Hive FPL GW9 Preview - Which Hive accounts are dominating the FPL this season?

[hivefpl]

Welcome back to the weekly Hive FPL blog.

I started the GW9 preview post by saying that we've now reached a stage of the season where it's worth considering how the Premier League table is shaping up and so it only seems fair that we do the same for the Hive equivalents.

Hive FPL Classic League

A quick reminder that this is where the big prizes are at the end of the season with the top 10 getting a share of the spoils.

Rank	FPLTeam	Hive Account	Total Points
1	Emeka4	@emeka4	529
2	Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee	@deniskj	524
3	Sutter Kane	@suttercane	516
4	Eh, No, Ah, Meh.	@stuartcturnbull	511
5	Fire Power	@emekaj	511
6	The Cellas	@blanchy	511
7	Blue Mooners	@leebennett	510
8	PHOENIX FC	@kelvinpeters	509
9	racibo	@racibo	502
10	Red Cards of Rohan	@thoth442	500
11	Micheal Fc	@micheal87	499
12	Bankai	@belemo	493
13	SportsNerd	@saif-ul-wahab	493
14	Pepzerbi	@pepzerbi	491
15	Likodra FC	@teofilex11	486
16	Vickoly FC	@vickoly	486
17	Tengo Rangers	@tengolotodo	481
18	Skander	@skanderh	476
19	Steve Herbae	@herbae	476
20	ARFANTASY FC	@arfa	475
21	gentleshaid	@gentleshaid	472
22	Könttyrät FC	@pvmihalache	470
23	Corner	@artniche	470
24	Jeremie Ping Pong	@pingpongfrimpong	469
25	Tangram	@desro	468
26	Hasaaland	@earplugs	467
27	Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt	465
28	Hijos del VAR	@aaalviarez	462
29	FC McKane	@mckane	462
30	Shamzy FC	@Shamzy	460
31	Hungry Lions	@gvkanten	459
31	Krake99	@kraken99	459
33	Garuda XI	@aditya-p	457
34	Newton Heath RFC	@samirich	457
35	Murima	@youngvic	455
36	HappyBoys FC	@happyboy1	453
37	king	@kingyazeedjr	451
38	nonzy fc	@nonsowrites	445
39	K Empire Balls	@kenechukwu97	445
40	hamzamusic	@Hamza-art	444
41	Uwabbs FC	@uwabbs001	443
42	Top 10k?	@elvisking	442
43	fpl Simcard	@akomoajong	441
44	Formidable Milano�	@damolexy	439
45	Spero FC	@sperosamuel15	438
46	Legion fc	@b0s	435
47	adewalehafis	@adewaleopeyemi63	435
48	YAGMAN FC	@yagman01	434
49	Blugrana	@ronnie10	433
50	Cygnus FC	@donjaun	433
51	Funwarriors	@Jmis101	432
52	valchiz Fc	@valchiz	431
53	Jungle squad	@george-dee	430
54	Bennett's Boys	@olibennett	430
55	samostically	@samostically	430
56	Akatsuki	@seki1	429
57	Stevenson Fc	@Stevenson7	429
58	Chrisamuda FC	@hive-world	428
59	Corkscrew	@deraaa	427
60	Large in the Rear	@chineduokafor	427
61	Matz Sels Seashells	@doombot75	423
62	Amirirans	@amirtheawesome1	419
63	Hiveheadz	@borran	417
64	@blockchainFPL	@blockchainfpl	414
65	The People's XV	@publioscelta	408
66	Queen dynasty	@princess-dara	401
67	Mighty Fc	@twicejoy	400
68	THIRDSON FC	n/a	397
69	Show Not Tel	@jmehta	391
70	Team Presh	n/a	390
71	Rubilu	@rubilu	389
72	Rys FC	@omrys5	385
73	Magical McFizzy	@mcfizzy	383
74	Kingsleyy	@kingsleyy	383
75	Six and the City	@princekwame	382
76	Teamkoko	@myanmarkoko	379
77	Kelsco FC	@kilvnrex	378
78	Noobmaster69	@workingdad	377
79	Wongi	@wongi	367
80	Dapomola Fc	@dapomolaaaa	367
81	Los Magos del Balón	@el-maestro	366
82	Deals on Wheels	@derek-trotter	364
83	Hadji	@hadji	355
84	WIKE BOYS	@gone-hive	354
85	Working 9 to 5	@aunt-granny	351
86	Holohive	@acidyo	345
87	TheVulcAns⚓️	@the9thcreator	342
88	ThtHive	@tht	331
89	Itachi FC	@justfavour	316
90	Sportin	@depar	294
91	OG Team	n/a	271
92	Hivers	n/a	233

