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While the marquee players are scoring the most points and should find a place in your team, it really is your budget options that differentiate you from the crowd. With the last gameweek of the first quarter around the corner, now is the time to get your Fantasy Premier League back on track, with these 5 cheap must-have picks for Gameweek 9:
#5. Xherdan Shaqiri (Midfielder - Stoke City)
Price: £6.0
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Upcoming Fixtures: Bournemouth(H), Watford(A), Leicester City(H)
Despite being thrashed 7-2 last gameweek, Stoke City showed promise when they almost turned the game around after going 3 goals down. Stoke may not be a part of the "Big-6", but they are not an easy team to beat, in fact, a game against Mark Hughes's men is one of the trickiest fixtures of the Premier League.
With a price-tag of just £6.0, Shaqiri is the best option for your midfield this gameweek, as the Potters will look to get back to winning ways against Bournemouth who have picked up just four points since the start of the season.
Shaqiri is the creative hub of Stoke City and has created 20 chances out of Stoke's 68 (More than any other Stoke Player). 2 of those chances resulted in goals and the Swiss ace has scored one himself since the season kicked off.
Shaqiri is also an accurate passer of the ball, completing 83% of his 201 passes, 65% of which were attacking in nature. His stats suggest he is a bargain at his price, and I suggest the same, as I feel he is worth the gamble, with Stoke's upcoming fixtures looking very tempting.
#4. Tammy Abraham (Striker - Swansea City)
Price: £5.7
Upcoming Fixtures: Leicester City(H), Arsenal(A), Brighton(H)
After bagging 2 goals in his last game for the Swans, Tammy Abraham is hot FPL property as the Englishman has scored 4 of Swansea's 5 goals this season, and with a game against an unsettled Leicester and a demotivated Arsenal coming up, Abraham is a great option regardless of your budget.
Tammy Abraham is the spearhead of the Swansea attack. The striker has scored all of their goals except for one, which was scored by Andre Ayew.
For further proof of his attacking contribution, we can take a look at his last outing against Huddersfield, in which he made 21 touches in the opposition half, out of which 5 were in Huddersfield's box and 2 were in the six-yard box!
He managed to get 3 shots away and converted two of them, so the conversion ratio is very impressive as well.
With Leicester, Arsenal and Brighton coming up, Swansea are expected to win points aplenty, and their leading goalscorer will surely benefit from that, and so will his FPL owners, made up of just 9.5% of the participants. So, he can truly be a differentiating factor for your team.
#3. Pascal Groß (Midfielder - Brighton and Hove Albion)
Price: £5.7
Upcoming Fixtures: West Ham(A), Southampton(H), Swansea(A)
Keeping his spot from last week's list, Pascal Groß is continuing his incredible form and added another assist to his already impressive tally last weekend.
Additionally, he also faces West Ham, Southampton and Swansea, all of whom have a "Fixture-Difficulty Ranking" of just 2 out of 5, and rightly so, considering West Ham's slow start to the season, Southampton's disappointing run (just 5 points in the last six) and Swansea's tricky fixtures at the start of the season.
The midfielder still leads the scoring and assist charts for his club, and if you didn't bring him in last week, now is the time to do so before his price goes up even further.
#2. Chris Smalling (Defender - Manchester United)
Price: £5.3
Upcoming Fixtures: Huddersfield(A), Spurs(H), Chelsea(A)
A part of the only two defences that have been able to keep Liverpool's devastating attack at bay this season, Chris Smalling finds himself at the heart of Manchester United's defence once again thanks to the injury problems United are plagued by right now.
Jose Mourinho's Red Devils have only conceded 2 goals this season (both against Stoke) which is the lowest tally in the league, and we expect them to continue the record despite the difficult set of fixtures coming up, considering how well Jose sets his team up defensively especially against the bigger opponents.
While now may be the time to get rid of Manchester United's attackers from your team, your defence should have players from United because of the fixtures coming up.
While at first glance it may not seem like a good idea, Jose Mourinho's teams are set up to give nothing away defensively against the tougher opponents and as a result, not only do they have a higher chance of keeping clean sheets, the defenders also end up benefitting from the 'Bonus Points System'.
#1. Fabian Delph (Midfielder - Manchester City)
Price: £4.5
Upcoming Fixtures: Burnley(H), West Brom(A), Arsenal(H)
After Benjamin Mendy's injury, Fabian Delph has found himself a starting role in the city squad, playing the full 90 minutes in their last two Premier League games.
For just a modest price of £4.5, you get yourself a starting member of a rampant City team, that, as of now, are looking to good for this league.
Unfortunately, while Delph is used in a defensive role by Pep Guardiola, he is still a midfielder in FPL and will not benefit too much from City's clean sheets, but he does occasionally get involved in goals, and has scored one already this season.
Delph certainly will not be the top scorer in your team, but at such a bargain price, you are getting yourself a member of the best team in the league right now, and that alone should make him worth the gamble, especially if you're using him to partner your more expensive options in midfield.
