The Premier League’s kings of creativity take centre stage in this week’s Fantasy Challenge.
"Playmakers" is the theme, with two points on offer for every cross made or key pass crafted. Fantasy managers have an unlimited budget with which to pick a five-a-side team set out in one of three different formations: 1-1-2, 1-2-1, or 2-1-1.
You can enter a squad right up until 16:30 BST on Sunday, picking players from any clubs who are yet to kick off in their Gameweek 9 match. Here, FPL expert Alex Dakers identifies the best remaining picks.
Sunday
14:00 BST Fantasy Challenge deadline
Chelsea v Newcastle
Crystal Palace v Spurs
West Ham v Man Utd
As ever, Cole Palmer (£10.9m) is the top pick from Chelsea thanks to his 24 key passes and five crosses.
It’s Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) who leads the way for the visitors in this encounter, for both key passes (18) and crosses (nine) - the latter tally being the second-highest among Premier League midfielders, behind Dwight McNeil (£5.8m).
For Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur, Pedro Porro (£5.5m) is the top defender so far this season for crosses, with 14, and third-top for key passes, with 15.
Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) is Spurs' top creator overall, with 23 key passes already, while James Maddison (£7.6m) is on 18. All of the above could be strong picks this week, with Palace the fourth-worst team in the league for crosses conceded down each flank as well as key passes allowed in the middle of the park.
At the London Stadium, Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m) could add to his 20 key passes, which is well clear of the next-best tally by a West Ham United player.
16:30 BST Fantasy Challenge deadline
Arsenal v Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m) has the second-most key passes among defenders through the first eight Gameweeks of the season. The Liverpool right-back has 16 of those, the same number as Mohamed Salah (£12.6m).
Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) is far from assured of substantial minutes week in, week out but does sit second among forwards for key passes, with (nine, and he could play a bigger role with Diogo Jota (£7.3m) ruled out of this high-stakes match against Arsenal. Fantasy Challenge managers can at least see the teamsheets for this fixture before committing to picking Gakpo.
The crown for most key passes in the league currently belongs to Bukayo Saka (£10.0m), with 27. His in Sunday’s headliner is far from certain as he struggles with a hamstring issue but, again, he can be replaced in Fantasy Challenge if his name doesn’t appear in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI.
