FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 15
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), 9 (5), 6 (6), 7 (7), 7 (8), 4 (9), 12 (10), 5 (11), 7 (12), 4 (13), 6 (14) = 88pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 10 (1), 5 (2), 6 (3), 4 (4), 9 (5), 5 (6), 5 (7), 3 (8), 3 (9), 8 (10), 4 (11), 7 (12), 5 (13), 4 (14) = 78pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 4 (1), 5 (2), 8 (3), 2 (4), 7 (5), 9 (6), 8 (7), 10 (8), 8 (9), 6 (10), 5 (11), 6 (12), 13 (13), 5 (14) = 96pts
Special Guests: 4 (1), 4 (2), 7 (3), 2 (4), 2 (5), 8 (6), 13 (7), 9 (8), 3 (9), 10 (10), 4 (11), 8 (12), 7 (13), 4 (14) = 80pts
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)
GW9 - @FPL_vs: 3pts (0 perfect, 3 correct, 7 wrong)
GW10 - @TheTinkerMen: 10pts (2 perfect, 4 correct, 4 wrong)
GW11 - @FPLStag: 4 pts (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW12 - @FFootballHub: 8pts (1 perfect, 5 correct, 4 wrong)
GW13 - @FPL_Aussie: 7pts (1 perfect, 4 correct, 5 wrong)
GW14 - @ShirtsvSkinsFPL: 4pts (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 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)
GW9: Sam (4), Phil (3), Rob (8), @FPL_vs (3)
GW10: Sam (12), Phil (8), Rob (6), @TheTinkerMen (10)
GW11: Sam (5), Phil (4), Rob (5), @FPLStag (4)
GW12: Sam (7), Phil (7), Rob (6), @FFootballHub (8)
GW13: Sam (4), Phil (5), Rob (13), @FPL_Aussie (7)
GW14: Sam (6), Phil (4), Rob (5), @ShirtsvSkinsFPL (4)
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), 51 (9), 45 (1), 59 (11), 101 (12), 47 (13), 75 (14) = 843pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 81 (1), 57 (2), 38 (3), 49 (4), 58 (5), 73 (6), 65 (7), 63 (8), 46 (9), 48 (10), 57 (11), 77 (12), 55 (13), 59 (14) = 826pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 67 (1), 43 (2), 48 (3), 36 (4), 74 (5), 78 (6), 68 (7), 39 (8), 47 (9), 55 (10), 55 (11), 80 (12), 54 (13), 51 (14) = 795pts
Special Guests: 54 (1), 45 (2), 41 (3), 40 (4), 72 (5), 77 (6), 81 (7), 53 (8), 26 (9), 52 (10), 56 (11), 84 (12), 47 (13), 74 (14) = 802pts
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)
GW9 - @FPL_vs: 26pts (Captain Jesus, 2pts)
GW10 - @TheTinkerMen: 52pts (Captain Salah, 8pts)
GW11 - @FPLStag: 56pts (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW12 - @FFootballHub: 84pts (Captain Lukaku, 12pts)
GW13 - @FPL_Aussie: 47pts (Captain Kane, 16pts)
GW14 - @ShirtsvSkinsFPL: 74pts (Captain Kane, 12pts)
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)
GW9: Sam (51), Phil (46), Rob (47), @FPL_vs (26)
GW10: Sam (45), Phil (48), Rob (55), @TheTinkerMen (52)
GW11: Sam (59), Phil (57), Rob (55), @FPLStag (56)
GW12: Sam (101), Phil (77), Rob (80), @FFootballHub (84)
GW13: Sam (47), Phil (55), Rob (54), @FPL_Aussie (47)
GW14: Sam (75), Phil (59), Rob (51), @ShirtsvSkinsFPL (74)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 15
Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle
Brighton 0-3 Liverpool
Everton 2-1 Huddersfield
Leicester 1-1 Burnley
Stoke 2-1 Swansea
Watford 1-2 Spurs
West Brom 1-1 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 1-0 Man United
Bournemouth 1-2 Southampton
Man City 4-0 West Ham
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 15
Best GW Attacking Options:
Chelsea (H) vs. Newcastle
Liverpool (A) vs. Brighton
Spurs (A) vs. Watford
Southampton (A) vs. Bournemouth
Man City (H) vs. West Ham
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Chelsea (H) vs. Newcastle
Liverpool (A) vs. Brighton
Arsenal (H) vs. Man United
Man City (H) vs. West Ham
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Lee Grant (GK), Andreas Christensen (DEF), Philippe Coutinho (MID), Charlie Austin (FW)
OUT: Joe Hart (GK), Phil Jones (DEF), Dele Alli (MID), (FW) Manolo Gabbiadini
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Charlie Austin, Mo Salah, Chelsea defenders, and Arsenal players nullifying Man United assets.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Chelsea: Rotating their team during the GW14 the Blues squeaked past Swansea, and they will most likely play their full-strength team against Newcastle, so if you were Rafa Benitez you would be worried going into this gameweek.
