Gameweek 9 2026/27 preview: what the ninth round decides

Gameweek 9 of the 2026/27 Premier League season is Saturday 31 October 2026, the fourth consecutive round where all ten matches kick off simultaneously, and the first after the clocks go back. Every fixture starts at 15:00 GMT, and the billing will be Liverpool v Arsenal at Anfield, a meeting of first and fifth that reads like a title game and plays like a 25-point gap. The round's real game is Spurs v Crystal Palace, the first fixture in three rounds to pair two of last season's bottom five, with Spurs two points above the survival line and Palace six.

Gameweek 9 2026/27 fixtures: the full round

British Summer Time ends on Sunday 25 October 2026, so Gameweek 9 is the first round of the season played in Greenwich Mean Time, with all ten games at 15:00 GMT on a single Saturday. Here is the full fixture list.

Date	Kickoff (GMT)	Fixture
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Aston Villa v Fulham
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Bournemouth v Leeds
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Brentford v Nott'm Forest
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Chelsea v Man Utd
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Coventry City v Sunderland
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Hull City v Ipswich Town
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Liverpool v Arsenal
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Man City v Brighton
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Newcastle v Everton
Sat 31 Oct	15:00	Spurs v Crystal Palace

What last season says about this round

The table the new season inherits puts Arsenal on 85 points as champions, seven clear of Man City's 78, with Man Utd third on 71 and Aston Villa fourth on 65. Liverpool finished fifth on 60, Bournemouth sixth on 57, Sunderland seventh on 54, Brighton eighth on 53 and Brentford ninth on 53. West Ham went down in 18th on 39 points, and that total is the survival line this round is played against.

Three fixtures in Gameweek 9 carry a 19-point gap or larger: Liverpool v Arsenal (25), Man City v Brighton (25), Chelsea v Man Utd (19). Only one fixture in the round pairs two clubs inside the survival conversation, the band of four clubs within eight points of the 39-point line: Spurs v Crystal Palace, separated by four points, with Spurs two above the line and Palace six.

The round's real test: Spurs v Crystal Palace

The most important fixture in Gameweek 9 is Spurs v Crystal Palace, and it is the first time in three rounds that two of last season's bottom five meet. Spurs finished 17th on 41 points, two above the survival line, and Crystal Palace finished 15th on 45, six above it. The two clubs are separated by four points, the tightest gap between any pair in the round, and the meeting is the first head to head in the survival mini-league since Gameweek 6, when Palace played Nott'm Forest.

Spurs' position is the story. They lost 17 matches last season, level with Newcastle for the most defeats of any club that stayed up, and conceded 57 goals, the most in the division. They begin this round two points above the drop. A home fixture against the club directly above them in last season's table is a winnable game and a dangerous one: lose it and the gap to the line shrinks; win it and the separation from the bottom five starts. No other fixture in the round has both clubs inside the survival conversation, which is why the Anfield billing is the wrong headline.

Liverpool v Arsenal: a 25-point gap at Anfield

The round's headliner is Liverpool v Arsenal, and the gap between the two clubs is the largest in the round: Arsenal finished first on 85, Liverpool fifth on 60, a 25-point chasm. The fixture is billed as a title game because it is the two most successful English clubs of the modern era, but the table says it is a European-place game between first and fifth with the widest margin in the round.

Arsenal arrive as champions with the league's best defensive record, 27 goals conceded, and their 85 points came with a goal difference of plus 44. Liverpool conceded 53, twenty-six more, and finished 25 points behind. The fixture is still a genuine test for Arsenal: it is a trip to Anfield, the hardest away day on the calendar, and a match between the round's only two clubs that finished inside the top five. But a 25-point gap does not become a title game because the badge says so. The real title contest in this round is Man City v Brighton, second against eighth, where City's 78 points face Brighton's 53.

Chelsea v Man Utd: the other big billing

Chelsea v Man Utd at Stamford Bridge is the round's second billed showpiece, and the gap is almost as wide: Man Utd finished third on 71, Chelsea tenth on 52, a 19-point margin. Chelsea conceded 52 goals last season with 14 defeats, the kind of record that got them into the bottom half, and they host the club that finished third.

