Bournemouth and Aston Villa: Key Fantasy Picks for Gameweek Nine

The international break may have slowed the Premier League schedule, but in Fantasy terms the tempo is only rising. Bournemouth and Aston Villa sit at the heart of it, with a cluster of mid-priced attackers and one immovable Norwegian still shaping every serious manager’s plans.

Bournemouth assets on the brink of a boom

Bournemouth’s home clash with Leeds in gameweek nine looks like the gateway to a golden run, and it’s Marcus Tavernier who stands out as the headline pick.

At £6.4m, Tavernier has become the ideal mid-priced midfielder: direct, inventive, and increasingly central to Bournemouth’s attacking play. His recent performances have drawn plenty of attention, and with both goal threat and creativity in his locker, he offers the kind of dual upside that wins mini-leagues.

Up front, Evanilson at £6.2m offers a cheaper route into the Cherries’ attack. He’s not a marquee name, but he doesn’t need to be at that price. With this fixture run, he should see enough chances to justify inclusion as a budget forward, especially for managers looking to redistribute funds elsewhere.

At the back, Antonio Silva at £5.0m is the standout defensive option. Strong in his defensive work and nailed into the side, he’s the obvious pick if you want Bournemouth representation in defence. But this is not a team to triple up on blindly. One or two pieces from their squad look sensible; loading up on three feels like a step too far.

Jackson leads the mid-priced forward revolution

While many squads are being reshaped, one name keeps forcing his way into the conversation: Nicolas Jackson.

Priced at £6.7m and fresh from a run of four goals in his last four Premier League matches, Jackson is beginning to look settled at Aston Villa. The movement is sharper, the finishing more assured, and he now offers a serious alternative to other mid-priced forwards.

Villa’s schedule only strengthens his case. Fulham at home in gameweek nine marks the start of an inviting sequence of fixtures that gives managers every reason to back him.

There is a catch. Minutes.

With Villa juggling Champions League commitments and promising young striker Brian Madjo (£5.4m) now back from injury, the risk of Jackson being substituted early is real. He may not see 90 minutes every week. Even so, at that price, with that form and those fixtures, he remains firmly in the “worth the risk” category.

Haaland still towers above the rest

Despite Manchester City suffering their first Premier League defeat of the season, Erling Haaland remains the clearest captaincy choice in the game.

At £15.7m, he is still the one premium asset you can genuinely trust. He scored again against Aston Villa in gameweek eight and continues to be the player most likely to deliver a monster haul in any given match.

You don’t have to hand him the armband every single week; there will be windows to roll the dice elsewhere. But right now, no other big-money option comes close to his reliability. In a season of rotation, injuries and fluctuating form, that matters more than ever.

Injuries and exits: time to move on

At the other end of the spectrum sits Joao Pedro.

Xabi Alonso’s comments have ruled the Chelsea forward out for weeks, turning him from a cornerstone asset into an easy sell. Some managers will be tempted to bench him and hope for a swift return, especially given how explosive he can be when fit.

That’s the trap.

No one knows how long this absence will drag on, and with so many attractive mid-priced forwards emerging, tying up that much money in an injured player makes little sense. Jackson and Evanilson both offer strong form and fixtures, while Dominic Calvert Lewin (£6.1m), Thierno Barry (£5.6m) and Alexander Isak (£9.1m) also present viable alternatives depending on budget.

The forward pool, once thin, now looks rich with options. That makes clinging to an injured asset even harder to justify.

Cherki dilemma reaches its tipping point

Rayan Cherki is another name heading for the exit door in many squads.

At £8.0m, he carries the price tag of a main man but not the minutes. Substituted at half-time against Aston Villa in gameweek eight, and already struggling for consistent game time before that, he has become a luxury Fantasy managers can no longer afford.

If you’re paying that much for a midfielder, you want 80–90 minutes most weeks, not a half here and an hour there.

That’s where someone like Tavernier becomes even more appealing. Moving from Cherki to a cheaper, more secure option frees up funds to strengthen elsewhere, whether that’s upgrading a defender or jumping on an in-form forward.

Cherki has the talent to punish sellers. If he starts and hauls, no one will be shocked. But Fantasy is a game of probabilities, not sentiment. Right now, the probability points towards backing players with reliable minutes and defined roles.

The season is beginning to sort the dependable from the dangerous punts. The question is no longer who looks the most exciting on paper, but who you trust to be on the pitch when the points are there to be won.