FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 5
Ahead of each Gameweek in the Fantasy Premier League the Hype Train invites a special guest onto its Fantasy Forecast, where the three members of the Hype Team and its Guests will duel for FPL supremacy in predicting Premier League scores, as well as going head to head in picking a Scout Picks squad for the relevant Gameweek. In addition, we give our insight into who are the players to watch and those to drop, both for traditional FPL leagues and the Draft mode, as well as providing insight into captaincy picks, differentials for the week, and more. Welcome to the Forecast. 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.
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 respecting the rules of the Forecast, we have provided an example of what we're sending out to interested parties.
Premier League Fixture Prediction: As pundits, we are testing our football acumen with PL predictions 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, players to consider for the Draft game, the wildcard differential players, as well as general analysis and comments.
Scout Picks: Picking a squad of 15 for a single Gameweek, without any budget, 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: 2017/18 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 (@HypeTrainSam): 6 (1), 4 (2), 8 (3), 3 (4) = 21pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 10 (1), 5 (2), 6 (3), 4 (4) = 25pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 4 (1), 5 (2), 8 (3), 2 (4) = 19pts
Special Guests: 4 (1), 4 (2), 7 (3), 2 (4) = 17pts
Special Guests
GW1 - @FPLConnect: 4 points (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW2 - @FPLsleuth: 4 points (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW3 - @FPLBraveheart: 6 points (1 perfect, 3 correct, 6 wrong)
GW4 - @FPLJournalBlog: 2 points (0 perfect, 2 correct, 8 wrong)
Individual Gameweek Predictions
GW1: Sam (6), Phil (10), Rob (4), @FPL_Connect (4)
GW2: Sam (4), Phil (5), Rob (5), @FPLsleuth (4)
GW3: Sam (8), Phil (6), Rob, (8), @FPLBraveheart (7)
GW4: Sam (3), Phil (4), Rob (2), @FPLJournalBlog (2)
FPL Scout Picks: 2017/18 Points Table
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 (@HypeTrainSam): 82 (1), 61 (2), 58 (3), 23 (4) = 224pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 81 (1), 57 (2), 38 (3), 49 (4) = 225pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 67 (1), 43 (2), 48 (3), 36 (4) = 194pts
Special Guests: 54 (1), 45 (2), 41 (3), 40 (4) = 180pts
Special Guests
GW1 - @FPL_Connect: 54 points (Captain Kane, 2pts)
GW2 - @FPLsleuth: 45 points (Captain Lukaku, 12pts)
GW3 - @FPLBraveheart: 41 points (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW4 - @FPLJournalBlog: 40 points (Captain Mane, -4pts)
Individual Gameweek Scout Picks
GW1: Sam (82), Phil (81), Rob (67), @FPL_Connect (54)
GW2: Sam (61), Phil (57), Rob (43), @FPLsleuth (45)
GW3: Sam (58), Phil (38), Rob, (48), @FPLBraveheart (41)
GW4: Sam (23), Phil (49), Rob (36), @FPLJournalBlog (40)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 5
Bournemouth 2-2 Brighton
Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton
Huddersfield 1-1 Leicester
Liverpool 3-1 Burnley
Newcastle 1-0 Stoke
Watford 0-2 Man City
West Brom 1-0 West Ham
Spurs 5-0 Swansea
Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal
Man United 2-0 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 5
Best GW Attacking Options:
Man City (A) vs. Watford
Liverpool (H) vs. Burnley
Spurs (H) vs. Swansea
Man United (H) vs. Everton
Newcastle (H) vs. Stoke City
Brighton (A) vs. Bournemouth
Bournemouth (H) vs. Brighton
Chelsea (H) vs. Arsenal
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Man City (A) vs. Watford
Southampton (A) vs. Crystal Palace
Spurs (H) vs. Swansea
Man United (H) vs. Everton
West Brom (A) vs. West Ham
Chelsea (H) vs. Arsenal
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Mo Salah, Morata, Harry Kane, Allan Nyom, Kieran Trippier (any Spurs defender), Matt Ritchie, Eric Bailly, Ryan Bertrand, Pascal Groß.
