FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 9
8Ahead 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), 9 (5), 6 (6), 7 (7), 7 (8) = 50pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 10 (1), 5 (2), 6 (3), 4 (4), 9 (5), 5 (6), 5 (7), 3 (8) = 47pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 4 (1), 5 (2), 8 (3), 2 (4), 7 (5), 9 (6), 8 (7), 10 (8) = 53pts
Special Guests: 4 (1), 4 (2), 7 (3), 2 (4), 2 (5), 8 (6), 13 (7), 9 (8) = 49pts
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)
GW5 - @FPL_Ted: 2 points (0 perfect, 2 correct, 8 wrong)
GW6 - @CGA_FPL: 8 points (1 perfect, 5 correct, 4 wrong)
GW7 - @FPLMad: 11pts (3 perfect, 2 correct, 5 wrong)
GW8 - @OddsOnFPL: 9pts (2 perfect, 3 correct, 5 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)
GW5: Sam (9), Phil (9), Rob (7), @FPL_Ted (2)
GW6: Sam (6), Phil (5), Rob (9), @CGA_FPL (8)
GW7: Sam (5), Phil (7), Rob (8), @FPLMad (11)
GW8: Sam (7), Phil (3), Rob (10), @OddsOnFPL (9)
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), 60 (5), 72 (6), 55 (7), 54 (8) = 465pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 81 (1), 57 (2), 38 (3), 49 (4), 58 (5), 73 (6), 65 (7), 63 (8) = 484pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 67 (1), 43 (2), 48 (3), 36 (4), 74 (5), 78 (6), 68 (7), 39 (8) = 453pts
Special Guests: 54 (1), 45 (2), 41 (3), 40 (4), 72 (5), 77 (6), 81 (7), 53 (8) = 463pts
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)
GW5 - @FPL_Ted: 72 points (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW6 - @CGA_FPL: 77 points (Captain Aguero, 22pts)
GW7 - @FPLMad: 81pts (Captain Kane, 26pts)
GW8 - @OddsOnFPL: 53pts (Captain Kane, 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)
GW5: Sam (60), Phil (58), Rob (74), @FPL_Ted (72)
GW6: Sam (72), Phil (73), Rob (78), @CGA_FPL (77)
GW7: Sam (55), Phil (65), Rob (68), @FPLMad (81)
GW8: Sam (54), Phil (63), Rob (39), @OddsOnFPL (53)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 9
West Ham 1-0 Brighton
Chelsea 2-1 Watford
Huddersfield 0-2 Man United
Man City 4-0 Burnley
Newcastle 2-0 Crystal Palace
Stoke 2-1 Bournemouth
Swansea 1-1 Leicester
Southampton 0-0 West Brom
Everton 1-2 Arsenal
Spurs 0-2 Liverpool
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 9
Best GW Attacking Options:
Chelsea (H) vs. Watford
Man United (A) vs. Huddersfield
Man City (H) vs. Burnley
Newcastle (H) vs. Crystal Palace
Stoke (H) vs. Bournemouth
Arsenal (A) vs. Everton
Liverpool (A) vs. Spurs
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
West Ham (H) vs. Brighton
Man United (A) vs. Huddersfield
Man City (H) vs. Burnley
Newcastle (H) vs. Crystal Palace
Southampton (H) vs. West Brom
West Brom (A) vs. Southampton
Liverpool (A) vs. Spurs
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Raheem Sterling, David Silva, Tammy Abraham, Phil Jones, Aaron Cresswell, Joe Gomez.
OUT: Harry Kane, Chelsea defenders, Ben Davies, Deli Alli, and Chris Lowe.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Swansea, West Ham, Southampton, Liverpool, and Man United players will make a significant difference, but Man City will have again the biggest impact. Too many options and points on the board to ignore from the Citizens.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool: Travelling to the national stadium for a fixture against Spurs should see for an interesting Super Sunday, and after seeing how Spurs play at Wembley it wouldn’t surprise me if Liverpool got their league form back on track with a positive win against Spurs.
Man United: The way the English press works is simple, have Mourinho defend himself after stooping to a defensive tactic against Liverpool, then lord him as the messiah when the Red Devils beat a promoted team.
Man City: Goals, goals, and then some more goals.
West Ham: Love eking out results against teams around their level, normally by a one goal margin, so clean sheet potential is a big in this fixture.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Arsenal: Europa League a few days before the game, I favour Arsenal, but it could be a terrible game.
Everton: Europa League a few days before the game, I favour Arsenal, but it could be a terrible game.
Spurs: Home against Liverpool, who can turn on the heat at Wembley, so expecting a fiery affair. Spurs and Liverpool tend to play out some fantastic fixtures and I can sense a resurgence at Wembley.
GW Differential Picks:
Aaron Cresswell (WHU): The Hammers loves beating teams around the bottom of the table with small margins, so I expect Aaron Cresswell to have a positive return this gameweek.
Jack Butland (STK): Second England international in the differentials is Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland who might have an easy time of things against a struggling Bournemouth team.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Romelu Lukaku – The Belgian had no service against Liverpool, they were better off not even playing him. Against smaller teams Lukaku will get the service, and more goals. Huddersfield have been woeful of late, so it is more of a formality at this point.
