Erling Haaland (£14.7m) failed to return against Aston Villa, the first time the Norwegian has blanked since Gameweek 2. Captained by over 6.5million FPL managers, Haaland recorded just 0.23 expected goals at Villa Park, his lowest tally of the season.
Of the five most-captained players in Gameweek 9, only Mohamed Salah (£14.3m) notched an attacking return. However, a yellow card and lack of bonus points against Brentford limited the Egyptian's points haul to just six. It is the first time that Salah has outscored Haaland since GW2.
GW9 most-captained players' points
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 6,550,916 | 2 |
| Salah | 1,231,331 | 6 |
| Joao Pedro | 772,445 | 2 |
| Semenyo | 649,377 | 3 |
| Gyokeres | 362,963 | 2 |
Elsewhere, Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m), the fifth most-captained player and also among the five most-sold players, mustered just one shot on goal in Arsenal's victory over Crystal Palace.
Following the tricky contest against Palace on Sunday, Arteta's side take on promoted sides Burnley and Sunderland in back-to-back encounters.
Heading into that run, Sweden's Gyokeres has blanked in each of his last five Premier League appearances, and that, coupled with Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) taking - and scoring - a penalty against West Ham in Gameweek 7, is frustrating Fantasy managers.
Most transfers for Gameweek 9
| Most transfers in | Most transfers out | ||
| Woltemade | 996,531 | Salah | 882,216 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel | 517,302 | Joao Pedro | 614,396 |
| Saka | 495,445 | Reijnders | 505,183 |
| Haaland | 492,529 | Gyokeres | 400,759 |
| Mateta | 445,320 | Richarlison | 383,889 |
There was disappointment for the 996,000+ Fantasy Premier League managers who transferred in Nick Woltemade (£7.5m) as Gameweek 9's most-bought player failed to produce immediate returns.
The No 1 transfer target for the second successive Gameweek, Woltemade scored last time out to take his tally to four goals in five appearances, but he was unable to repeat the feat on this occasion as Newcastle beat Fulham 2-1 at St James' Park.
The good news for his owners is that he faces the Premier League's worst defence next, when Eddie Howe's side travel to West Ham United in Gameweek 10. This season the Hammers have conceded 20 goals, 27 big chances and 105 shots in the box - all league-worst totals.
Three of Gameweek 9's most-popular transfer targets were in action in the same match at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, with Gabriel (£6.4m), Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) and Saka all featuring among the top five.
Brazilian defender Gabriel has been bought by 1,989,793 people over the last three Gameweeks following returns of 13, nine and 12 points respectively. Despite being flagged as a doubt before the deadline, the in-form defender not only started but kept a clean sheet and claimed the maximum three bonus points for a nine-point return.