FPL FORECAST 2016/17: Gameweek 4
Each and every week the three members of The Hype Team post their Premier League and FPL predictions in an attempt to enlighten players that might be stuck with their FPL choices and transfers. In addition, we’ll be taking on a guest for every Gameweek in the PL. On the weekly agenda are a general predictions category, a Gameweek Fantasy Premier League forecast, scout picks, and captaincy choices. For the opening weekend of the season, we welcome TBA as our very first guest. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek Deadline
For the 2016/17 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. The Premier League website lists each FPL deadline, you can always ask on social media, and you can also view a real time countdown on our Weekly Hype page.
In a change from last season, the early Saturday kick off time has now been moved back to 12:30am, meaning the weekly FPL deadline will also be moving 15 minutes back.
The transfer deadline for GW4 is Saturday September 10th at 11:30am.
How does our Forecasting work?
We have taken to our Hype Team, and the FPL Community, to compete in a weekly head to head dual of wits. We are asking the questions that dominate each week in the Fantasy Premier League: who to pick, who to avoid, who to captain, and who may surprise. The 3 members of the Hype Team, and a Guest, will provide weekly insight for the Gameweek ahead. For the sake of the first edition of the Forecast, we have provided an example of what we're sending out to interest parties.
Premier League Fixture Prediction: As pundits, we are testing our football acumen with PL predictions (Mark Lawrenson style, only less biased, hopefully) and will be providing regular updated tables and stats in each edition of the FPL Forecast.A perfect score is worth 3 points whilst a correct result is worth 1 point.
FPL Gameweek Forecasting: Answering the regular questions that come up every single week in the Fantasy Premier League community that helps with identifying captaincy picks, transfers, attacking options, clean sheet potential, teams to look our for and avoid, the wildcard differential players, and general analysis and comments.
Scout Picks: Picking a squad of 15 for a single Gameweek, using the rules of the FPL - formations, captains and vice captains, and the player limits of 3 per club (chips will not be feature of these weekly picks)
Each team must pick a Captain, labelled as (c) and a Vice Captain listed as (vc).
Fixture Prediction: 2016/17 Points Table
In our predictions a perfect score is 3 points, and predicting the right outcome is worth 1 point (aka if a team wins but, you predict it, but don't get the perfect score). Below is the Gameweek and overall rundown of our Premier League predictions series for the season.
Sam Austin (@TheHypeTrainSam): 12 (1), 7 (2), 8 (3) = 27 total
Phil Jones (@TheHypeTrainPJ): 7 (1), 7 (2), 9 (3) = 23 total
Robert Austin (@TheHypeTrainRob): 10 (1), 6 (2), 8 (3) = 24 total
Special Guests: 2 (1), 8 (2), 8 (3) = 18 total
Special Guests
GW1 - @FPLAid: 2pts (0 perfect scores, 2 correct results, 8 wrong)
GW2 - @AUSFPL: 8pts (2 perfect scores, 0 correct results, 6 wrong)
GW3 - @jamieFPL from @fplbet: 8pts (0 perfect scores, 8 correct results, 2 wrong)
Individual Gameweek Predictions
GW1: Sam (12), Phil (7), Rob (10), @FPLAid (2)
GW2: Sam (7), Phil (7), Rob (6), @AUSFPL (8)
GW3: Sam (8), Phil (9), Rob (8), @jamieFPL from @fplbet (8)
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 2
Picking a squad of 15 for a single Gameweek, using the rules of the FPL - formations, captains and vice captains, and the player limits of 3 per club (chips will not be feature of these weekly picks). Below is the Gameweek and overall rundown of our Premier League predictions series for the season.