Once again, we've got some truly elite players in the mix as demonstrated by these headline stats

• Our top 2 players @emeka4 and @deniskj have scores which put them within the top 2% of all teams in the game at the moment. Hats off to them for making such a fantastic start to the season.

• The top 10 then are all within the best 5% and the top 16 within the best 10% of players in Fantasy Premier League. In other words, to win some Hive at the end of the season, you're going to have to be significantly better than average across 38 game weeks.

• The other big trend in this first part of the season has been the failure of many of our Division 1 Head to Head sides to perform in the Classic League. Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee and the Red Cards of Rohan are the only 2 Division 1 sides in the top 10 at present.

• There is a group of 8 x Division 1 sides all sat around the 460 to 485 point mark who can probably claim to have had a better than average start to the season but have some work to do to close the gap on those at the very top.

• Season on season success is proving incredibly difficult to achieve. Last year's champions @sperosamuel15 sit down in 45th place, 91 points off the pace, while @blockchainfpl who finished 2nd are in 64th place 115 points behind the leaders! Never mind lads, there's always the cup (as we Spurs fans like to say around this time of the year).

Division 1 Head to Head

Division 1 of the head to head leagues is, as it always has been, incredibly tight. It's pretty rare to get an easy win in this division and if you needed further proof of that, you only need to look at the last game week that saw 2 matches drawn. It really is a league where every point counts!

Very much like the real Premier League, the table is so tight that a couple of wins would propel most sides towards the top of the table while a couple of losses would have you back down towards the relegation zone (reminder that the bottom 5 go down in Division 1).

However, we do have a couple of really significant matches at both ends of the table which warrant a bit more focus.

@deniskj vs @thoth442

These 2 players can lay claim to being amongst the most successful in the Hive FPL. @deniskj were the inaugural winners of the Classic League while @thoth442 won back to back cups. Both have been Division 1 stalwarts throughout and both have had great starts to the 25/26 campaign as they look to add to their respective trophy cabinets.

A win for Red Cards of Rohan would take them level on points with Cunha Do Sum'4 Mee and as the differentials above demonstrate, this is going to be a very tight game.

With Fulham's Andersen a doubt for the weekend, RCR's defensive options may be limited but Senesi at home to Nottingham Forest, on their 3rd manager of the season, is a definite advantage. That being said, while Guehi and Alderete face tough away matches against Champions League opposition, they are both part of tight defensive units and have a real chance of recording some Defcon points too.

In midfield, RCR will also be sweating on the fitness of Enzo who has recently missed training with a niggle. With such a large squad, we wait to see how Chelsea use their resources over the next few weeks. Caicedo burned FPL managers in GW8 by coming on as a 2nd half substitute.

Otherwise, Kudus is delivering goal involvements this season even if Spurs do have a tough away match at Everton. That's more than Anthony Gordon can say. Granted the England winger has missed 3 and a half matches this season due to his sending off against Liverpool but he's yet to get a goal or an assist in the Premier League during 25/26. Of course if he can set one up this weekend then it's likely to be for Woltemade who has 4 goals in his first 5 Premier League appearances and gives CDSM a massive advantage in this fixture.

@sperosamuel15 vs @samostically

This match then is the polar opposite. 2 sides desperate for a win, particularly bottom placed Spero FC who could find themselves 9 points adrift of safety even at this early stage of the season. What's more, it's a fixture with loads of differentials!

Spero FC have gone for a squad with both Haaland and Salah and given the laters form and price tag that is hurting them. They did captain the Liverpool star in GW8 suggesting that they retain some confidence that he can turnaround his season but is it time to play the wildcard and say goodbye to the Egyptian?

If they don't, then we pretty much know what Spero's side are going to be because they have 3 no hopers on the bench. By contrast, their opponents aren't shy in making transfers, they've made 9 changes over the past 3 weeks, costing themselves 12 points in GW8 for the additional transfers despite sitting on their 1st wildcard. In fact, neither side has played a chip all season so they do have the tools to begin moving up the league.

