We’re back with the weekly FPL Watchlist ahead of Gameweek 9 where I’ll provide you with players who we expect to do well in the upcoming gameweeks along with a differential pick to help you climb up the overall rankings.

So let’s get started!

Ricardo Pereira (DEF: LEI 6.2m)/Caglar Soyunchu (DEF: LEI 4.7m)

Upcoming fixtures: Burley (H), Southampton(A), Crystal Palace(A), Arsenal(H)

Leicester City are finally on top of the fixture ticker after having played 5 of the top 7 from last season in the first 8 gameweeks paving the way for Leicester defensive assets to get into FPL Managers’ radar. Ricardo Pereira is the top-scoring FPL defender as of now, already having scored 2 goals and having 2 clean sheets. Soyunchu, although has almost negligible goal threat, he’s in there due to his friendly price tag.

The Foxes, despite having tough fixtures in the first 8 gameweeks, have conceded just 7 goals, second-best behind Liverpool who have conceded 6. Putting this in terms of xGc (expected goals conceded), Leicester have the 3rd best xGc in the first 8 gameweeks, with only Liverpool and Manchester United doing better in these regards.

Over the next 9 gameweeks (gw 9-17), Arsenal are the only top 6 team that Leicester face. Both Ricardo and Soyunchu are great options at their respective price points. Clean sheets could be plenty for the Foxes in the near future.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (MID: CHE 5.9m)

Upcoming fixtures: Newcastle (H), Burnley (A), Watford (A), Crystal Palace (H)

Hudson Odoi has returned to the Chelsea team with a bang after missing the start of the season due to injury. Having come on as a sub against Brighton and playing 79′ mins against Southampton, CHO has shown he’s getting back to his very best and reminding us all just why German giants Bayern Munich were after him. Despite playing just 107 minutes across 2 games, the English international has had 2 shots on goal, both coming from inside the box, created 4 chances and racked up 2 assists already.

There are three great things to love about Hudson Odoi – cheap at 5.9m at the time of writing this article, an ownership of JUST 1.3% and amazing fixtures for Chelsea in the next 4 gws. These three factors make Hudson Odoi one of the best cheap midfield options to have over the next 4 weeks – making me have him listed in this article of the likes of Maddison, who himself looks like another great option to have over the upcoming weeks.

CHO could be utilized as an alternative to Tammy or/and Mount or along with them over the upcoming weeks and with the ownership he has currently and having porous defenses of Newcastle and Watford over the next four weeks, Hudson Odoi could be the next bandwagon to jump on.

Callum Wilson (FWD: BOU 7.9m)

Upcoming Fixtures: Norwich (H), Watford (A), Manchester United (H), Newcastle (A)

Fixtures and form are what makes me include Wilson over the likes of Vardy in my Watchlist. Last week’s blank against Arsenal was Wilson’s first blank of the season having returned in each of his seven matches prior to facing the Gunners.

The English International has had 10 shots on goal over the last four matches, 8 of them from inside the box and 8 on target. During the same period, only Wesley, Abraham and Aguero have had a better xG (expected goals) than Callum Wilson, further strengthening his case for inclusion in FPL Managers’ starting eleven.

Bournemouth have been vulnerable at the back all season having one of the worst defenses in the league statistically over the first 8 weeks. This would mean, they’d essentially have to score every week with Wilson being the focal point of their attack. Their opponents in the next 4, Norwich, Watford and Newcastle strongly challenge Bournemouth for being the worst sides defensively in the league, where Wilson could even be a strong candidate for captaincy. With ownership of just 12.9%, he’s still one of the best differential strikers having great fixtures coming, possibly even being the best captaincy option for Gameweek 9 against The Porous Canaries.

Differential Pick

Neal Maupay: (FWD: BRI 6.0m) Ownership: 0.6%

Upcoming fixtures: Villa (A), Everton (H), Norwich (H)

Brighton stunned Spurs in Gameweek 8 with a stunning 3-0 victory, causing one of the major upsets in the league so far. In the short term, Brighton have one of the best fixtures and Maupay during these short term fixtures could provide one of the best differential options. I’ve gone with Maupay over the cheap O’Connolly as he’s one of the most nailed on attackers in the Seagulls team.

Over the last four matches, only Aguero and Abraham have had more shots than Maupay. The Brighton striker has racked up 12 shots on goal during this period with 10 of them coming from inside the box, having scored 2 goals.

Although the away game to Villa doesn’t excite much, the home games against Norwich and Everton could be goal feasts and with an ownership of 0.6m, every goal from the Seagull’s striker would shoot you up the rankings. Whilst I won’t recommend having him long term as there are better alternatives to him, but in the short term for FPL Managers looking for a punt, Maupay could be the solution to your jigsaw.

Note:

It’s worth noting that City, Arsenal and Chelsea have the best fixtures in the coming weeks and the likes of Sterling, Kun, KDB, Auba, Tammy could all do very well.

Also, I haven’t listed any Leicester attacking options despite their amazing fixtures as I’d want to see more from the Foxes. Only Newcastle over the first eight gameweeks have had a worse xG than The Foxes with the likes of Vardy and Maddison having below par stats as well. But with the fixtures turning for Leicester, I totally expect them to get into goal scoring form. Thus, monitoring Leicester to find the best-attacking option from that team could be worth the wait.

Thanks for reading and wishing you all the very best for the upcoming Gameweek. Hope this article helps you find the missing piece/pieces in your FPL team.

Written by Samson Baretto

El Arte Del Futbol is an official content creator for OneFootball. Find more original features, Player Profiles and tactical analysis on www.elartedf.com. If you are reading this on our website, we’d like to thank you for your continuous support!