← Team talk

Written for Gameweek 9. Its deadline has passed. All Team talk

FPL Tilt · Team talk · Review · Gameweek 9

GW9 review: how did our predictions do?

By FPL Tilt on YouTube (opens in a new tab) · 1 November 2026

Haaland scored two for the most-captained, Van Hecke 15 and Havertz won it at Anfield. Every Gameweek 9 match, and how our captains and differentials did.

Erling Haaland got the armband in most teams, including ours, and got two points. Brighton won at the Etihad for the first time, with Bart Verbruggen on 11 points, and Arsenal won at Anfield for the first time since 2012 and kept a clean sheet.

Jan Paul van Hecke is so far the Gameweek's top scorer with 15 points, Oli McBurnie got 12 points, and our own team finished the weekend on 65 points against FPL's current average of 31, a green arrow from 964,205 to 627,205 overall.

I said on Friday that we had learned our lesson about going differential on the armband. Then we gave it to Haaland.

How our lists did

As the lists stood at the deadline, ordered by predicted points.

Figures read on 1 November 2026. The predictions are updated daily: Live shows today's figures.

Our captain list had Haaland on top, and the next four on it scored 9, 15, 8 and 8. The differentials did better than our captain: all four who have played came home, with Thierno Barry still to play on Monday.

The one that got away was Van Hecke. He was owned by 8.9% when Friday's email named him under "Hardly anyone owns them", but he had passed 10% by the deadline, so he was off our differentials list when he scored 15.

Haaland's quiet afternoon

Manchester City 0-1 Brighton

Yasin Ayari scored after 11 minutes. Matheus Nunes failed to clear Diego Gómez's low cross, and the ball came off Maxim De Cuyper to Ayari. City then had 21 shots to Brighton's seven, and Verbruggen made seven saves, one of them tipping Iliman Ndiaye's shot on to the woodwork.

Our predictions had Haaland more than a point and a half clear of everyone at the deadline. He had scored in seven Gameweeks running and Brighton had let in six goals in four away games. He finished with 0.47 expected goals, and Lewis Dunk blocked his best chance before half-time. Rayan Cherki came on for 35 minutes and had one point.

City have now lost two league games running for the first time since August 2025.

Alisson's fumble

Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal

Alisson's short pass from his own box was won by Arsenal, Declan Rice crossed low from the right and Kai Havertz finished first time after 16 minutes. Liverpool had 17 shots and no shot on target until Víctor Muñoz's header in the 90th minute, though Florian Wirtz hit the woodwork from a free-kick.

Riccardo Calafiori, Rice and Noni Madueke all played the full match. Mikel Arteta had said on Friday that Calafiori and Rice would be available if Saturday's training went well. Ezri Konsa's clean sheet and defensive work made ten points, Havertz had nine points, and Rice and Calafiori eight points each. Gabriel had six points. Dominik Szoboszlai came off the bench for 31 minutes and Muñoz for nine.

Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola had a quiet night, and finished the game on low points.

Martínez's elbow sends him off

Chelsea 2-0 Manchester United

Morgan Rogers scored alone early in the second half. Lisandro Martínez was then shown a second yellow card after a VAR check for raising his arm to Wesley Fofana, and Cole Palmer scored the penalty a minute later. Rogers had nine and Palmer eight, and Fofana, predicted 0.7, had 11 with an assist, a clean sheet and two bonus points.

Bryan Mbeumo had one point and a booking, in a game where he deserved more. He sent Bruno Fernandes clear after 19 minutes and Fernandes blazed it over, he put Matheus Cunha through and a heavy touch let Mike Penders smother it, and in stoppage time Penders tipped his volley on to the bar.

Bar-man? In 2021-22, his first Premier League season, Mbeumo hit the woodwork seven times in his first 11 appearances, with Robin van Persie's record of ten in sight. He finished the season on seven.

United have gone nine games without a win in all competitions, and nothing had been said about Michael Carrick's position when these figures were read.

Van Hecke's double header

Tottenham 2-0 Crystal Palace

Jean-Philippe Mateta's yellow card became a red after a VAR check in the 13th minute, for a late tackle on Micky van de Ven. Archie Gray headed in a corner, and after 73 minutes Van Hecke's header was saved and he headed the rebound in. His goal, clean sheet and maximum bonus got him 15 points.

Trafford's kick blesses Evanilson

Bournemouth 2-0 Leeds

James Trafford gave the ball away from a short goal-kick, Justin Kluivert picked it up and Evanilson scored his fifth goal in six games. Amine Adli added the second in stoppage time. Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a goal ruled out for handball and finished on two. Evanilson had nine points, António Silva eight points, and Marcus Tavernier, who played the full match got three points.

Trafford is our goalkeeper. It seemed worth mentioning.

Thiago finally

Brentford 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Nikola Milenković turned Dango Ouattara's cross into his own net, and Igor Thiago made it two from Jaidon Anthony's pass after 76 minutes, helped by another touch off Milenković. It was Thiago's first goal since Gameweek 5, and with the maximum bonus he had nine points. Sepp van den Berg, who could become a good differential, had ten points.

Jackson, a missed penalty and Gonzalo's fifth two

Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham

John McGinn hit the bar with a penalty, Nicolas Jackson scored from Johan Manzambi's pass, and Zion Suzuki carried Alex Iwobi's corner over his own line. Jackson had nine points, and so did Evanilson, so the question we asked on Friday ended level. Gonzalo García had two points, for the fifth Gameweek in a row.

The other two

Coventry beat Sunderland 3-1 with goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Taiwo Awoniyi and Jack Rudoni, and Enzo Le Fée scored Sunderland's penalty, so both of our midfielders in that match came out well: Rudoni nine points, Le Fée eight points. Sunderland are bottom.

McBurnie scored a free-kick and set up a goal in Hull's 2-2 draw with Ipswich, where Julio Enciso's shot from outside the box earned the point. Newcastle and Everton finish the Gameweek on Monday.

Our team: Haaland with the armband, and Calafiori on the bench

After Friday's press conferences we left Calafiori on the bench at Anfield, since he had been there against Everton even before the hip. He had eight points. Bench total: 13.

Van Hecke, Thiago and Rudoni were the best of the eleven, and Mbeumo and Barcola the worst. Thiago, who had our armband last week and scored five points, scored nine points this week. Naturally.

Mr. Tilt against The Scout

Mr. Tilt's eleven leads The Scout's 72 to 71, with Barry still to play. Both made Haaland captain.

Gameweek 9's most-owned players

The players owned by more than 20% of managers, then the Gameweek's five highest scorers not already listed, each part ordered by ownership. Predicted points and ranges (one outcome in ten below, one in ten above) and ownership are from FPL Tilt's last run before the deadline; points with bonus are Fantasy Premier League's, read on 1 November 2026.

City's attack and Liverpool's gave almost nothing, and the points went to Arsenal's defence, Brighton's and Van Hecke. Arsenal are three clear and City have lost two running. United's word on Carrick is still to come.