Both sides have a vested interest in the Everton v Spurs and Arsenal v Palace matches. The result and individual performances in those games + transfer actions will go a long way to deciding this one.

Division 2 Head to Head

Into Division 2 and you can see again that it's going to be a tough battle to get promoted this year. @suttercane are the only side to retain a 100% record across both divisions but they are already being chased hard by a pack of players who have all enjoyed strong starts to the season.

In fact, you've got so many strong teams in Division 2 this year that even @emeka4 who is top of the classic league has managed to lose 3 head to head matches this season and sits down in 13th, 1 of 15 sides with 5 wins to their name.

This is a division that has historically settled down a bit as the season drags on and players begin to lose interest. However, even within the bottom 10, there are only 3 players who haven't made changes to their sides over the last 3 GWs suggesting that at least for now we have an engaged group of players.

Division 1

GW8 Results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Hungry Lions	@gvkanten	60	54	FC McKane	@mckane
Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee	@deniskj	75	53	Shamzy FC	@Shamzy
Red Cards of Rohan	@thoth442	66	63	Vickoly FC	@vickoly
Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt	65	55	samostically	@samostically
Formidable Milano�	@damolexy	58	60	nonzy fc	@nonsowrites
Skander	@skanderh	99	42	Hiveheadz	@borran
Spero FC	@sperosamuel15	42	69	Steve Herbae	@herbae
Legion fc	@b0s	68	38	Jungle squad	@george-dee
YAGMAN FC	@yagman01	58	58	Hijos del VAR	@aaalviarez
Likodra FC	@teofilex11	60	60	@blockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl

GW9 Results

Team	Hive Account		Team	Hive Account
Hijos del VAR	@aaalviarez	v	Hungry Lions	@gvkanten
Jungle squad	@george-dee	v	@blockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl
Steve Herbae	@herbae	v	Likodra FC	@teofilex11
Hiveheadz	@borran	v	YAGMAN FC	@yagman01
nonzy fc	@nonsowrites	v	Legion fc	@b0s
samostically	@samostically	v	Spero FC	@sperosamuel15
Vickoly FC	@vickoly	v	Skander	@skanderh
Shamzy FC	@Shamzy	v	Formidable Milano�	@damolexy
FC McKane	@mckane	v	Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt
Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee	@deniskj	v	Red Cards of Rohan	@thoth442

Division 2

GW8 Results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Mighty Fc	@twicejoy	53	77	Garuda XI	@aditya-p
HappyBoys FC	@happyboy1	66	66	gentleshaid	@gentleshaid
Matz Sels Seashells	@doombot75	64	63	The Cellas	@blanchy
ARFANTASY FC	@arfa	70	28	WIKE BOYS	@gone-hive
adewalehafis	@adewaleopeyemi63	55	50	Bennett's Boys	@olibennett
Funwarriors	@Jmis101	46	62	Rys FC	@omrys5
K Empire Balls	@kenechukwu97	44	62	PHOENIX FC	@kelvinpeters
Teamkoko	@myanmarkoko	39	79	Micheal Fc	@micheal87
Eh, No, Ah, Meh.	@stuartcturnbull	53	55	Rubilu	@rubilu
Pepzerbi	@pepzerbi	76	80	SportsNerd	@saif-ul-wahab
Uwabbs FC	@uwabbs001	83	58	Tangram	@desro
Deals on Wheels	@derek-trotter	57	70	Hasaaland	@earplugs
Kingsleyy	@kingsleyy	58	27	Holohive	@acidyo
Jeremie Ping Pong	@pingpongfrimpong	71	53	Stevenson Fc	@Stevenson7
Könttyrät FC	@pvmihalache	88	64	Wongi	@wongi
valchiz Fc	@valchiz	79	58	Corkscrew	@deraaa
Hadji	@hadji	55	55	Show Not Tel	@jmehta
Emeka4	@emeka4	73	69	Chrisamuda FC	@hive-world
Kelsco FC	@kilvnrex	44	49	Magical McFizzy	@mcfizzy
Queen dynasty	@princess-dara	55	41	Working 9 to 5	@aunt-granny
Itachi FC	@justfavour	41	46	Los Magos del Balón	@el-maestro
Dapomola Fc	@dapomolaaaa	42	55	Murima	@youngvic
Blugrana	@ronnie10	52	39	Sportin	@depar
Top 10k?	@elvisking	63	44	Noobmaster69	@workingdad
Sutter Kane	@suttercane	67	25	ThtHive	@tht
hamzamusic	@Hamza-art	70	73	racibo	@racibo
The People's XV	@publioscelta	38	58	Newton Heath RFC	@samirich
Amirirans	@amirtheawesome1	71	72	Large in the Rear	@chineduokafor
Fire Power	@emekaj	91	39	TheVulcAns⚓️	@the9thcreator
Krake99	@kraken99	49	66	Blue Mooners	@leebennett
Cygnus FC	@donjaun	81	55	Corner	@artniche
Akatsuki	@seki1	30	67	Tengo Rangers	@tengolotodo
Bankai	@belemo	66	66	Six and the City	@princekwame