Sam Austin (@TheHypeTrainSam): 60 (1), 37 (2), 48 (3) = 145 total
Phil Jones (@TheHypeTrainPJ): 52 (1), 47 (2), 55 (3) = 154 total
Robert Austin (@TheHypeTrainRob): 53 (1), 52 (2), 53 (3) = 158 total
Special Guests: 50 (1), 78 (2), 61 (3) = 189 total
Scout Picks: Special Guests
GW1 - @FPLAid: 50pts (Captain Aguero, 18pts)
GW2 - @AUSFPL: 78pts (Captain Aguero, 26pts)
GW3 - @jamieFPL from @fplbet: 61pts (Captain Aguero, 4pts)
Individual Gameweek Scout Picks
GW1: Sam (60), Phil (52), Rob (53), @FPLAid (50)
GW2: Sam (37), Phil (47), Rob (52), @AUSFPL (78)
GW3: Sam (48), Phil (55), Rob (53), @jamieFPL from @fplbet (61)
Sam Austin (Face Facts)
Twitter: @TheHypeTrainSam
Favourite PL Club: Liverpool
About: Sam is the Hype Train’s Chief Writer, and Weekly Wildcards specialist, delving into the depths of FPL possibility each and every week.
Gameweek 4 Fixture Prediction
Man United 0-0 Man City
Arsenal 3-0 Southampton
Bournemouth 3-1 West Brom
Burnley 1-0 Hull
Middlesbrough 2-0 Crystal Palace
Stoke 0-2 Spurs
West Ham 3-0 Watford
Liverpool 1-0 Leicester
Swansea 1-2 Chelsea
Sunderland 0-3 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 4
Best GW Attacking Options:
Arsenal (H) vs Southampton
West Ham (H) vs Watford
Spurs (a) vs Stoke
Chelsea (a) vs Swansea
Everton (a) vs Sunderland
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Manchester United (H) vs Man City
Man City (a) vs Manchester United
West Ham (H) vs Watford
Chelsea (a) vs Swansea
Arsenal (H) vs Southampton
Liverpool (H) vs Leicester
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Diego Costa, Michail Antonio, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Nolito, Tom Heaton, Raheem Sterling, Ashley Williams, Dimitri Payet, and Sadio Mane.
OUT: Sergio Aguero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Nathan Redmond, Alvaro Negredo, Scott Dann, Cesc Fabregas, and Riyad Mahrez.
Who is the team to look out for?:
Burnley: Their record against Hull in incredible, five clean sheets in the last seven speaks for itself. They are being overlooked due to this ‘stellar’ class in Manchester, but I can see fantasy points a plenty when the two promoted clubs meet at Turf Moor.
West Ham: Finally out of the Europa League, their top players are back fit, Antonio is playing in an attacking role once again, and still going strong in their new home they could overwhelm Watford after so long of being doubted. They have just had some terrible opening fixtures but they are going into a good run of games which could kick-start their season.
Who is the team to avoid?:
Southampton: Rarely looking a goal threat this would be a good time to invest back into the defensive assets of Arsenal.
Liverpool: I have picked them to win, but I could be wrong, they are unpredictable but looking long term they have a stretch of good fixtures in the near future.
Stoke: Although the signing of Bony perks up the Potters it doesn’t help that Spurs are starting to get their mojo back, and after last year’s performance in this fixture no Stoke fans should be happy to see Spurs back so soon.
GW Differential Picks:
Tom Heaton: Life under Sean Dyche has been prosperous for Burnley, it has also been very disappointing in the way in which they got relegated a couple of seasons ago. Then again, we have assessed Burnley and think that they are a stronger unit this season, they have signed some good players and are looking at putting their heels in to stay in the Premier League this year, of which they have every chance. A big reason for this is down to their captain Tom Heaton, a goalkeeper who has really stepped up to the plate and put in some stellar performances so far this season. The England international looks at home in the Premier League and even if he concedes he is making a decent return on save points. Looking back at the head-to-head history of Burnley and Hull it makes for interesting reading. In the last seven encounters there has been a clean sheet in every single game by either side, Burnley have won five fixtures (all by a score line of 1-0), and Hull have won two encounters. The last two encounters at Turf Moor Burnley have won, the writing on the wall is that these two teams enjoy a hard fought encounter and there are few goals and clean sheets to be made in this fixture.
You can read more about my differentials this wek below...
