<p>FPL Gameweek 9 was a disappointment for many, with blanking attackers leading to some low scores &#8211; but there was plenty of joy for owners of a certain Spurs defender.</p>
<p>In our concise weekly review, we&#8217;ll cover some key highlights &#8211; this week split into four categories.</p>
<p>Haulers documents the biggest stars of the week, howlers the disappointments and disasters, heartbreakers the under-performers, late clean sheet wipeouts and more, while things you might have missed are included in the hidden highlights.</p>
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<h3>🤖 Hub AI quick summary 🤖</h3>
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<p>Read the full article for the detailed picture &#8211; and listen to an audio summary 👇</p>
<ul>
<li data-start="189" data-end="348">🤦‍♂️Highly sold Micky van de Ven punished sellers with a huge haul</li>
<li data-start="189" data-end="348">📈Sunderland up to fourth after beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge &#8211; no longer a team to target?</li>
<li data-start="189" data-end="348">😔Forwards and defensive contribution magnets largely disappointed</li>
</ul>
<audio class="wp-audio-shortcode" id="audio-75451-1" preload="none" style="width: 100%;" controls="controls"><source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GW9-review.mp3?_=1" /><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GW9-review.mp3">https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GW9-review.mp3</a></audio>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 9 haulers</h2>
<h3>🥇Micky van de Ven &#8211; 23 points</h3>
<p>Van de Ven scored twice for Spurs in the first half of their 0-3 win at Everton.</p>
<p>Both of his headers came from corners, continuing the trend we&#8217;ve seen of <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-defenders-defensive-contribution-magnets-or-attacking-options">set-piece goals</a> this season.</p>
<p>The clean sheet and maximum bonus put the Dutchman on a massive haul &#8211; and his expected goals (xG) of 1.07 was the highest of the week.</p>
<div id="attachment_75452" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75452" class="size-full wp-image-75452" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Van-de-Ven-GW9.jpeg" alt="Micky van de Ven's Gameweek 9 stats" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Van-de-Ven-GW9.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Van-de-Ven-GW9-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Van-de-Ven-GW9-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75452" class="wp-caption-text">Micky van de Ven&#8217;s Gameweek 9 <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>🥈 Bryan Mbeumo, Matty Cash, Casemiro &#8211; 15 points</h3>
<p>Manchester United&#8217;s Mbeumo and Casemiro both profited from their 4-2 win over Brighton.</p>
<p>Mbeumo scored twice, while Casemiro managed a goal, assist and defensive contributions.</p>
<p>The duo outscored teammate <strong>Bruno Fernandes</strong>, who only managed defensive contribution points, but the Portuguese was arguably unfortunate not to contribute an attacking return.</p>
<p>He missed a big chance and created another, while his dummy was pivotal in Mbeumo&#8217;s second goal.</p>
<p>Cash meanwhile scored the only goal &#8211; again from a corner &#8211; as Aston Villa beat Manchester City 1-0 at Villa Park.</p>
<div id="attachment_75453" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75453" class="size-full wp-image-75453" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mbeumo-v-Fernandes-2.jpeg" alt="Bryan Mbeumo v Bruno Fernandes's stats " width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mbeumo-v-Fernandes-2.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mbeumo-v-Fernandes-2-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mbeumo-v-Fernandes-2-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75453" class="wp-caption-text">Bryan Mbeumo v Bruno Fernandes&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>🥉 Zian Flemming, Joe Rodon &#8211; 13 points</h3>
<p>Burnley forward Flemming grabbed a brace in the 2-3 victory at Wolves, with full-back <strong>Quilindschy Hartman </strong>the provider.</p>
<p>Rodon scored his second goal of the season and earned defensive contribution points as Leeds beat West Ham, leaving the Hammers second from bottom.</p>
<p>It was a brilliant start to the gameweek for those who had Rodon &#8211; either in their teams or on Bench Boost.</p>
<p>Heading into this season, the Welshman had only scored twice in his whole career.</p>
<div id="attachment_75454" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75454" class="size-full wp-image-75454" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Rodon-GW1-9.jpeg" alt="Joe Rodon's season stats" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Rodon-GW1-9.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Rodon-GW1-9-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Rodon-GW1-9-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75454" class="wp-caption-text">Joe Rodon&#8217;s season <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 9 howlers</h2>
<h3>Chelsea</h3>
<p>Gameweek 9 marked the start of a strong run of fixtures for the Blues, with Sunderland travelling to Stamford Bridge.</p>
<p>But instead it was the Black Cats who profited, with a late winner from <strong>Chemsdine Talbi </strong>earning a 1-2 win.</p>
<p>Enzo Maresca&#8217;s men generated just 0.9 xG on home turf, with <strong>Joao Pedro </strong>failing to have a shot on goal. His last effort to hit the target came in Gameweek 3.</p>
<p>Sunderland meanwhile are fourth in the table, fast redefining their status as a team to target.</p>
<div id="attachment_75455" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75455" class="size-full wp-image-75455" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pedro-GW4-9.jpeg" alt="Joao Pedro's recent form" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pedro-GW4-9.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pedro-GW4-9-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pedro-GW4-9-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75455" class="wp-caption-text">Joao Pedro&#8217;s recent form</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Liverpool</h3>
<p>Brentford beat Liverpool 3-2 on Sunday, with <strong>Igor Thiago </strong>scoring his sixth goal of the season from the penalty spot.</p>
<p>A long-awaited <strong>Mohamed Salah </strong>goal aside, there was little for Liverpool to cheer.</p>
<p>They&#8217;ve lost four league games in a row, with their defence continuing to look leaky. The Reds have conceded 14 goals against an expected goals conceded (xGC) of 11.2 &#8211; only five teams have let in more goals.</p>