GW9 Results

Team	Hive Account		Team	Hive Account
hamzamusic	@Hamza-art	v	Mighty Fc	@twicejoy
The People's XV	@publioscelta	v	Sutter Kane	@suttercane
Amirirans	@amirtheawesome1	v	Top 10k?	@elvisking
Fire Power	@emekaj	v	Blugrana	@ronnie10
Krake99	@kraken99	v	Dapomola Fc	@dapomolaaaa
Cygnus FC	@donjaun	v	Itachi FC	@justfavour
Akatsuki	@seki1	v	Queen dynasty	@princess-dara
Bankai	@belemo	v	Kelsco FC	@kilvnrex
Six and the City	@princekwame	v	Emeka4	@emeka4
Tengo Rangers	@tengolotodo	v	Hadji	@hadji
Corner	@artniche	v	valchiz Fc	@valchiz
Blue Mooners	@leebennett	v	Könttyrät FC	@pvmihalache
TheVulcAns⚓️	@the9thcreator	v	Jeremie Ping Pong	@pingpongfrimpong
Large in the Rear	@chineduokafor	v	Kingsleyy	@kingsleyy
Newton Heath RFC	@samirich	v	Deals on Wheels	@derek-trotter
racibo	@racibo	v	Uwabbs FC	@uwabbs001
ThtHive	@tht	v	Pepzerbi	@pepzerbi
Noobmaster69	@workingdad	v	Eh, No, Ah, Meh.	@stuartcturnbull
Sportin	@depar	v	Teamkoko	@myanmarkoko
Murima	@youngvic	v	K Empire Balls	@kenechukwu97
Los Magos del Balón	@el-maestro	v	Funwarriors	@Jmis101
Working 9 to 5	@aunt-granny	v	adewalehafis	@adewaleopeyemi63
Magical McFizzy	@mcfizzy	v	ARFANTASY FC	@arfa
Chrisamuda FC	@hive-world	v	Matz Sels Seashells	@doombot75
Show Not Tel	@jmehta	v	HappyBoys FC	@happyboy1
Corkscrew	@deraaa	v	Garuda XI	@aditya-p
Wongi	@wongi	v	gentleshaid	@gentleshaid
Stevenson Fc	@Stevenson7	v	The Cellas	@blanchy
Holohive	@acidyo	v	WIKE BOYS	@gone-hive
Hasaaland	@earplugs	v	Bennett's Boys	@olibennett
Tangram	@desro	v	Rys FC	@omrys5
SportsNerd	@saif-ul-wahab	v	PHOENIX FC	@kelvinpeters
Rubilu	@rubilu	v	Micheal Fc	@micheal87

GW9 Player Picks and Tips

Haaland as captain or time to change it up?

Here's a fun fact. The top 52 teams in Hive FPL all have Erling Haaland in their squad. Given his recent form, that's not surprising and if you've stubbornly resisted bringing him in (I'm talking to you @seki1) then you are probably feeling the pain at this point in time.

Added to that, is the fact that 46 of those 52 sides captained the City striker in GW8 and enjoyed a 26 point boost as a result.

Of course, what it increasingly means is that there is no net benefit to you having him and captaining him as you are essentially getting the same points that most other teams are also getting.

