Booster strategies for Gameweek 9: Dream Team bosses spoiled for choice ahead of midweek European fixtures

IF you haven’t played a Booster yet this season then Gameweek 9 is a great time to pop your cherry.

With no fewer than eight teams set to pull double duty, all three Boosters are viable if deployed in combination with a well-crafted XI.

PLAY SCORE PREDICTOR AHEAD OF THE WEEKEND’S PREMIER LEAGUE ACTION – SOMEBODY MUST WIN AN XBOX SERIES X!

12th Man

Dream Team gaffers are spoiled for choice up front right now with Julian Alvarez (£4.7m), Erling Haaland (£7.7m), Mohamed Salah (£6.5m), Alexander Isak (£4m), Ollie Watkins (£4.3m) and Son Heung-min (£4.8m) all boasting impressive points tallies.

With the exception of Tottenham’s captain, all those forwards have two fixtures to fulfil this coming Gameweek and the temptation to use the 12th Man Booster to select FOUR in-form strikers is strong.

Say your current front three is Haaland, Alvarez and Salah, selecting Isak (vs Crystal Palace, Borussia Dortmund) or Watkins (vs West Ham, AZ Alkmaar) as your 12th Man would ensure maximum firepower across multiple fixtures, most of them favourable.

Rasmus Hojlund (£3.9m) is another appealing candidate for this role.

Manchester United haven’t been at their best this season but a trip to Bramall Lane this Saturday represents the most friendly match-up in the Premier League right now.

Sheffield United have conceded 22 goals in eight league games since promotion with Wes Foderingham (£1.9m) having been by far the busiest goalkeeper in the top flight – he’s been forced to make 45 saves on top of the 22 times he’s picked the ball out of his net.

The Blades are vulnerable to crosses from open play and set-pieces so the Red Devils’ 6ft 3in striker should enjoy himself.

And Hojlund will be looking forward to Copenhagen’s visit to Old Trafford in midweek too – narrative demands a goal against his former club, surely?

Max Captain

This Booster is best activated when there’s plentiful points up for grabs but it’s hard to identify a standout candidate for captain amid several decent options.

Gameweek 9 seems to fit the bill as the traditional choice, Haaland, has gone three games without a goal – if you took him on in Gameweek 8 by strapping the armband to Salah then you were handsomely rewarded.

That being said, Manchester City’s No9 could easily feast against Brighton (averaging two conceded goals per league game in 2023/24) and Young Boys.

But the European fixtures mean there are a host of viable captains of similar pedigree – Bruno Fernandes (£5.8m), Alvarez, Salah, Kieran Trippier (£5.6m), Martin Odegaard (£5.1m) and several others appear well placed to provide heathy returns.

Activating Max Captain removes this dilemma and essentially guarantees a prosperous Gameweek.

Looking ahead, Gameweek 11 also seems like a good time to pull this particular lever but if you want to come out swinging from the international break then crack on this week.

Park the Bus

Dream Team’s most-powerful Booster doubles all your defenders’ points for one Gameweek only.

Hypothetically, what would the perfect back five look like to complement Park the Bus in Gameweek 9?

Matty Cash (£3.1m), Kieran Trippier (£5.6m), Diogo Dalot (£3.1m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.5m) and Ben White (£4.5m) would be quite the quintet.

Granted, that’s a costly back line that might not be feasible but you could opt for cheaper alternatives while targeting the same fixtures.

For example, Alexander-Arnold is pricey but Kostas Tsimikas (£2.7m) is very affordable and looks set for a run as Liverpool’s starting left-back while Andy Robertson (£3.9m) is sidelined.

Park the Bus is so strong because of the ginormous potential returns of a back five who all get their points doubled across two fixtures each.

Such an outcome is possible this coming Gameweek but you need to make sure your team is just right.

If your XI is not quite there, be patient and wait for a better opportunity later in the campaign.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk