I know we seem to be discussing Mohamed Salah every week this season but once again he’s front and centre going into gameweek nine.
Many managers like me sold him on their gameweek eight wildcard with Liverpool not in action and having not been in particularly great form with matches against Brighton, Arsenal and Manchester City to come.
Many more managers have saved the wildcard for this week and interestingly Salah is currently one of the five most transferred out players going into gameweek nine.
But are you having pause for thought?
Salah scored two goals in Egypt’s win against Niger, he’s now well rested having missed their second international against Liberia and on Saturday Liverpool host Brighton, who are playing their first game under new manager Roberto de Zerbi. He then faces Arsenal with a healthy record of seven goals in 10 games against them in the Premier League.
So if you already own Salah then I’d definitely hold on to him. Statman Dave said in the Fantasy 606 podcast this week that he’s immediately getting him back into his team, having sold him for Son Heung-min on his gameweek eight wildcard. Even that second-half hat-trick against Leicester hasn’t saved Son from Statman swinging the axe and those who signed Kevin de Bruyne last week might be thinking exactly the same way.
Another factor in the decision is that Salah is definitely a captaincy candidate this week as an alternative to Erling Haaland, whereas I don’t think I’d be tempted to give the armband to his teammate De Bruyne or Son ahead of Haaland with Tottenham away to Arsenal.
I was one of those managers who went for the Haaland and Harry Kane double-up on my gameweek eight wildcard so I’m not going to take a four-point hit to make two transfers to get Salah back this week. Instead I’m quite happy to captain Haaland against Manchester United or Kane, who has an excellent record in the north London derby. Salah will return to my squad in gameweek 12 for the home fixture against West Ham.
One other thing to bear in mind is that Kane or Son look like decent captaincy options in gameweek 11 when Tottenham host Everton, if you don’t want to go with either Haaland or Salah when they come up against each other that week.
Right, that’s enough Salah chat and rest assured you could have exactly the same conversation about his team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold. Just make sure if you go without either of them then you’ve got a plan to get them back because I think you’ll want them.
In the meantime, I’m going to turn to Leicester’s James Maddison and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, both of whom have been in sparkling form this season. The fixtures look good for them to continue to bring in the points.
If you don’t have the money for them then Harvey Barnes and Eberechi Eze would be your cheaper options in the Leicester and Palace teams but I think it’s worth making your budget work to get the main men.
I wouldn’t spend £9.2m on Jamie Vardy though as he’s only been used as a substitute in their past couple of games but you can’t be certain that Kelechi Iheanacho or Patson Daka are going to consistently start either. Maddison is definitely your man in the Leicester team and if you’re looking for a striker then take your pick from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ivan Toney or Callum Wilson with Alexander Isak currently sidelined for Newcastle. It will also be worth checking on Mitrovic’s fitness before gameweek nine after he picked up a knock playing for Serbia in the international break.
Dominic Solanke looks like he might be a popular choice on the gameweek nine wildcard as he will only cost you £5.7m, he’s on penalties and Bournemouth’s next four games are against Brentford, Leicester, Fulham and Southampton.
If he’s predominantly a bench option for you then have a look at the gameweeks you think you will definitely need to use him, in particular gameweek 12 when the Arsenal-Manchester City fixture has been postponed. Solanke has a home game against Southampton while other popular choices include Fulham’s Andreas Pereira, who has a home game against Aston Villa, or Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams, who is away to Brighton. If you’re on the wildcard then think carefully about which budget players you’re going to sign and when you’re going to have to use them.
Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. The latest episode previewing gameweek nine is available on the BBC Sounds app.