The question then is who is going to blink first and is this the week to do it?

Haaland's only goal to date against Villa came as part of their all conquering 22/23 side

City face tougher opposition in the form of Villa who are not only on a good run of form themselves but have an excellent record at home against the Citizens.

Haaland himself has just a goal and an assist in 4 previous appearances vs Villa and both of those came back in the 22/23 season.

So if not Haaland then who?

Home fixtures to target this weekend and potential Haaland alternatives

Bournemouth, Arsenal and Chelsea all play at home this weekend and as such will be popular destinations for fantasy managers when it comes to their transfer and potential captaincy strategy in GW9.

Semenyo continued his fine form this season with an assist against Palace taking his tally to 10 goal involvements for 25/26. He's only blanked twice this season and Bournemouth face a Forest side in crisis. Yes, there is an expectation that Sean Dyche will tighten them up at the back but this is a side that has been struggling defensively for a while and has already shipped 15 goals this season.

No clean sheet for Forest in their last 16 Premier League matches and yet Mat Sels (10% of teams) at 5mil is still more popular than his GW9 opponent Petrovic (5% of teams) at £4.5mil who has 3 clean sheet bonuses this season.

The other Bournemouth player to watch is Kroupi Jnr who scored a brace on his full Premier League debut last weekend having also scored off the bench at Leeds in GW6. Evanilson, you'd assume, is still the first choice striker for Areola's side but is unlikely to feature in GW9 with a calf injury handing the young France striker another opportunity to stake his claim. At £4.5mil he'd represent a player that most sides are going to jump on if he can establish himself as a starter.

Arsenal's home match against Palace appears a much tougher assignment but that shouldn't disuade you from looking at their stars.

Gyokeres would be a high risk high reward option potentially as captain too. The Sweden star scored twice in midweek and has generally blown hot and cold since his arrival in North London. Palace haven't kept a clean sheet in their last 5 domestic matches and will have to deal with playing Thursday/Sunday against the table topping Gunners who played their Champions League match on Tuesday.

Arsenal defenders have scored heavily in FPL 25/26 to date

Of course, you might want to ignore forward options and look at defenders instead. After all, Gabriel with 59 points is the 3rd highest scorer in the league this season behind only Haaland and Semenyo. Timber is 4th with 54 points and Califiori on 48 points not too far behind.

Palace's attack is very effective but Arsenal have conceded just once at home this season and that was a Haaland goal. Add to that the fact that the 3 Arsenal defenders noted above have between them contributed goal involvements in 5 of the 8 game weeks so far and maybe they're not looking like such a bad option for captaincy? It'd be a bold move!

Speaking of bold moves, you could target a Chelsea forward for the captains armband. After a disappointing September, they've notched 3 wins on the bounce in October and scored 10 goals in the process including thumping Ajax 5-1 at the Bridge on Wednesday.

What makes it tricky for Fantasy players is that during that time they've had 8 different scorers, none of whom were their most owned forward player, Joao Pedro!

On the face it, Chelsea have a very nice run of fixtures coming up so picking the right player(s) from their vast squad could be crucial to making a move up the table this autumn.

---

Who are you picking in your team for GW9?

Comments

[blanchy]

If we don't pick Haaland as captain then we are down points every week because the fucker keeps scoring so I ain't gonna blink until somebody like Isak stops being a fatty and gets fit.

[talesfrmthecrypt]

Slim pickings out there!

!BEER

[beerlover]

^{View or trade BEER.}

Hey @blanchy, here is a little bit of BEER from @talesfrmthecrypt for you. Enjoy it!

Do you want to win SOME BEER together with your friends and draw the BEERKING.

[deniskj]

Not a bad start but I have used all the 4 chips so far. 😔

[talesfrmthecrypt]

Yeah but more important to use them effectively than stashing them for later. I've still got my free hit. Played the WC last week

!BEER

[beerlover]

^{View or trade BEER.}

Hey @deniskj, here is a little bit of BEER from @talesfrmthecrypt for you. Enjoy it!

Do you want to win SOME BEER together with your friends and draw the BEERKING.

[sperosamuel15]

Time for a turnaround

[talesfrmthecrypt]

Looking forward to an epic comeback

!BEER

[beerlover]

^{View or trade BEER.}

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Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your BEER.