Bournemouth Won at Old Trafford. Leeds Are Next.

Deadline's tomorrow, Saturday, at 11:00 GMT. It's an early one, so don't leave it for the morning.

Gameweek 8 belonged to the outsiders. It was the week the big names stumbled. Chelsea, the team half the game had loaded up on, lost at home to Spurs. João Pedro missed the game with a thigh injury, and Palmer finished in the negative. Meanwhile, Bournemouth went to Old Trafford with a side almost nobody owned and won 3-0. Four of their players hit double figures, while the average score fell off a cliff.

It bit the Guru XI hard. The armband had moved off Haaland to chase the Engine's top pick, Mbeumo. He blanked, the vice blanked, and Bruno Fernandes never made it onto the pitch. Kinsky scored more on the bench than any of the starters. It was the XI's worst week of the season. And Haaland, the captain it walked away from, delivered again.

Gameweek 9: Bournemouth go again. Leeds visit the south coast on Saturday, and the Engine's favourite player this week isn't Haaland or Palmer. It's Rayan, Bournemouth's quiet midfielder. He scored 2 points in each of his first seven games before he finally broke through at Old Trafford. But he's been getting into the right places all season. That's exactly the kind of player the Engine trusts and the crowd ignores.

The crowd has its own puzzle to solve. João Pedro's injury leaves a hole in more than half of all teams, and most managers are rushing to Jackson after his two goals against City. The Engine would rather have Evanilson, Bournemouth's striker. He's cheaper, and it rates him higher over the next five weeks.

So here's the plan: brave in the squad, safe with the armband. Bruno Fernandes makes way for Rayan. The money left over pays for a second move, Gabriel for van Ewijk, for a 4-point hit. Gabriel was the best player in the game last week, and the Engine likes him for the next five weeks too.

The armband goes back to Haaland, with Rayan as vice. After two weeks of chasing, this isn't the time to gamble on the captaincy. Kinsky gets the gloves, Calafiori's hip puts him on the bench, and there's no chip.

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Here's how last week's calls held up. The Gameweek 8 average was 45.

Captain Mbeumo: 2 points (4 with the armband). Palmer, our vice, got -1. Haaland, who didn't get the armband, scored 8.

The Guru XI: 26 points, no hit, 19 below the average. Bruno Fernandes didn't play, so van Ewijk came on for 2. Kinsky scored 9 on the bench. We fell to 3,982,257 overall, from 2,705,986.

Transfers: Gvardiol to Vuskovic was a wash (1 point each). Semenyo owners who took Mbeumo got 2, and Szoboszlai owners who took Dewsbury-Hall got 2.

Differentials: Le Fée 3, Rayan 10, Neto 3. Rayan was the one, and he's back this week.

Deadline: Saturday 31 October, 11:00 GMT. Chelsea v Man Utd opens at 12:30. Liverpool v Arsenal is on Sunday at 16:30, and Newcastle v Everton closes the week on Monday night.

Team news: João Pedro (thigh), Saka (thigh), Szoboszlai (hamstring) and Semenyo (knee) have no return date. Calafiori (hip) and Rice are 75%.

Chip watch: 216,025 Wildcards and 157,767 Bench Boosts were played last week. We have no chip to suggest.

Price watch: Jackson, Tavernier and Evanilson all rose £0.2m. João Pedro, Calafiori, Saka and Bruno Fernandes dropped £0.1m.

Captain: Haaland (£15.8m, Man City, home to Brighton, Saturday 15:00): 4.7 xPts. He's scored 13 and 8 in the last two weeks, and he's in 78.5% of teams.

Vice: Rayan (£6.3m, Bournemouth, home to Leeds, Saturday 15:00): 5.5 xPts, the Engine's top projection. He scored 10 at Old Trafford, from 0.91 xG.

Why not Rayan? He's 0.8 xPts ahead, but he scored 2 in seven straight games before that. When the gap is small and you're chasing, Haaland protects your rank. Want the bold call? Rayan or Barry (5.3 xPts) is your man.

All xPts below cover the next five gameweeks.

• Our moves: Bruno Fernandes out, Rayan in (£6.3m, Bournemouth), 25.8 xPts against 18.5. Then van Ewijk out, Gabriel in (£7.9m, Arsenal), 20.5 against 11.5, for a 4-point hit.
• Got João Pedro? (58% owned, thigh, no return date) Evanilson (£6.3m, Bournemouth) is on 23.4 xPts. Jackson, last week's big buy, is on 16.9.
• Got Calafiori? (49.7% owned, 75% fit) Muharemović (£5.1m, Leeds) is on 19.6 xPts against Calafiori's 14.2, and he's £0.8m cheaper.

Three players owned by 2% of managers or fewer, with strong Gameweek 9 projections. We've left out last week's picks.

• Rudoni (Coventry, £4.9m, 0.7% owned): 3.9 xPts at home to Sunderland on Saturday.
• McBurnie (Hull, £5.5m, 1.6%): 3.8 xPts at home to Ipswich on Saturday.
• Hill (Bournemouth, £5.5m, 2.0%): 3.4 xPts at home to Leeds. He scored 11 at Old Trafford.

Two changes for a 4-point hit: Rayan in for Bruno Fernandes, and Gabriel in for van Ewijk, with £2.1m left in the bank. Haaland keeps the armband and Rayan is vice. It stays a 4-4-2. Kinsky (3.0 xPts at home to Palace) takes the gloves from Raya (2.7 at Liverpool), and Calafiori's hip puts him on the bench.


With the armband, the XI is projected at 48.0 xPts, or 44.0 after the hit.

Hill 11, Truffert 10, Rayan 10 and Tavernier 10, all in a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

Now Leeds come to the Vitality, and the Engine has four Bournemouth players in its top 30 this week: Rayan, Evanilson, Tavernier and Hill. The crowd has noticed Tavernier (836,410 bought him) and Evanilson (511,445). Rayan and Hill are still in just 2% of teams.

Two daily puzzles, fresh every midnight UTC. Here's today's first clue for each:

• Who Played With? No. 140: our mystery player shared a dressing room at Borussia Dortmund (2023) with Austria's Marcel Sabitzer.
• Career Path No. 139: this career starts at Millwall (2002).

Get them done before Saturday's early deadline and carry your streak into Gameweek 9.