The fixture is informative in the opposite way from the billing. It pairs a club that finished in the Champions League places with one that finished mid-table, and it does so while the round's promoted clubs play two genuinely competitive fixtures: Brentford v Nott'm Forest, ninth against sixteenth with a nine-point gap, and Bournemouth v Leeds, sixth against fourteenth with ten points separating them. Those are the games where the gap is small enough for a result to change the survival picture. Chelsea v Man Utd is a rematch of a gap that the table already priced in.

Hull City v Ipswich Town: the all-promoted fixture

Gameweek 9's quiet fixture is the season's second all-promoted meeting: Hull City v Ipswich Town at the MKM Stadium, the first time two promoted clubs have played each other since Gameweek 2, when Coventry City hosted Hull City. The first such fixture of the season was one of the round's genuine tests, and this one carries the same stakes: both clubs need points off each other because neither is likely to take many off the top six.

Coventry City also host Sunderland at the Coventry Building Society Arena, a promoted side at home against last season's seventh-placed club on 54 points. Newcastle v Everton, meanwhile, is the round's only fixture pairing two clubs that finished level: both ended 2025/26 on 49 points, Newcastle 12th on goal difference ahead of Everton 13th. No other game in Gameweek 9 sees two clubs with identical points totals.

FPL and the Gameweek 9 deadline

Gameweek 9's 15:00 GMT kickoffs mean the FPL deadline is a single hard line on Saturday morning, as it has been for three straight rounds. The season's chip rules remain unchanged: the first chip set must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline of 13:30 GMT on Saturday 2 January 2027 and cannot be carried over, while up to five free transfers can be rolled forward.

What Gameweek 9 really decides

Gameweek 9 is the fourth simultaneous round in a row, and the first after the clocks go back, which means the table moves in one block for the fourth consecutive Saturday. It decides whether Spurs can bank the points that separate them from the bottom five, in the first head to head between last season's bottom five in three rounds. It decides whether Arsenal's 25-point superiority over Liverpool translates into three points at Anfield, and whether Man City keep pace with a trip to Brighton. And it decides whether Hull or Ipswich take the season's second all-promoted meeting, the kind of six-pointer that does more for survival than any trip to the top six.

The round does not decide the title, whatever the Anfield billing says. It decides the first thing that matters in a new season: whether the clubs closest to the 39-point line start separating from it, head to head, at a moment when every club in the bottom five is playing. Gameweek 9 is that round, and Spurs v Crystal Palace is its real six-pointer.

Key takeaways

• Gameweek 9 is Saturday 31 October 2026, the first round played in GMT after the clocks go back, with all ten matches at 15:00 GMT.
• Spurs v Crystal Palace is the first fixture to pair two of last season's bottom five since Gameweek 6, and the round's only meeting of two clubs inside the survival conversation.
• Liverpool v Arsenal is billed as a title game but is the round's largest gap: Arsenal finished first on 85, Liverpool fifth on 60, a 25-point margin.
• Hull City v Ipswich Town is the season's second all-promoted fixture, after Coventry City hosted Hull City in Gameweek 2.
• Newcastle v Everton is the round's only fixture pairing two clubs that finished level, both on 49 points.

FAQ

When do all the Gameweek 9 fixtures kick off?

All ten matches kick off at 15:00 GMT on Saturday 31 October 2026. British Summer Time ends on Sunday 25 October, so this is the first round of the season played in GMT.

Who plays who in Gameweek 9?

The ten fixtures are Aston Villa v Fulham, Bournemouth v Leeds, Brentford v Nott'm Forest, Chelsea v Man Utd, Coventry City v Sunderland, Hull City v Ipswich Town, Liverpool v Arsenal, Man City v Brighton, Newcastle v Everton and Spurs v Crystal Palace.

Which Gameweek 9 fixture should I watch?

Spurs v Crystal Palace, the first meeting of two of last season's bottom five in three rounds. Spurs finished 17th on 41 points, two above the survival line, and Palace 15th on 45. For the billing, Liverpool v Arsenal at Anfield.

Is Liverpool v Arsenal a title decider in Gameweek 9?

No. Arsenal finished first on 85 points and Liverpool fifth on 60, a 25-point gap, the largest in the round. It is a meeting of the top five, but the table says European places, not a title race.

When is the FPL Gameweek 9 deadline?

Before the 15:00 GMT kickoffs on Saturday 31 October, since every game starts at once. Transfers made after the first kickoff count for Gameweek 10.