FPL Captaincy Pick:
(C) – Alexis Sanchez – Arsenal has found their form again and when Alexis goes into second gear he is normally unplayable from an FPL standpoint. The Chilean whose incredible fitness means he rarely misses a game will be a delicious option against a wavering Southampton who hasn’t found any sort of rhythm yet in the Premier League. Sanchez is Arsenal’s best player on his day and with him finding his feet few people will expect another rousing performance to see Arsenal find a hot streak of form.
(VC) – Sadio Mane – As the enforcer of all things differential I am opting to keep faith in the ability of the new Liverpool winger who has been electric ever since joining the Reds. Christian Fuchs is going to have an absolute nightmare trying to mark the Senegalese winger and after showing that he can dictate the pace of the game he can make the difference at the new-look Anfield when the Foxes come to visit.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Since returning from the international break teams will now start to settle having the transfer window slammed shut and the international break finally over. Lots of teams will also start preparing for European competition so the likes of Chelsea, Everton, and Liverpool will start to see consistency in their starting elevens whilst Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs, and Leicester will start to see some players rotated in the coming weeks so expect some familiar faces to be either benched or rested entirely.
This week without Aguero feels fresh and exciting; with so many people playing their wildcards it feels like people are embracing different options which are good to see from the FPL community. As I have been saying, there is life after Aguero in the FPL.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 4
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Tom Heaton
DEF: Toby Alderweireld
DEF: Hector Bellerin
DEF: Joel Matip
MID: Alexis Sanchez (C)
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Dimitri Payet
MID: Sadio Mane (VC)
FOR: Alvaro Negredo
FOR: Diego Costa
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
Substitutes
GK: Claudio Bravo
MID: Ross Barkley
DEF: Ashley Williams
DEF: Gary Cahill
Phil Jones (SweatyMongoose FC)
Twitter: @TheHypeTrainPJ
Favourite PL Club: Chelsea
About: Phil is our Transfer and general FPL expert, and is mini-league Champion between the Hype Team.
Gameweek 4 Fixture Prediction
Man United 2-2 Man City
Arsenal 3-0 Southampton
Bournemouth 0-1 West Brom
Burnley 0-2 Hull
Middlesbrough 1-2 Crystal Palace
Stoke 1-2 Spurs
West Ham 1-0 Watford
Liverpool 1-1 Leicester
Swansea 1-4 Chelsea
Sunderland 1-2 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 4
Best GW Attacking Options:
Arsenal (H) vs Southampton
Chelsea (a) vs Swansea
Everton (a) Sunderland
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
West Ham (H) vs Watford
Chelsea (a) vs Swansea
West Brom (a) vs Bournemouth
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Diego Costa, Michail Antonio, Christian Benteke, Alexis Sanchez
OUT: Sergio Aguero, Nathan Redmond, Andre Gray, Alvaro Negredo
Who is the team to look out for?:
Crystal Palace - Finally got the striking talent they’ve needed for so long. Benteke and Remy will do the business.
West Brom - Still grinding out Clean Sheets and doing it comfortably. Worth doubling up on WBA defenders.
Who is the team to avoid?:
Southampton - Still not found a rhythm to their season, Charlie Austin might start to see more game time and Redmond could be forced wide.
Liverpool - Completely unpredictable. Usually show up to big games well but could just as easily lose 3-0.
GW Differential Picks:
Christian Benteke – Starting in a side that has so far provided more crosses into the box than any other team and looks to have taken control of penalties.
Robert Snodgrass – One of the surprise stars of the season so far. On set-pieces and always hovering around the box.
Santi Cazorla – All the attention has turned to Ozil and Sanchez, but with penalty duty, plus corners and free kicks occasionally, he’s a budget option with a big plus side.
FPL Captaincy Pick:
(C) – Alexis Sanchez – Showed what he can do in gameweek three. Southampton are in trouble at the minute and Arsenal are coming into form. Not on penalties but free kicks and playing in a forward role offers potential.
