GW9 Review: Brighton Win at the Etihad, Haaland Blanks for 79% and De Cuyper Takes the Lead

By Geomi George · Published 4 November 2026

Gameweek 9 produced a 47-point average, a top score of 122, and the result nobody planned for: Brighton won 1-0 at the Etihad and Haaland, captained by most of the 79% who own him, returned 2. Arsenal won at Anfield, Chelsea beat United without João Pedro, and the game's new overall leader is a £5.4m Brighton full-back. Here is what happened, how the preview held up, and what to carry into Friday's early GW10 deadline.

The scores that mattered

The Team of the Week was led by Spurs' Van Hecke (15 — a goal, a clean sheet and maximum bonus against Palace), the first of our three named differentials. Brighton's win at City put Verbruggen (11, seven saves and three bonus), Ayari (10, the goal) and De Cuyper (9, an assist and a clean sheet) in the points, and De Cuyper is now the overall top scorer in the game on 69, one ahead of Haaland. Chelsea's 2-0 over United delivered Rogers (9), Palmer (8) and two defenders almost nobody owns, Fofana (11) and Acheampong (9). Arsenal's 1-0 at Liverpool was a clean sheet for Konsa (10), Gabriel, Calafiori and Raya, with Havertz (9) scoring and Rice (8) assisting. Evanilson (9) and N.Jackson (9) both scored for the third week running, and Hull's McBurnie (12) had a goal and an assist in a 2-2 with Ipswich.

Where the points went missing

• City 0-1 Brighton. Haaland 2, Cherki 1 in 35 minutes, Gvardiol 2, Guéhi unused. A captain blank for four managers in five, which is why the average sits at 47.
• Liverpool's attack at home to Arsenal. Isak 2, Virgil 1, Szoboszlai 1 on his return from injury. The game went exactly as the fixture rating said it would.
• United blanked at Chelsea. Bruno 2, Mbeumo 1. Bruno's form figure is 1.0 after nine rounds; he is owned by a fifth of the game, down from 42% in September.
• Hull did not keep the clean sheet. A 2-2 with Ipswich left Tzolakis on 1 and Ajayi on 2 in the fixture we called the round's best for Hull's defence.
• Groß returned 2 at the Etihad despite the clean sheet, a second straight blank; his form is now 3.2.
• Dubravka, week nine. Still one manager in six, still zero.

How our preview calls landed

The captain call was wrong, and it was the only call that really mattered. We named Haaland alone, said the case against him was Brighton's defence, and backed him anyway because the alternatives looked worse. He scored 2. The consolation is thin but real: with 79% ownership the blank was shared across almost every mini-league, and the second choice we gave to non-owners, Tavernier, scored 3. The backtested Best XI, which also captained Haaland, still scored 52, five above the average, because its cheap fixture-chasing eleven did its job around him; it is now 19 behind the average manager over nine rounds, better than a week ago.

The rest of the preview was its best week in a month. Van Hecke, named first among the differentials, was the top scorer in the game. Liverpool v Arsenal was called as a low-scoring, hold-everyone game and finished 0-1 with Arsenal's defence returning. "Rogers is the Chelsea attacker left standing" produced 9. Jackson scored, Manzambi assisted, Evanilson scored again, and the warning that Bournemouth faced a tight Leeds defence was half right: Tavernier 3, Evanilson 9. The advice not to sell premium defenders for one hard fixture held: Gabriel, Konsa, Calafiori and Raya all returned at Anfield. The misses: McGinn (0) and Neto (3) among the differentials, and the Hull clean sheet.

The market has already moved

Another 730,000 managers sold João Pedro this week, taking him from 73% ownership a fortnight ago to under 40%, and he fell again in price. Cherki followed him out (236,000, also down). The buying went to Evanilson (423,000), Jackson, Tavernier, Isak, Van Hecke (207,000, after his 15), Rogers, De Cuyper and Konsa, every one of whom rose. The price predictor has tonight's likely moves.

Injuries to watch

• João Pedro (CHE), Saka (ARS), Semenyo (MCI), Lacroix (CHE) — all out, no return date.
• Thomas (COV) — calf, 50%, with Coventry at Everton on Friday night.
• Szoboszlai (LIV) is back: 32 minutes off the bench and no longer flagged.

Looking ahead to GW10

A Friday 18:30 deadline, because Everton v Coventry opens the round on Friday night. It is the softer week the previous preview promised: Arsenal host Hull on the round's easiest home rating, Liverpool go to Palace and City to Forest on difficulty-2 away ratings, Bournemouth visit a no-clean-sheet Ipswich, and Everton host Coventry. Chelsea at Sunderland and United v Villa are the awkward ones. The grid is on the fixtures page, the Best XI has rebuilt for GW10, and your mini-league now shows October's monthly winner, settled after this round, alongside the GW9 table.