Fantasy Premier League: Don't miss out on Mohamed Salah ahead of the ninth round

We start as we usually do with the selection of the captain, especially as there is a lot to talk about after the last round and Erling Haaland's completely colourless performance (14.0). More and more lineups are appearing in the net without the Norwegian, and his possession rate is gently (really very gently) going downhill.

Who to captain?

We have such a queue that everyone needs to sit back calmly, look at their lineup and make a bold decision. There are several candidates and it's hard to pick one sure thing out of them. Why opt for Haaland? Because Manchester City play at home and the Citizens' striker is still the best striker in the Premier League, even if he has had worse weeks recently. Why not trust him? Because he's actually looked uncomfortable lately, he hasn't scored a goal in the last two games, and in the meeting with Arsenal his xG rate was 0.00.

If you have Mohamed Salah (12.7) in your squad, it is definitely worth betting on the Egyptian. He has been in very good form recently, scoring three goals in his last three games and, along with Ollie Watkins (8.2), is one of the two highest-scoring players in the game. However, the problem lies precisely in his possession, as 'only' around 35% of players have him in their squad. This means that everyone else may have a headache with their choice of captain.

A similar candidate is Heung-Min Son (9.5), who also cannot complain about his form, plays at home against a weaker opponent (Fulham) and is also bought by around two-thirds of the players. So he can confidently be considered as a captaincy option and thus leave Haaland without the armband, but not everyone has the luxury of having the Korean in their squad.

Other choices are James Maddison (8.1) or the superbly fit Watkins, who already has four goals and seven assists and will now play for West Ham, but these are far more niche and risky choices. If they don't score, with the peviously mentioned three in such circumstances, their selection could end up being very painful.

Liverpool Motorway

The Reds enter such a part of the calendar that the absence of their players sounds almost like a sentence. They will play against Everton, Nottingham and Luton over the next three rounds and then face Fulham, Sheffield and Crystal Palace after two rounds against slightly stronger opponents. It looks as if Liverpool's players are going to be a points mine.

And that may indeed be the case, as Jurgen Klopp's men sit fourth in the Premier League with only two draws and one controversial defeat against Tottenham after eight rounds in addition to their victories.

However, if we look more closely at Liverpool's players in FPL, it comes out that it really only pays to buy Salah. Of course, the selection of Darwin Nunez (7.4) or Luis Diaz (7.5) or even the Anfield defenders is also explainable, but nevertheless, it is Salah who usually has a monopoly on scoring in this team, he is the one who takes the penalty kicks and it is to him that the ball goes in the crucial moments.

Manchester City's winding road

Of the strongest teams, the Citizens are at the complete other extreme in terms of the calendar. On the one hand, the English champions have become accustomed in recent seasons to being the best team in the Premier League and have no one to fear because they are the ones everyone fears. On the other hand, however, Manchester City have lost their last two league games.

The immediate future for Guardiola's team may not be written in bright colours at all, as they only face Brighton, Manchester United, Bournemouth and Chelsea until the next internatioanl break. After that will come matches against Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa. So it is a series of matches against really challenging opponents.

Since almost 90% of the players have Haaland in their squad, almost every player has at least one Manchester City player in their squad. So it is worth considering whether this is a good time to limit ourselves to just one player in a blue jersey at most. Haaland is no risk at all, and yet he is always capable of scoring a few goals without announcement. The question is how it will be with his teammates, as both the offensive and defensive sides may have a lot of trouble scoring solidly in the coming weeks.

Who to buy?

Well, I won't be too original myself today, but you don't always have to look for solutions by force after all. Sometimes the most obvious ones are simply the best. As usual, I also invite you to market recommendations from my fellow Czech editors!

Mohamed Salah (12.7) - Recommending one of the most expensive, most owned and highest-scoring players in the game may not be a list of the author's greatest ingenuity, but sometimes it's worth being reminded of these simplest transfer directions. We are entering such a Liverpool schedule that anyone without the Egyptian in the squad will be biting their nails with nerves during The Reds' matches. Salah's first performance could come as early as the start of the ninth round - in the derby against Everton.

