English Premier League is back as Saturday provided us with plenty of highlight reels and talking points, and for those who missed the action, you can check out the scores here.
With Act 1 of Gameweek 9 done, it is time for our FPL analysis.
Who Impressed?
Leandro Trossard
Only one place to start here and that is with the hat trick hero at Anfield. I was one of the people to write off BHA assets given their fixtures and change in manager but Trossard has proved us emphatically wrong, scoring a season-high 20 points.
That is now 4 goals in two games for the Belgian who’ll surely be looking to add to his tally in the coming gameweeks.
Jarrod Bowen
Bowen had been goalless and assist-less in all 8 games this season. But the midfielder delighted the 3.7% of managers that still had faith him in, as both of the aforementioned stats changed against Wolves, with the player setting up the first (at least FPL wise) and netting the second for West Ham.
Miguel Almirón
Almirón‘s quiet season prior to this game suddenly burst into life with two goals against newly-promoted Fulham. The first goal was a particularly sumptuous volley that surprised the winger himself when it bulged the net.
A pair of goals and three bonus points meant the player almost doubled his previous points tally, ending the week with 15 points and an overall haul of 37 for the season. Keep this up and a lot of managers might get tempted.
Roberto Firmino
That’s now five goals for the season for the Brazilian.
Firmino is surely not making it easy for Klopp, who’s now facing a difficult choice between him, Nunez and Jota for the central striker’s role.
That being said, it would be a surprise if his ownership increases, given the next two fixtures (Arsenal and Man City).
Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar
All hail Eddie Howe, the manager who subbed Trippier and Schar off before Fulham got on the scoresheet. The defensive pair secured a clean sheet, unlike fellow popular FPL pick Nick Pope, ending with 7 and 6 points respectively.
Who Disappointed?
Trent Alexander-Arnold
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I would surely love to know who treasures Trent right now. It is surely not Gareth Southgate, and definitely not the FPL managers either. Klopp maybe?
The Liverpool fullback ended the gameweek with a grand total of 0 points, thanks to a yellow card. He was also culpable for BHA’s first goal.
Still owned by 35% of teams in FPL and with Arsenal and City next, that number should only be going down.
The Budget Strikers
Toney, Mitrovic and Solanke, all combined to get a points haul of 4 points.
Mitrovic was forced off in the 36th minute and is a doubt was the game against West Ham on Sunday next week.
Toney had an uneventful evening, ending with just one point.
Solanke outscored his counterparts, scoring 2 points but not doing anything of note.
Isak, another striker in the same price range, sat out the match due to injury. In his absence, Newcastle managed to score 4 goals. Isak now has his work cut out if he wants to stay in the starting XI.
The strikers have had better gameweeks and will have better gameweeks. This one, however, the less we speak about, the better.
Emerson Royal
Conceding two goals is bad enough. Doing that against your local rivals makes it slightly worse. This combined with a red card completely what could possibly be the worst gameweek imaginable for the Tottenham fullback.
The 4.8% teams will be looking to get rid of him as soon as possible as Emerson sits out the next three games courtesy of his suspension.
It has been a rough gameweek in general, and especially for those who played their wildcard leading up to the week.
Now onto the remaining games to see if this week can be salvaged.