(VC) – Diego Costa – The goals are flowing for Costa in the PL and he’s continued this form on international duty. Swansea have an unknown backline with relatively little experience. Costa will bully them into conceding fouls.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Aguero Owners should have played their wildcard by now. If not it’s too late to jump on the price rises. Better luck in week 6.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 4
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: Leighton Baines
DEF: Hector Bellerin
DEF: Toby Alderweireld
MID: Alexis Sanchez (C)
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Michail Antonio
MID: Ross Barkley
FOR: Christian Benteke
FOR: Diego Costa (VC)
FOR: Harry Kane
Substitutes
GK: Adrian
MID: Raheem Sterling
DEF: Gareth McAuley
DEF: James Collins
Robert Austin (Pownage FC)
Twitter: @TheHypeTrainRob
Favourite PL Club: Arsenal
About: Robbo is the Hype Train owner that provides a wealth of Graphical Aid for all THT social platforms.
Gameweek 4 Fixture Prediction
Man United 1-0 Man City
Arsenal 2-1 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-1 West Brom
Burnley 1-0 Hull
Middlesbrough 2-0 Crystal Palace
Stoke 1-2 Spurs
West Ham 1-1 Watford
Liverpool 0-1 Leicester
Swansea 1-2 Chelsea
Sunderland 1-2 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 4
Best GW Attacking Options:
Arsenal (H) vs. Southampton
Middlesbrough (H) vs. Crystal Palace
Everton (a) Sunderland
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Middlesbrough (H) vs. Crystal Palace
Man United (H) vs. Man City
Burnley (H) vs. Hull
Spurs (A) vs. Stoke
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Sanchez, Ozil, Alderweireld, Antonio, Baines, Lukaku
OUT: Gray, Stones, and any Liverpool players for the next few weeks
Who is the team to look out for?:
Middlesbrough - They are viable FPL candidates for the week, facing a Palace team struggling for goals. A defender and a forward would be an attractive prospect for the Gameweek.
Leicester - A lot of people are writing off Leicester, but they're going to an unpredictable Liverpool side at a slightly bigger Anfield. Jamie Vardy and Mahrez still have the potential to destroy the Liverpool defence.
Who is the team to avoid?:
Hull - A lot of new transfers means their line up will vary for GW4. From an FPL selection point of view, it is best to back off until the dust has settled. That being said a trip to Burnley is winnable, that said Liverpool struggled and they literally had 89% possession.
Stoke - Sparky is taking time getting the wheels turning on Stoke's season and will once again be without Shaqiri. Bony is a welcome signing but if Spurs turn up, they have the potential to destroy Stoke (they won 4-0 last season, with Alli also missing an open goal).
GW Differential Picks:
Romelu Lukaku – The Belgian forward notched in 2 goals during the international period and is owned by just over 7% of the FPL. Could provide your team with a big difference over your friends in any head to head league.
George Friend – The Boro left-back is left after a niggling injury in the EFL Cup, and with Palace at home, with just 4.4% of the FPL backing him, could be one of those lowly owned players in the Dream Team.
Gylfi Sigurddson – Chelsea aren't clued into their defensive duties just yet, with Swans midfielder Sigurdsson back for proper now. On penalties and set-piece duty, It'd give me the biggest smile to see the Iceland international repeat his feat of scoring against Chelsea last season.
FPL Captaincy Pick:
(C) – Eden Hazard – Hazard's back to his best, and is my Core Captaincy essential pick for Gameweek 4. The Belgian has taken the limelight from Zlatan and Aguero due to the Manchester clubs clashing, and Aguero rightfully getting suspended.
(VC) – Alvaro Negredo – Palace will give Boro a good game, but I see The Beast adding to his tally for the season against a Palace side that haven't found a winning mentality in years... Before switching to an Arsenal fan for the season after polls on our Twitter, as an old Newcastle fan it is kind of funny the situation Pardew is in with the club. Palace could get relegated this season and Newcastle could have Rafa Benitez in the Premier League next season.
