This article is part of our The Armband series.
We thought we had things figured out. It was almost too easy. Arsenal were in form and home against a side fighting relegation, so surely the Gunners were a lock for three points. Instead, the result was a scoreless draw with top captain options Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott coming up short.
Once again, when you think you have things figured out, that's usually when it all goes in the opposite direction.
And even in a week with six matches finishing with two goals or fewer, my clean sheet favorite Leicester let up a late goal to shoot down that prediction. At least Christian Fuchs grabbed a goal to save some value.
But really, there wasn't much to be excited about last week outside of Chelsea's dominance against Jose Mourinho. Eden Hazard again looked electric, and while the Blues scored four times, Diego Costa did not.
Needless to say, it was weird week. Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho led all forwards with a goal apiece, with the latter playing 45 minutes as a substitute.
Xherdan Shaqiri will surely be on some radars after his two-goal performance, especially with a home match against Swansea next.
Finding a captain for Gameweek 10 looks to be another toss up. Not many matches stand out as being overwhelmingly favorable.
Tottenham host Leicester, a club that has allowed the most goals on the road this season, but Spurs have scored just twice in their last four matches in all competitions.
If anything, Kyle Walker and the back line could be in contention for a clean sheet. Attacking wise, Heung-Min Son should be ready for a full 90 after the latest international break, but other than Dele Alli, this attack has struggled for most of the season.
Arsenal have another favorable matchup, but on the road. Sunderland can't do anything right and have allowed nine goals in five home matches. Backing Sanchez and Walcott seems like the smart thing to do, as long as you can get over last week.
Sergio Aguero is still a popular option, but Man City are struggling and West Brom have been solid at home this season, allowing six goals in five matches. The likely consensus will be to back Aguero and hope for the best. But across town, Man United may be the better option, as long as they can recover from last weekend's blunder. As a positive, Burnley have been miserable on the road, scoring once and allowing nine goals.
This has all the makings of a clean sheet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal, but a lot of bosses will undoubtedly be turned off by the Swede, who hasn't scored in the last five league matches.
Romelu Lukaku is back on the radar as well, though it may not be as easy as it looks. West Ham have allowed the second-most goals in the league, but are coming off two clean sheets with more of an emphasis on defense. That said, their wins were over Crystal Palace and Sunderland.
Shaqiri will be one of the contrarian plays of the week, but backing Watford may be the better bet. They host Hull City, who are in the middle of a collapse, having given up 15 goals in their last four matches, with 11 of those coming in two road games.
It's unlikely anyone will want to give the armband to a Watford player, but maybe it's time to reconsider. Troy Deeney had three goals in four matches before a two-game cold streak and Etienne Capoue is still the same player; he just hasn't scored in the last four matches.