OUT: Sadio Mane, Benteke (any Palace players in fact), Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aaron Mooy (which saddens me), Arsenal assets (plural, as in all of them #ThursdayNights).
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Harry Kane. That is who I fear in the draft this week, Harry Kane.
Stoke’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has the potential to upset Newcastle’s good run of form, but on equal measure Jamaal Lascelles and Kieran Clark (who @HypeTrainRob calls ‘The Unit’) are forming a partnership that is paying dividends, so take your pick.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Man City: Currently in cruise control it could be the end of Marco Silva’s home run as Watford manager, I don’t want it to end that way, but the Citizens are just rolling over teams, and in their last two games in all competitions they have scored nine goals without opposition reply.
Liverpool: Despite the horrific loss to Man City at the weekend we must remember that the Reds have a whole team of goal scorers, and I believe Coutinho will come back into the team this weekend to replace Sadio Mane, and with an adequate replacement from the suspended Senegalese forward Liverpool still guarantee goals.
Spurs: They are going to dominate the Swans, dominate. After analysing the way Spurs tore through Dortmund in the Champions League sent shivers down my spine thinking about poor old Swansea having to visit Wembley.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Arsenal: Suffering with ‘Top Six Syndrome’ the Gunners have exhibited a lack of character in beating big teams, and at Stamford Bridge they normally leave embarrassed by the Blues. Additionally, and it is a big additionally, this will be the first time that Arsenal emerge out of a Europa League fixture, and we all know about the curse of Thursday nights.
West Ham: Only one of the last six meetings between the Baggies and Hammers have been won by the London club, and don’t let West Brom fool you by the loss at Brighton…they can pull a clean sheet out of a magic hat in a moment’s notice.
Swansea: When Spurs beat the Swans by a five-goal margin last season it was called the biggest one-sided game of all time in the Premier League, and with Kane back in form it could be another tiring afternoon for the Welsh club.
GW Differential Picks:
Kieran Trippier (TOT): Aurier made his Spurs debut in the Champions League, leaving Trippier to take up the starting spot in the league when the Swans visit town. After assisting Kane last week, and with the injury now behind him, we expect Trippier to be back on the radar of fantasy managers.
Eden Hazard (CHE): I have selected the Belgian as our differential captain this week because he loves putting Arsenal to the sword, and just when the Gunners think they finally have some form back they wind up facing a returning Hazard. Chelsea will hurt Arsenal this weekend, and I am very much looking forward to hearing what Robbie has to say about it when the dust has settled.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Harry Kane – Scoring four goals in his last two games in all competitions is a sign that the Hurrikane is rolling back onto the English shores. August is done and dusted, and Kane finally has found his scoring boots, and in what was described as the most ‘one sided’ game in Premier League history, we expect the Swans to have a long afternoon when they travel to Wembley Stadium.
(VC): Alvaro Morata – the more you watch of the Spaniard, the more you realise he plays the English game very, very well. Arsenal had a recent upturn of fortune against Bournemouth but against superior opposition the Gunners tend to crumble, and Morata will be there to punish them.
Other Gameweek Comments:
I expect a huge amount of goals this weekend, so don’t expect many clean sheets. Ignoring Spurs assets is also a huge no, they are the pick of the gameweek and you will regret not looking at Alli, Davie, Eriksen, or Kane as options for your team.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 5
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Thibaut Courtois
DEF: Ryan Bertrand
DEF: Marcos Alonso
DEF: Eric Bailly
MID: Christian Eriksen
MID: Dele Alli
MID: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
MID: Mo Salah
FOR: Gabriel Jesus
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
FOR: Alvaro Morata (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Rob Elliot
MID: Pascal Groß
DEF: Benjamin Mendy
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 5
Bournemouth 2-1 Brighton Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton Huddersfield 2-2 Leicester Liverpool 4-1 Burnley Newcastle 1-0 Stoke Watford 2-1 Man City West Brom 1-0 West Ham Spurs 4-1 Swansea Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal Man United 2-0 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 5
Best GW Attacking Options: Spurs (H) vs Swansea Man United (H) vs Everton Liverpool (H) vs Burnley
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Southampton (a) vs Crystal Palace West Brom (H) vs West Ham Newcastle (H) vs Stoke Spurs (H) vs Swansea
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Kane, Eriksen, Davies, Alonso, Morata, Mkhitaryan, Watford Defenders, Newcastle Defenders.