Liverpool: Currently on an insane form, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in peak form. The Reds travel to Brighton and now managing to beat defensive teams, and barring the game with Chelsea they have scored three goals in a game for the past five fixtures.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Man United: Arsenal have won their last twelve Premier League games at the Emirates, giving their home advantage a real meaning as the Red Devil’s approach. This fixture will have few goals between it, but Man United are at real risk of dropping points in this fixture.
West Ham: The new Sunderland.
GW Differential Picks:
I do the weekly wildcards and I have selected these ten players, and I am not going to lie I had great fun picking this bunch of differentials:
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohamed Salah – How can you not keep faith with the King of Egypt after coming off the bench against Stoke and still scoring two goals? Having been rotated he is likely to start the game against Brighton after being benched in the last game, and it doesn’t matter who the Reds are up against it is now becoming a simple case of giving the ball to Salah and he will score.
(VC): Alvaro Morata – The Spaniard is hot property going into Gameweek fifteen, and it is unlikely that he will be rotated with the Batsman still out injured, but here is what I wrote for the captaincy article regarding the Chelsea forward:
We tried to assess what we thought of Morata pre-season, but there was such limited data on the striker who spent a lot of time on the bench, so it was a natural gamble as to why the Italian manager Conte spent a fortune bringing him to London. Having initially struggled with injuries and match fitness the Spaniard picked up a goal and assist in his first competitive game; and like most of his career up until that point was coming from the bench to make the impact.
@HypeTrainRob | 21st July 2017
“Morata, of course, was over the moon to play for Chelsea, and we have to think that Conte was instrumental in his arrival to Stamford Bridge. Conte has the assured word 'faith' in the forward, having pinned the Spaniard as his choice of forward at both Juventus, and now Chelsea. From an FPL point of view, upon viewing the statistics, and better understanding the type of player he has been - not saying what he can become - players will need to take a leap of faith with Morata heading into the new season.”
Chelsea’s upcoming fixtures:
GW15: Newcastle
GW16: West Ham
GW17: Huddersfield
GW18: Southampton
GW19: Everton
GW20: Brighton
GW21: Stoke City
Current Record: 2017/18 Season
Starts: 12/14
Goals: 8
Assists: 4
Yellow Cards: 4
Bonus Points: 11
An attacking return per start is evidence that Chelsea have bought a player of real value that contributes to the overall attacking game for the Blues. Life without Diego Costa has been certainly made life at Stamford Bridge easier for Antonio Conte. Morata is a certified FPL option and a player that could make an enormous difference for your team as captain against Newcastle. The Toon have conceded eleven goals in their past five games, and their record at Stamford Bridge isn’t happy reading either. The last time the Toon visited during Rafa’s first attempt at staving off relegation they conceded five goals.
Long term the fixtures are rosy for the Spaniard, there are seven games that you’d expect Chelsea to cruise through (as usual, especially because the Premier League always gives them a boost during the Christmas season). There would be no need to rotate or consider other transfers with Morata in your team, and you would be safe to captain him in any of the fixtures between now and GW22 when they face off with Arsenal.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Rotation continues for the Premier League, and I fully expect that to continue this weekend; especially with the clubs competing in Europe having one eye on midweek fixtures. My advice is having players on the bench who have minutes in their tank this weekend.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 15
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Simon Mignolet
DEF: Kyle Walker
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Skhodran Mustafi
MID: Mohamad Salah (C)
MID: Sadio Mane
MID: Riyad Mahrez
MID: Eden Hazard
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Alvaro Morata (VC)
FOR: Gabriel Jesus
Substitutes
GK: Nick Pope
MID: Xherdan Shaqiri
DEF: Mamadou Sakho
DEF: Davinson Sanchez
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 15
Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle Brighton 0-3 Liverpool Everton 2-1 Huddersfield Leicester 1-1 Burnley Stoke 1-0 Swansea Watford 1-2 Spurs West Brom 0-2 Crystal Palace Arsenal 3-1 Man United Bournemouth 1-0 Southampton Man City 6-0 West Ham
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 15
Best GW Attacking Options: Man City (H) vs West Ham Chelsea (H) vs Newcastle Liverpool (a) vs Brighton Arsenal (H) vs Man United Crystal Palace (a) vs West Brom
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Man City (H) vs West Ham Chelsea (H) vs Newcastle Liverpool (a) vs Brighton Bournemouth (H) VS Southampton
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Salah (surely everyone has by now), Sterling (likely to be rested soon though), Hazard (should be guaranteed to start), A.Sanchez (firmly back in captaincy contention), Ramsey (Budget player with big returns), Christensen( Looks the least likely to rotate).
