Some of the best GW9 differentials – rising through the FPL ranks

Gameweek 8 was a really interesting gameweek for us here at raensports, as our differential team did well. We started last gameweek ranked  8,982,796 in the world and after a pretty decent gameweek last week, we moved up the overall FPL leaderboard by 298,493 places and are currently ranked 8,684,303.

We picked up 67 points last week, with a couple of our differential picks doing well, most especially Heung-Min Son. This week however, our team is in a complete mess we’ve got a lot of injuries to contend with and so we’ve got to make some transfers.

Since this is an experiment to see how high we can get this team to finish, the transfers we’d be making this gameweek would be differential transfers.

So, in this article, we’d be looking at a couple of these differential picks and deciding which ones would be great additions to our differential team.

Five of the best GW9 differential picks for gameweek 9

Well, instead of writing about the various differential picks out there, we’d be looking at what other FPL content creators have to say about differential picks this week and we’d then decide on which ones we’d be going with.

The first FPL creator(blog) we would be turning to for differential picks ideas, would be ALLABOUTFPL. In their recent FPL GW9 Differential Picks To Consider Ahead Of GW9 Deadline article, they’ve listed a couple of spicy differentials, let’s see who they’ve got.

ALLABOUT FPL GW9 Differential Picks(players with less than 10% ownership)

1. Raheem Sterling vs Crystal Palace(A), £10.0, TSB: 9.5%
2. James Maddison vs Nottingham Forest (H), £7.9, TSB: 6.4%
3. Darwin Nunez vs Brighton(H), £8.9, TSB: 6.3%
4. Thomas Soucek vs Wolves(H), £5.4, TSB: 1.2%
5. Timothy Castagne vs Nottingham Forest(H), £4.4, TSB: 1.1%

Five really nice differential picks that they’ve got listed here, but the truth is not all of them would fit into our team right now and so we’re going to have to go for just two.

The two that we’d be going for based on what we need in our team, would be a defender and a forward. We’re going for a forward because Isak is currently injured and won’t be featuring this gameweek.

So, from this list of FPL differentials by ALLABOUTFPL, we’d be going with Timothy Castagne. You can check out the post by ALLABOUTFPL they’ve done a really good job here with their differential picks, it is a well written article with really nice analysis.

Well, for us the main reason we’re going with Timothy Castagne as our differential defender pick, is because of Leicester’s great run of fixtures, they also play Nott’m Forest this week – a team with a pretty bad defense and according to the article by ALLABOUTFPL, ” he has had more shots in the box, more xG than any other Leicester defender so far this season”.

There’s no doubt he’s a pretty decent pick and would be a great John Stones replacement.

FPL COACH FPL GW9 Differential Picks(players with less than 2% ownership)

Next up, we’d be looking at an article done by FPL Coach it’s another differential article that you should absolutely check out as well.

An article of players with less than 2% ownership! now we’re talking differentials. The article is really long and goes in depth, but since we’re just looking for differential forwards, we’d focus on that aspect.

Link to article: Differential XI (2% or less):GW 9

FPL COACH GW9 forward differential picks (players with less than 2% ownership)

• Aubameyang CHE £9.0 Ownership: 0.4%
• Solanke BOU £5.7 Ownership: 0.5%
• Antonio WHU £7.2 Ownership: 1.9%

These are the three players they’ve got listed as their differential forward picks. If we’re being honest all three of them, are big risks as they are all not on form.

We also want to remember that last week, we went for Heung-Min Son, who was out of form and it paid off. This week we’re going to have to do something similar.

Aubameyang is going to be out of the picture since he’s expensive, that means we’re left with just Solanke and Antonio.

GW9 differential dilemma: Solanke vs Antonio who to buy

In the article done by FPL COACH they make a really point about Solanke and here’s what they said:

A bit of a gamble with this one, but if all these picks were safe bets they wouldn’t be so low owned. Solanke’s Bournemouth have been one of the lowest scoring teams this season, but he hasn’t been able to contribute much, just a goal and an assist in the game against Notts Forest, as he was out injured for 2 and half of those games. He is Bournemouth’s main man up front and contributed 29 goals for them in the Championship last season. So we know he has a goal in him. Solanke comes up against a leaky Brentford defence in his next game, which is also at home at the Vitality Stadium.

FPL coach

And here’s what they had to say about Antonio:

A popular pick at the beginning of the season but a combination of poor form and West Ham’s dreadful run of results has had owners flock to drop Antonio in recent weeks. That is good for us, we hope, as it now qualifies him for a Differential XI. West Ham have been bad, but they can’t keep performing below par as they have some great players and seemed to buy well over the summer, Paqueta in particular raising eyebrows. He still seems to be adjusting to the Premier League but if he can mirror his displays in Ligue 1 this season, Antonio will have the ammo to convert into goals. With a home fixture against a Wolves team struggling somewhat, we think Antonio can add to his solitary goal this season.

FPL coach

Quite interesting analysis and after reading both of their analysis we’re actually quite drawn to Solanke. And one of the reasons why we think Solanke would be a good buy this week, is because of his fixture.

West Ham play Wolves while Bournemouth face Brentford and even if Wolves aren’t scoring goals and playing all that well, they do know how to keep a clean sheet and this makes Antonio less appealing.

Also, Antonio could be rested as West Ham have Scamacca in their team as well, so Solanke it is.

If you don’t want to go down the differential route with your Isak replacement, then you can check out this article by us GW9 team selection: transfer targets, gameweek 9 player picks, you can also check this post out to see how have PL players fared in this week’s international break.

And if you’re on a wildcard then you should check this out: GW9 wildcard team: some of the best gameweek 9 wildcard tips and teams.

You want to know some nice GW9 differential captain picks, then check this post out: Kane, Haaland, Mo Salah who is the best GW9 captain – FPL captain picks

Final GW9 differential team

For now the only transfer we’d be making would be Stones to Castagne and after some press conferences on Friday, we’d then decide on what move to take next.

If Saint-Maximin isn’t fit enough to start this weekend, then we’d be taking him out for Harvey Barnes of Leicester City. Barnes is another really good differential pick and would be a really nice Maddison alternative this gameweek.

redeyedrae

Redeyedrae, is an FPL content writer with years of experience in playing and writing about FPL. He has written for major FPL blogs like ALLABOUTFPL, Fantasytipsters, FF Titans, and nevermanagealone. With his deep knowledge of the game, he has become a trusted source for FPL fans worldwide. His content is well-researched and always up-to-date. He’s passionate about helping FPL managers gain an edge in their leagues by sharing insights and analysis about everything fantasy football on raensports.