OUT: Pogba, Mane, Lovren, Willian, Anyone from West Ham.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Waiver Pick: Davinson Sanchez (TOT). A lot of people will have missed the fact he’s snuck into the starting XI for Spurs. 2 starts and 2 Clean Sheets in all comps. It’s also worth noting he can play in holding midfield when needed. I’ve snapped him up already.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C): Harry Kane: Finally delivered some results to match his stats. I can’t see myself switching captains for the foreseeable future.
(VC): Mohammed Salah: Dissapointing the way things turned out last week. Mo did show off his pace and counter attacking ability however. Burnley have really struggled in defence this year so this could be worth a punt.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 5 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Marcos Alonso DEF: Ben Davies DEF: Maya Yoshida
MID: Mo Salah (VC) MID: Henrikh Mkhitaryan MID: Christian Eriksen MID: Eden Hazard
FOR: Alvaro Morata FOR: Roberto Firmino FOR: Harry Kane (C)
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster MID: Alexis Sanchez DEF: Cedric Soares DEF: Eric Bailly
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 5
Bournemouth 2-1 Brighton
Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton
Huddersfield 1-0 Leicester
Liverpool 3-1 Burnley
Newcastle 2-0 Stoke
Watford 1-3 Man City
West Brom 2-1 West Ham
Spurs 4-0 Swansea
Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal
Man United 2-0 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 5
Best GW Attacking Options:
Liverpool (H) vs. Burnley
Newcastle (H) vs. Stoke
Man City (a) vs. Watford
Spurs (H) vs. Swansea
Chelsea (H) vs. Arsenal
Man United (H) vs. Everton
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Southampton (a) vs. Crystal Palace
Newcastle (H) vs. Stoke
West Brom (H) vs. West Ham
Spurs (H) vs. Swansea
Chelsea (H) vs. Arsenal
Man United (H) vs. Everton
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (straight swap for Pogba). Any combination of Davies, Eriksen, Alli, and Kane at Spurs. Mohamed Salah, as the replacement for Mane. Morata is a must. Jamie Vardy for the future.
OUT: Maya Yoshida (seemingly fighting for a spot in the team). Get rid of the injury and suspension fodder. My hopes aren’t high for Huddersfield hopes after the Leicester. Plan for their removal.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Chris Wood (BUR) – Even though the Claret’s travel to Liverpool, Wood will be a sought after option in attack with his early form.
Kiko Femenia (WAT) – Has been the standout performer for Watford. Most league’s I’ve seen have barely any Watford assets in. Gomes and Doucoure can be added to this list for the same reason
Joselu (NEW) – Going up against his old club is always a welcome omen, right?
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Chelsea – Arsenal will be suffering from a Europa League hangover. Morata’s in form and Hazard is back. Chelsea are winning this game.
Newcastle – Stoke won’t know what has hit them this week. Newcastle are going to build on recent momentum and sneak a result, with many believing Stoke are a tough unit to crack this season.
Liverpool – They’re at home. You’ll have to look out for them from two perspectives. One, the goals will flow. Two, Burnley will defend their territory like British and American soldiers did in Normandy all those years ago.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Brighton – Bournemouth are a ticking time-bomb. Newly minted Pascal Gross owners might have to settle for a frustrating evening on Friday night.
West Ham – This side that beat Huddersfield is still rubbish. Don’t be lured into a false sense of security with them.
Arsenal – I just don’t see them getting anything at Chelsea. I’ve gone for 2-0 but I think I’ve been quite modest with more score line.
Everton – Six shots on goal this season is a terrible reflection of their fortunes. I don’t see it getting easier at Man United.
Crystal Palace – The Premier League is worse with Woy in it. I don’t think he’ll get off to a good start, underlining that the manager at this club, whoever he may be, isn’t the problem.
GW Differential Picks:
Chris Lowe (HUD) – I’m hoping the Huddersfield left-back gets a fifth consecutive clean sheet against Leicester.