(VC): Jesus – Man City love goals, but Burnley are proving to be a stubborn group to break down, the only reason Jesus is vice is because there is a better chance of Lukaku having a better time of things against Huddersfield.
Other Gameweek Comments:
My personal FPL team has hit a drastic, and terrible, run of form. My advice is to choose random, it apparently works for other players, and so called trusted sources (like Jamie Vardy) is nothing more than a 2pt blip on your season.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 9
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Aaron Cresswell
DEF: Virgil van Dijk
DEF: Marcos Alonso
MID: Raheem Sterling
MID: Mohamed Salah
MID: David Silva
MID: Matt Ritchie
FOR: Romelu Lukaku (C)
FOR: Gabriel Jesus (VC)
FOR: Jamie Vardy
Substitutes
GK: Jack Butland
MID: Eden Hazard
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles
DEF: Joel Matip
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 9
West Ham 1-0 Brighton Chelsea 2-1 Watford Huddersfield 0-2 Man United Man City 4-1 Burnley Newcastle 1-2 Crystal Palace Stoke 1-0 Bournemouth Swansea 2-0 Leicester Southampton 0-0 West Brom Everton 3-1 Arsenal Spurs 3-2 Liverpool
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 9
Best GW Attacking Options: Chelsea (H) vs Watford Man City (H) vs Burnley Man United (a) Huddersfield Spurs (H) vs Liverpool
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Southampton (H) vs West Brom West Brom (a) vs Southampton Man United (a) vs Huddersfield Man City (H) vs Burnley Stoke (H) vs Bournemouth Swansea (H) vs Leicester
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Morata, Jesus, Sterling, Stones, Jones, Hazard, Zaha, Richarlison, Fernandez. OUT: Mooy, Vardy, Kane (according to popular belief, but don’t believe it), Alli.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
My picks this week are Virgil Van Dijk and Gabbiadini. VVD has retake his place in a usually solid saints defence. Given the up coming fixtures it was a no brainer. You might be surprised to find he’s available in your mini league. Similarly to VVD, Gabbiadini has the fixtures on the back of a brace against Newcastle. While this one may be a bit of a punt? I am personally using him to replace Andy Carroll.
GW Differential Picks:
Wilfried Zaha (CRY): Dominated a usually solid Chelsea back line and won Palace their first 3 points of the season. Playing as the main striker, at least until Benteke returns (or maybe indefinitely), he will look to turn the season around. While he might have to do so single handedly, he has the fixtures to do so.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C): Alvaro Morata: While most will call on Lukaku or a Man City player, Morata is somehow being hugely overlooked. Morata has proven his quality so far this season and has Hazard fully fit to act as provider. Watford have made a strong start to the season but Chelsea should be expected to get a comfortable win here.
(VC): Gabriel Jesus: My main reason not to give this man the captaincy is the threat of rotation, especially with the return to training of Aguero. He has the form, the fixtures and the squad around him to provide.
Other Gameweek Comments: Don’t drop Harry Kane. There is no better option in any week. Home/Away, Top4/Bottom4, he will always be the biggest threat and have the most chances to get a double figure tally. I almost convinced myself to wildcard him out.....and then I woke up...the nightmare was over.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 9 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Marcos Alonso DEF: Phil Jones DEF: Virgil Van Dijk
MID: Wilfried Zaha MID: Eden Hazard MID: Raheem Sterling MID: Mo Salah
FOR: Alvaro Morata (C) FOR: Gabriel Jesus (VC) FOR: Harry Kane
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster MID: Anthony Martial DEF: John Stones DEF: Federico Fernandez
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 9
West Ham 1-0 Brighton
Chelsea 3-1 Watford
Huddersfield 0-2 Man United
Man City 3-0 Burnley
Newcastle 1-0 Crystal Palace
Stoke 2-1 Bournemouth
Swansea 0-2 Leicester
Southampton 1-2 West Brom
Everton 1-1 Arsenal
Spurs 1-2 Liverpool
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 9
Best GW Attacking Options:
Chelsea (H) vs. Watford
Man United (A) vs. Huddersfield
Man City (H) vs. Burnley
Stoke (H) vs. Bournemouth
Liverpool (A) vs. Spurs
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
West Ham (H) vs. Brighton
Man United (A) vs. Huddersfield
Man City (H) vs. Burnley
Newcastle (H) vs. Crystal Palace
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Tammy Abraham, Phil Jones, Federico Fernandez, Alvaro Morata, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah (in the next few weeks weeks), Richarlison (again, for the future), and Choupo-Moting (fixtures on Stoke's side), and of course Man City players.
OUT: Chelsea defenders, Mkhitaryan
PLEASE AVOID: Getting rid of Kane. He's going to win the golden boot, we all know it.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Ayoze Perez could be one to watch, as well as Joselu.
Swansea defenders are not hot property, but should be.
Joe Hart should be a keeper you snap up, at least as back up.