Ollie Watkins (8.2) - We have nothing revealing here either, but it is worth leaning on the performance of the Englishman, who has provided points in almost every round. In his eight so far he has recorded four goals and seven assists. Only in the fourth round against Liverpool did he finish the match without a bonus point. He is not one of the cheapest players in the game, but he has a very low risk of failure. In his case, you pay for quality. And that, as you know, costs money in every area of life.

Pedro Neto (5.8) - Finally, I have one choice for slightly bigger difference seekers. I had already encouraged you to buy the Portuguese last week, and then he managed an assist in the match against Aston Villa. In this round, he could come in especially handy for those looking for money to buy Salah. Neto costs just 5.8, so he could free up a lot of the money we really need if we buy him for someone slightly more expensive. He has scored a goal or recorded an assist in the last six rounds. He is almost as big a points guarantee as Watkins, and costs a lot less after all. His schedule isn't ideal, but there's nothing to complain about - he'll play against Bournemouth and Sheffield in the next three rounds.

Filip Novak (11Hacks chief analyst)

Rasmus Hojlund (7.2) - If you're going to use the Wildcard in turn 10, Hojlund is the perfect opportunity for you to take advantage of Manchester United's very promising schedule this turn. He can be acquired much more cheaply than Marcus Rashford (8.8) and Bruno Fernandes (8.4), and although he is still going through a period of adaptation in a new league, he will now have a great opportunity to open his Premier League shooting account against Sheffield United. The Blades have the worst defence in the league this season and are allowing their rivals an average of 2.45 xG per game. It is therefore very likely that Hojlund will get a few chances. He is also an interesting option for the future, as the Red Devils' schedule for the next few games looks pretty good.

Kaoru Mitoma (6.6) - We won't require him to score in the match against Manchester City, but starting from the 10th round - the Japanese winger should not be missing from your team. Brighton have a combined ratio of 17 xG at this point this season, and Mitoma is the player with the second highest number of minutes played in the Seagulls' team. This is important information because of the frequent rotation that Roberto De Zerbi uses. According to advanced analytical models, Mitoma is one of the most important players of the ongoing Premier League season. He regularly finds himself in good shooting situations and, at such a low price, should be one of the priorities for FPL managers.

Jarrod Bowen (7.3) - This is a player you can safely keep in your squad until Christmas. West Ham have a very tempting schedule indeed and Bowen is their biggest star in attack. As a right-winger, he regularly finishes actions from the middle parts of the penalty area and although he has lost his role as a performer of fixed passages of play with the arrival of James Ward-Prowse (6.3), his overall performance is still among the top of the FPL this season. There has also been a lot of talk about his move to a centre-forward role, with the Hammers facing Aston Villa, Everton, Brentford, Nottingham and Burnley in the coming rounds.

Radim Horak (one of the best Czechs playing in FPL)

Kostas Tsimikas (4.4) - if you look at the opponents of the various teams in the upcoming rounds, Liverpool's easy schedule is striking. Opportunities open up for the FPL player not only in the offensive, but also on the left side of defence. After all, Andy Robertson (6.6) suffered an injury during the national team break and is likely to treat his shoulder for a minimum of a few weeks. This opens up an opportunity for Tsimikas, who has been a regular substitute for Robertson in recent times when the Scot was not ready to play and this time too, at 4.4, should be Klopp's first choice.

Mohamed Salah (12.7) - although the second most expensive player in the game, which 35% of managers have, in the context of Liverpool's aforementioned schedule, it is impossible not to mention him. Before the national team break, he had a run of three appearances in four games with double-digit points. Looking at midfielders in the league, he leads the league this season in terms of the number of great chances on goal (7) and has the second highest number of shots on goal (11). The Reds have games against Nottingham, Luton and Brentford ahead of them and will play against Everton in the next round. The Egyptian should be a key part of many line-ups and one of the options for captaincy.

Morgan Gibbs-White (5.8) - it's becoming quite a popular move to plan for the Wildcard's use before the 10th round, i.e. after next weekend. So if we focus on the best players we can use in the 9th round alone, the Nottingham - Luton match catches the eye. The relegation team from below London is still one of the worst teams in the league and also has a weakness on the left defence, where Nottingham's players are most often attacking. And that's where Gibbs-White's name comes in, who could be a key player in the absence of Taiwo Awoniyi (6.6). He is also a full-time performer of fixed passages of play and is still waiting for his first goal this season. The match against Luton could be ideal for that.