Joselu (NEW) – A goal against his old club is on the cards.
Benjamin Mendy (MCI) – The left-back was superb against Liverpool, and I’ve even changed my Scout Picks squad to a 4-3-3 to fit the former Monaco man in my team.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Harry Kane – I’m not going to be the one that doesn’t pick The Hurrikane this week, and lose out. Cut your damages and board the Kane hype train before the burn is too real.
(VC): Romelu Lukaku – If Kane’s not the guy to bank on, Lukaku is. He’s playing his old side and I can see a couple of goals for the Belgian to really stick it to his old team.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Any combination of Vardy, Jesus/Aguero, Firmino, Morata, Lukaku, and Kane, should get the business done this weekend for your teams. I don’t see many shocks in results, with many mid-table clashes a lot harder to pin.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 5
Formation: 4-3-3
Starting 11
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: Eric Bailly
DEF: Ben Davies
DEF: Marcos Alonso
DEF: Benjamin Mendy
MID: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
MID: Dele Alli
MID: Mohamed Salah
FOR: Alvaro Morata
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
FOR: Romelu Lukaku (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Fraser Forster
MID: Matt Ritchie
MID: Kevin de Bruyne
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 5
Bournemouth 1-1 Brighton
Crystal Palace 2-0 Southampton
Huddersfield 0-2 Leicester
Liverpool 3-0 Burnley
Newcastle 1-1 Stoke
Watford 0-2 Man City
West Brom 1-0 West Ham
Spurs 4-0 Swansea
Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal
Man United 2-0 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 5
Best GW Attacking Options:
At the risk of sounding obvious, Harry Kane.
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Ben Davies. Currently 4th in terms of key passes overall with 3.30 per game. He’s the only defender in the top 10. I don’t see Swansea having enough to cause a threat at Wembley. They really struggled to create anything at home to Newcastle on Sunday.
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Ben Davies. I haven’t got him but will probably make room for him this weekend. 5.7m for a defender who is starting for Spurs and is playing very well at the moment is a steal. Davies is currently the highest scoring defender.
OUT: Any Southampton midfielder or striker. Tadic, Redmond, JWP, Austin, Gabbiadini and others; all of them. Get them out.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
West Brom are at home to West Ham. Potential clean sheet there but wouldn’t expect many goals. Spurs at home to Swansea should be a landslide victory for the home side. They’ve looked good at Wembley and I worry Swansea won’t be able to contain them. Liverpool are at home to Burnley; on paper, the home side should win but last year it didn’t quite work out for them. Missing Mane too but I don’t think they’ll have a problem and dispose of Burnley. Everton looked in all kind of trouble last week; not a great time to go to Old Trafford either.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
I’d avoid the mid table clashes because they’re too tight to call. Bournemouth v Brighton, Huddersfield v Leicester, Newcastle v Stoke & Palace v Southampton. Can’t see much value in any player in those teams (except one).
GW Differential Picks:
Craig Dawson (WBA). He had a couple of shots last week and played RB. Good value in 5m and I expect a clean sheet as well as the goal, obviously. Looking at the radar, you can see his and Hegazi’s stats are very similar, it’s basically Hegazi’s goals that boosted him. Dawson’s owned by 5% of teams whereas Hegazi is owned by 27%.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Kane
(VC): Eriksen
Other Gameweek Comments:
Go Spurs. Pains me to say but Swansea don’t stand a chance.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 5
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Rob Elliot
DEF: Craig Dawson
DEF: Antonio Valencia
DEF: Ben Davies
MID: Andros Townsend
MID: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
MID: Mohamed Salah
MID: Christian Eriksen (VC)
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
FOR: Roberto Firmino
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster
MID: Pedro
DEF: Johnny Evans
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles
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, live sport, and professional wrestling.
As well as providing FPL articles on our website, we are a founding Contributor to the new Fantasy Football Hub, where you can find more unique articles, including weekly Power Rankings, from The Hype Team. You can support us and read exclusive members only content for just £2 per-month by clicking here.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog 2016' by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), with the final presentation held at Old Trafford in Manchester.
You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, or visit our website here at www.thehypetrain.co.uk
All aboard.