OUT: Lukaku (Just not performing), Niasse (Rooney/DCL worked well), Lacazette (injury), Eriksen (international fatigue), Spurs Defenders (Failing without Toby).
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft? Might be time to look at Zlatan for a busy Christmas period. Lukaku is also struggling to find form.
GW Differential Picks:
Ilkay Gundogan (MCI): Could retain his place in the starting XI in what is set to be the biggest goal fest of the season. West Ham are useless, even more so now Moyes is around.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C) Harry Kane: Will not change. A 3-4 goal haul game is just around the corner. (VC) Mo Salah: Probably the one I should captain, but surely this form can't continue...
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 15 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope
DEF: Alberto Moreno DEF: Charlie Daniels DEF: Andreas Christensen
MID: Richarlison MID: Alexis Sanchez MID: Eden Hazard MID: Mo Salah (VC)
FOR: Alvaro Morata FOR: Harry Kane (C) FOR: Gabriel Jesus
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster MID: Wilfried Zaha DEF: Ben Mee DEF: Sead Kolasinac
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 15
Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle Brighton 0-2 Liverpool Everton 2-0 Huddersfield Leicester 2-1 Burnley Stoke 1-1 Swansea Watford 1-3 Spurs West Brom 1-1 Crystal Palace Arsenal 1-0 Man United Bournemouth 1-2 Southampton Man City 4-0 West Ham
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 15
Best GW Attacking Options: Man City (H) vs West Ham Chelsea (H) vs Newcastle Liverpool (a) vs Brighton Spurs (a) vs Watford
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Man City (H) vs West Ham Chelsea (H) vs Newcastle Liverpool (a) vs Brighton Arsenal (H) vs Man United
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Otamendi (lighting has struck twice on him in a bad way, the third time will be because he is on fire in the points department), Shaqiri (good returns and cheap)
OUT: Pascal Gross (he's my boy, but I am worried about goal output in the next five matches)
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft? Charlie Austin
James Tarkowski
Jordan Pickford
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
GW Differential Picks:
Riyad Mahrez (LEI): Leicester are looking a good unit right now, and Mahrez is back to his best. It should be a crime that he is owned by less than 5% of players.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C) Eden Hazard: I captained Hazard last week, and he was benched. My team is having a bad time of things, so I am not trying to change a lot, as it has been my curse. Hazard retains, but only because of my angst towards the game's rulings and bonus points system, right now.
(VC) Harry Kane: The Champion's League group is all wrapped up, so Kane should be free to cause havoc at a London neighbour.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 15 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Petr Cech
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi DEF: Sead Kolasinac DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
MID: Dele Alli MID: Kevin de Bruyne MID: Eden Hazard (C) MID: Mohamed Salah
FOR: Alvaro Morata FOR: Harry Kane (VC) FOR: Sergio Aguero
Substitutes
GK: Jordan Pickford MID: Wilfried Zaha DEF: Joe Gomez DEF: Harry Maguire
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 15 Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle
Brighton 1-1 Liverpool
Everton 2-0 Huddersfield
Leicester 2-1 Burnley
Stoke 2-0 Swansea
Watford 1-1 Spurs
West Brom 1-0 Crystal Palace Arsenal 2-0 Man United
Bournemouth 1-1 Southampton
Man City 3-0 West Ham
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 15
Best GW Attacking Options:
Premium: Eden Hazard
Mid-Range: Jamie Vardy
Budget: Oumar Niasse
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Premium: Cesar Azpilicueta
Mid-Range: Andreas Christensen
Budget: Jonjoe Kenny
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
James's Transfer IN:
GW15 - Hennessey
Future INS: Christensen/Alonso, Ramsey/Mane, Quaner/Niasse
OUT:
GW15 - Elliot
Future OUTS: Smalling/Jones, Cork, Firmino
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?: We’re not draft players therefore wouldn’t have the knowledge to comment
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Everton
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Manchester United
GW Differential Picks:
GK – Grant
DF – Tomkins
MF – Gudmundsson
FWD - Giroud
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Hazard
(VC): Morata
Other Gameweek Comments:
Another challenging game for Spurs who should be avoided bar Kane, expect Trippier and Davies to start the next 2 in the league.
Liverpool may drop points at Brighton, We think Arsenal will win the weekend’s big game and Chelsea and Man City to win with plenty to spare
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 15 Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK: Jordan Pickford
DEF: Marcos Alonso
DEF: Kyle Walker
DEF: Sead Kolasinac
MID: Eden Hazard (C)
MID: Riyad Mahrez
MID: Mohamed Salah
MID: David Silva
MID: Alexis Sanchez
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Alvaro Morata (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Lee Grant
FOR: Jamie Vardy
DEF: Kieran Gibbs
DEF: Jonjoe Kenny
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.
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All aboard.
