Thirty players in this league have no Chelsea picks left at all. Forty-six more are down to their last one. Each team can be picked twice a season, and no team has been spent like Chelsea — who are at home this Saturday lunchtime to a Manchester United side that cannot win a football match.

FPG is simple: pick one Premier League team each round. If they win, you score points. Win and you're up a point, lose and you're down one, draw and nothing moves. And the only cost of missing the deadline: the team picked for you scores as normal, and a positive score loses a point. The rules have the rest.

Gameweek 9 is a normal round with one derby in it: Tottenham against Crystal Palace, 17:30 on Saturday. Picks lock at 12:30 UK on Sat 31 Oct, which is also the first whistle of the round, so there is no watching the early team sheets and deciding afterwards. Two of the teams you are about to consider are bankers with a catch. The third is one nobody is looking at. Here are the three questions, and the one I ended up on.

Can Chelsea Be Trusted Against a United Side That Can't Win?

Manchester United's last three rounds read 0-3 at home to Bournemouth, 1-1 at Leeds, 1-1 at home to Tottenham. According to Sky Sports (as of Tue 27 Oct) they travel to Stamford Bridge "without a win in eight matches in all competitions" and sit "one point and two places above the relegation zone", with Michael Carrick confirmed to stay in charge for this one. That is about as inviting as a fixture gets.

The problem is who they're playing. Chelsea lost 0-2 at home last round, to Tottenham, having won 2-0 at Everton and beaten Bournemouth 5-1 before that. They're also a man light up front: the Premier League reports Joao Pedro "ruled out for a couple of weeks with a thigh injury" (as of Tue 27 Oct). Cole Palmer is available, mind — his red card against Tottenham carries no Premier League ban (as of Sat 24 Oct).

Round 8 was the last time Chelsea looked this straightforward. Forty players backed them that weekend, the biggest crowd on any team all season, and Chelsea lost 0-2 at home.

With Saka a Doubt, Is Arsenal Still Worth It at Liverpool?

Arsenal have won their last three: 2-0 at home to Everton, 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, 2-1 at home to Leeds. Nobody else in the round has three.

They go to Liverpool at 16:30 on Sunday, though, and Liverpool have won their last two — 2-0 at home to Brighton and 2-1 at Brentford — after a 0-3 home defeat by Manchester City in round 6. And the away side's best player may not travel. Sky Sports reports Bukayo Saka came off in the 10th minute at Bayern Munich with a thigh problem, with Mikel Arteta saying the injury "doesn't look good at all" and more scans needed, so he's a doubt with no timeline on him; Christos Tzolis is "currently unavailable with a thigh issue" (both as of Sat 24 Oct).

Ten players have used both their Arsenal picks and 43 have used one, so most of you still have one in the drawer. Form says yes. The venue and the treatment room say hold on.

Which Saturday Match Is Everyone Going to Walk Straight Past?

Bournemouth against Leeds, 15:00, lost in among four other three o'clock kick-offs. Bournemouth are the team who went to Old Trafford last round and won 3-0, and who beat Sunderland 2-0 the round before. Leeds have gone three rounds without a win: 0-0 at Sunderland, 1-1 at home to Manchester United, 1-2 at Arsenal.

And almost everyone can still take them: only 4 players have used both their Bournemouth picks, and 26 have used one.

The derby is the other quiet option, and it's the one I'd still swerve. Tottenham have won their last two, 2-0 at Chelsea and 3-1 at home to Coventry, and Crystal Palace were beaten 0-2 and 0-5 before their 3-1 win in round 6. But derbies score differently in FPG: in a derby a win earns an extra point, and a draw costs one just like a defeat. A tight 1-1 at 17:30 is worse than a quiet nil-nil anywhere else.

My Call: Bournemouth at Three O'Clock

Bournemouth. Winners of their last two, one of them 3-0 at the ground of the team Chelsea are hosting, against a Leeds side who haven't won in three. It's a three o'clock kick-off with nothing clever about it.

Chelsea I'm passing on, and I'll be honest about how close it is. A home game against a side in the run Sky Sports describes above is the best-looking fixture on the board. But they lost at home 0-2 last round, and they are without Joao Pedro.

Arsenal at Liverpool is the one I'd most like to wait on, and the deadline won't let me. Saturday lunchtime is long before anyone knows whether Saka is fit for Sunday teatime. That's the game: you commit, then you watch.

FAQ

Who should I pick in Gameweek 9? My call is Bournemouth at home to Leeds. They've won their last two, including 3-0 away at Manchester United, and Leeds have gone three rounds without a win.

When is the Gameweek 9 deadline? Sat 31 Oct at 12:30 UK. Everything after that is out of your hands — the full rules spell out what happens if you miss it.

Is there a derby in Gameweek 9? One: Tottenham v Crystal Palace at 17:30 on Saturday. A derby win is worth an extra point, and a derby draw costs you one.

When does Gameweek 9 finish? Monday night. Newcastle v Everton kicks off at 20:00 on Mon 2 Nov, so the round isn't settled until then.

Fancy a go? Pick your team for this round at fpg-app.com — it takes about thirty seconds, and you can drag your mates in with you.

Written by Toby Gaskell, Founder of FPG