of the season – so the rank doesn’t matter to me just yet.

Gameweek 9 preview

So with the International break upon us, I have done what I normally do and not log in to do any changes for the first week of the break. I also tend to keep an eye on the players I have and also what players I’m looking to potentially bring in.

In my second week, I start looking at the options. I wasn’t ruling out a mini wildcard (3 transfers for 4 points) either. Currently, I am contemplating on putting Sterling back in (mentioned last week too).

People may be surprised by that move, but I do think good players rarely stay quiet for long and with HM Son potentially being rested this weekend, I think it’s a good time to do it.

Now, that will mean I downgrade Pukki to a player that barely plays (Connolly). However it is something I a considering for now, as I think Connolly, of Brighton, will keep his place at least for the next few. I quite liked watching him on MoTD too. Brighton have some decent games too so it may work out and it will allow me to get Sterling back in.

What this move will also mean, is that I have to play one of either Connolly, Rico or Cantwell most weeks, this isn’t ideal but I will slowly sort that out over the coming weeks by shifting my budget around.

So currently, my thinking is Son and Pukki out and Sterling and Connolly in. I’m not 100% set on this but if I do change anything from that, I will tweet and let people know.

So currently, my starting line-up this week would be:

Pope; Guilbert, Soyuncu, Otamendi; Sterling ©, Salah, Mount, De-bryune; Auba, Abraham, Connolly. Subs: Rico, Cantwell, Lowton

Captain choice: This week I’m probably giving the armband to Sterling. Again, I’m not committed to this, I like KDB, Salah, Aubameyang and Abraham too. Generally I tend to go for the more reliable assest when there are no clear-cut captaincy option. This week I just think Man City need to respond to their bad form and win to put some pressure on Liverpool and not allow them to run away with it this year.

I’m confident Man City will do well, if they do, well then Sterling and KDB should also do well. Hence why I’m 90% sure I will go for either KDB or Sterling (if I get him in).

Differential of the week: So this week, the scores are going to have a big range I think. Lots of variety out there in the FPL community however, the man I am expecting big things from, is Raul Jimenez (8.9%).

I think in a few weeks, people will be talking about getting him or Jota for there favourable games.

Flop of the week: Last week, I said the flop of the week was going to be Man Utd and Mahrez, so got 2/2 there. This time around, I’m thinking the flop of the week will be the Tottenham Hotspur team. I think there is a lot of trouble and unrest and I can see it manifesting itself into the team. So the popular picks like Harry Kane and HM Son will suffer as a result.

This article was written by @fplstrategy – you can find him on Twitter here >> https://twitter.com/FplStrategy