Other Gameweek Comments:
If you didn't play your wildcard, never fear, there are clearer roads ahead. No point risking a wildcard when most teams are barely managing points to begin with. Settle then stick, don't stick before settling.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 4
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Tom Heaton
DEF: Leighton Baines
DEF: Hector Bellerin
DEF: Antonio Valencia
MID: Alexis Sanchez (v)
MID: Eden Hazard (c)
MID: Dimitri Payet
MID: Ross Barkley
FOR: Alvaro Negredo
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
FOR: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster
MID: Raheem Sterling
DEF: George Friend
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
Special Guest (Monil Jhaveri of @FPLFanatix)
Twitter: @FPLFanatix
Favourite PL Club: Liverpool
Who is Monil's favourite to win the PL?: Man City
Gameweek 4 Fixture Prediction
Man United 1-1 Man City
Arsenal 3-1 Southampton
Bournemouth 0-0 West Brom
Burnley 1-1 Hull
Middlesbrough 2-1 Crystal Palace
Stoke 0-1 Spurs
West Ham 1-0 Watford
Liverpool 2-1 Leicester
Swansea 1-3 Chelsea
Sunderland 0-2 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 4
Best GW Attacking Options:
Arsenal (H) vs Southampton
Chelsea (A) vs Swansea
Everton (A) vs Sunderland
Liverpool (H) vs Leicester
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
West Ham (H) vs Watford
Spurs (A) vs Stoke
West Brom & Bournemouth against each other
Everton (A) vs Sunderland
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
In: Romelu Lukaku, Diego Costa, Alexis/Ozil, Leighton Baines, Benteke/Remy
Out: Shane Long, Sergio Aguero, Kevin Friend (unless fit), Riyad Mahrez
Who is the team to look out for?:
Arsenal – Cannot be kept silent for long, back with a bang last week and expect that to continue.
Chelsea – Strong and steady start! Hazard and Costa firing plus Conte as manager. Need I say more? Hop on aboard.
Everton – Pretty good start, 2 wins and a draw against Spurs. With a lovely run of fixtures (SUN, BOU, MID & CPL up next), even doubling up would not be such a bad idea.
Who is the team to avoid?:
Watford – Pereyra is not the answer to all of their problems, conceding goals for fun and attack not on song. Avoid.
Swansea – Defensive fragility clearly seen in the last two games and another tough fixture this time around
GW Differential Picks:
Mesut Ozil – Got his first start this season and got his name on the scoresheet straight away. Shows what they missed in the first two games. Expect Ozil to add onto that goal and continue in good form
Leighton Baines – On penalties, Everton reverted back to a back four which favours his flank overlaps even more and an amazing run of fixtures. FPL gold previously might just be back.
Michael Antonio – Scored two times when not playing at RB. What is wrong with you Bilic? Anyways now that they got Arbeloa, Antonio will be playing in midfield (Surely now?) and should be getting points this week
FPL Captaincy Pick:
(C) Eden Hazard – Boy oh boy! This fella is back at his very best. With Swansea’s questionable defence at his disposal, expect him to shine this Gameweek. Named as Player of the Month for August, and will be driven even more now.
(VC) Mesut Ozil – A lot of managers are going to favour his Chilean counterpart this Gameweek but I expect Ozil to provide more consistent returns. His positioning was world class for the goal last week and I am sure he will be at the heart of everything Arsenal does this weekend.
Other Gameweek Comments:
This is a really tricky Gameweek in terms of fixtures. Kun’s absence and use of wildcards will only add onto the trickiness. I would suggest trusting form over fixtures and keeping faith with the players who are performing. Additionally you should try and hop on to 1-2 early season bandwagons as there are a few players who seem to have returned to their best.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 4
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: James Collins
DEF: Hector Bellerin
DEF: Leighton Baines
MID: Eden Hazard (c)
MID: Raheem Sterling
MID: Michael Antonio
MID: Mesut Ozil (v)
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
FOR: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
FOR: Diego Costa
Substitutes
GK: Tom Heaton
MID: Leroy Fer
DEF: Adam Smith
DEF: Gareth McAuley
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015 specialising in the Fantasy Premier League (#FPL), providing beautiful graphics and weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb ranking tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review movies, television, live music, festivals, and any relevant topic in the public eye.
You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, or visit our website here at www.thehypetrain.co.uk
All aboard.