<div id="attachment_75456" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75456" class="size-full wp-image-75456" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Goals-conceded-gw1-9.jpeg" alt="Team goals conceded " width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Goals-conceded-gw1-9.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Goals-conceded-gw1-9-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Goals-conceded-gw1-9-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75456" class="wp-caption-text">Team goals conceded</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Wolves &#8211; and Vitor Pereira</h3>
<p>Vitor Pereira is the latest Premier League manager under pressure, with his side winless in nine matches.</p>
<p>With some fans at Molineux calling for his sacking, Pereira was spotted verbally engaging with at full-time before being escorted away.</p>
<p>Wolves rank 16th for <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker">fixture difficulty</a> over the next six gameweeks, so it may not be about to get any easier for the Midlands side.</p>
<div id="attachment_75457" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75457" class="size-full wp-image-75457" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pereira-2.jpg" alt="Vitor Pereira. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pereira-2.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pereira-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pereira-2-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75457" class="wp-caption-text">Vitor Pereira. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 9 heartbreakers</h2>
<h3>FPL forwards</h3>
<p>It was a weekend to forget for forwards, with only Flemming making the top 20 points scorers for the week.</p>
<p><strong>Erling Haaland </strong>was among the strikers to blank, while top transfer target <strong>Nick Woltemade </strong>missed a big chance worth 0.33 xG according to FotMob, hitting the post from a few yards out.</p>
<p><strong>Viktor Gyokeres </strong>joined Pedro in not having a shot on target.</p>
<div id="attachment_75458" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75458" class="size-full wp-image-75458" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Gyokeres-v-Haaland.jpeg" alt="Viktor Gyokeres v Erling Haaland" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Gyokeres-v-Haaland.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Gyokeres-v-Haaland-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Gyokeres-v-Haaland-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75458" class="wp-caption-text">Viktor Gyokeres v Erling Haaland</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>DefCon disappointments</h3>
<p>It was also a lean week for some of the popular <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-defcon-points-watch">defensive contribution</a> earners.</p>
<p><strong>Marcos Senesi</strong>, <strong>James Tarkowski</strong>, <strong>Nordi Mukiel</strong>e and <strong>Moises Caicedo</strong> were among the regulars who fell short of target in Gameweek 9, while <strong>Gabriel </strong>was one short.</p>
<div id="attachment_73737" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73737" class="size-full wp-image-73737" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Senesi-3.jpg" alt="Marcos Senesi. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Senesi-3.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Senesi-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Senesi-3-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-73737" class="wp-caption-text">Marcos Senesi. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Anton Stach and Gabriel Gudmundsson</h3>
<p>Leeds boss Daniel Farke had noted that Stach had been suffering with injury niggles ahead of Friday&#8217;s game, however his benching came as a surprise to many &#8211; unless you spotted a pre-deadline leak on Twitter.</p>
<p><strong>Gabriel Gudmundsson </strong>was withdrawn just before half-time with an injury that Farke hoped was just a &#8216;bruise&#8217; &#8211; the loss of Leeds&#8217; clean sheet was the only saving grace when comparing his one-pointer to Rodon&#8217;s 13.</p>
<p>The Leeds developments were of particular heartbreak to a certain editor, whose Bench Boost was left in tatters&#8230;</p>
<div id="attachment_75459" style="width: 625px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75459" class="size-full wp-image-75459" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Oli-bench-boost.jpg" alt="Bench Boost disappointment" width="615" height="204" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Oli-bench-boost.jpg 615w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Oli-bench-boost-300x100.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 615px) 100vw, 615px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75459" class="wp-caption-text">Bench Boost disappointment</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 9 hidden highlights</h2>
<p>Here are a few things you may have missed in Gameweek 9:</p>
<ul>
<li>Liverpool conceded the most big chances (six)</li>
<li>Sean Dyche&#8217;s Nottingham Forest conceded the joint-third best xGC of 0.6 but created the least xG (0.35)</li>
<li>Wolves had the best xG of the week (2.52)</li>
<li>Arsenal conceded less than 1.0 xG for the eighth week running &#8211; triple defence is a real option</li>
<li><strong>Bukayo Saka&#8217;s </strong>66th minute substitution was due to illness, explaining why he had not been spotted in training pictures</li>
<li>Top-scorer of Gameweek 9 Van de Ven was the seventh most sold player ahead of the weekend (291,000)</li>
<li>More than 410,000 managers have sold Pedro since the last deadline</li>
<li><strong>Marcus Tavernier </strong>scored from a corner against Forest &#8211; a 0.0 xG chance</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_75341" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-75341" class="size-full wp-image-75341" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Dyche.jpg" alt="Sean Dyche. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Dyche.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Dyche-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Dyche-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-75341" class="wp-caption-text">Sean Dyche. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
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Haulers, howlers, heartbreakers and hidden highlights of FPL Gameweek 9

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