Juan Mata has gone under the radar, and if he plays, he might be the difference against Huddersfield.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Stoke: They are a team to look out for in the sense that they have good fixtures, but are lacking some form. Nevertheless they offer cheap defensive options and C-Moting for a budget midfielder.
Liverpool: I hate agreeing with my brother, and it is my wish to see Harry Kane score 5 goals against Liverpool (as Sam does not have Kane himself), but the reality is that Liverpool have a great record against Spurs in all competitions, and at any ground. I think it will be similar to the Chelsea game at the start of the season, with Liverpool winning. The last time Liverpool were at Wembley, they beat Barcelona 4-0 in a pre-season friendly, a game The Hype Team attended.
Newcastle: My beloved Newcastle won't be bullied by Zaha the way Chelsea were (we're better than that). It will be a difficult afternoon for Woy's boys to get anything at St James's Park due to the compact nature of Newcastle's play. It will be a one-goal game based off previous home form against Palace.
Leicester: A wildcard team with Shakespeare's departure, which means Vardy and Mahrez are dangerous targets.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Swansea: A big win against Huddersfield was just that. It is another dog fight at the bottom, and I think Leicester could catch Swansea here. Huddersfield offered nothing going forward, whilst Leicester have two Ballon D'or nominated forwards (Vardy/Mahrez) in attack.
Everton/Arsenal: They're both rubbish.
Crystal Palace: They too, are rubbish.
Southampton: Fixtures are on their side, but not their form. I've been going back and forth with Phil about Southampton. He still thinks that they're worth clean sheet points, I'm not so sure. West Brom have improved form against Southampton in recent games. Jay Rodriguez is also back to prove a point.
GW Differential Picks:
Eden Hazard (CHE): The Belgian has been scoring for fun outside of the Premier League, and now FPL players wants a slice of the pie. Watford will be interesting opponents for Chelsea, but with Hazard and Morata as a unite up top, it might be a profitable day at last for the Belgian in the league.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (STK): Having lookded decent in home fixtures, EMCM looks a bargain in midfield with some delcisious fixtures on the horizon. All Stoke need to do now is have an upturn in form, which is always a worry for FPL players as form always dominates fixtures. You never know though with Stoke, but what you do know is that they'll get the points somehow, and Bournemouth are ideal opponents.
Nick Pope (BUR): Burnley travel to Man City, but that doesn't mean it is bad news. Nick Pope might be in for a huge day in goal, having yet to drop below 4 FPL points in a single Gameweek. Save points have been followed with bonus points on two occasions from 4 for the shot-stopper so far this season.
Matt Ritchie (NEW): Palace are still Palace. Newcastle will be hard to beat, and it could be Matt Ritchie's time to finally have an upturn in form after a few disappointing weeks for FPL players.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Alvaro Morata – Something is telling me that Morata will be back in the swing of things against Watford, so why not?
(VC): Harry Kane – After last week's dudd against Bournemouth, most players won't captain Kane, but they'll probably put him as VC anyway, just in case.
Other Gameweek Comments:
The last two Gameweek's have been a treat to wildcard in, even if results haven't felt like it. Man City players are hitting mega-form at the right time, Morata is back, and Lukaku is seemingly in the decline.
I've noticed a trend that there are only a few big hitting sides in the FPL based on selection... Man United, Man City, Spurs, Swansea, and Newcastle.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 9 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Joe Hart
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles DEF: Phil Jones DEF: John Stones
MID: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting MID: Eden Hazard MID: David Silva MID: Mohamed Salah
FOR: Alvaro Morata (C) FOR: Gabriel Jesus FOR: Harry Kane (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Rob Elliot MID: Michail Antonio DEF: Antonio Valencia DEF: Harry Maguire
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 9
West Ham 2-1 Brighton
Chelsea 3-1 Watford
Huddersfield 0-1 Man United
Man City 2-0 Burnley
Newcastle 3-0 Crystal Palace
Stoke 1-0 Bournemouth
Swansea 1-0 Leicester
Southampton 0-0 West Brom
Everton 1-1 Arsenal
Spurs 1-1 Liverpool
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 9
Best GW Attacking Options:
Chelsea
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Man United
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Antonio
OUT: Lukaku
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Newcastle players, Perez could strike again!
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Newcastle and Stoke
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Palace, Everton and Bournemouth
GW Differential Picks:
Jese \ Fabregas \ Zapacosta
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Jesus
(VC): Morata
Other Gameweek Comments:
City will not score in abundance as per previous weeks, Burnley will be a tight affair, they know how to park the bus and will frustrate City for the majority of the game, tight game. My Home vs Away Form chart however does suggest that City will be the highest scoring team with Newcastle and Stoke in close pursuit.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 9
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David de Gea
DEF: Phil Jones
DEF: Antonio Valencia
DEF: Davide Zapacosta
MID: Michail Antonio
MID: Jese Rodriguez
MID: Cesc Fabregas
MID: Raheem Sterling
FOR: Gabriel Jesus (C)
FOR: Sergio Aguero
FOR: Alvaro Morata (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Jack Butland
MID: Eric Choupo-Moting
DEF: Ryan Bertrand
DEF: Maya Yoshida
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.
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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.
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All aboard.
