FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 16
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), 8 (15) = 96pts
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), 5 (15) = 83pts
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), 8 (15) = 104pts
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), 13 (15) = 93pts
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)
GW15 - @TheFPLPodcast: 13pts (3 perfect, 4 correct, 3 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)
GW15: Sam (8), Phil (5), Rob (8), @TheFPLPodcast (13)
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), 58 (15) = 901pts
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), 47 (15) = 873pts
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), 68 (15) = 863pts
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), 75 (15) = 877pts
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)
GW15 - @TheFPLPodcast: 75pts (Captain Hazard, 30pts)
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)
GW15: Sam (58), Phil (47), Rob (68), @TheFPLPodcast (75)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 16
West Ham 0-3 Chelsea
Swansea 0-0 West Brom
Spurs 1-0 Stoke City
Crystal Palace 1-1 Bournemouth
Burnley 1-2 Watford
Huddersfield 0-0 Brighton
Newcastle 1-2 Leicester
Liverpool 3-0 Everton
Southampton 1-2 Arsenal
Man United 0-1 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 16
Best GW Attacking Options:
Liverpool (H) vs. Everton
Chelsea (A) vs. West Ham
Spurs (H) vs. Stoke City
Watford (A) vs. Burnley
Leicester (A) vs. Newcastle
Arsenal (A) vs. Southampton
Man City (A) vs. Man United
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Liverpool (H) vs. Everton
Spurs (H) vs. Stoke City
Swansea (H) vs. West Brom
West Brom (A) vs. Swansea
Huddersfield (H) vs. Brighton
Brighton (A) vs. Huddersfield
Man City (A) vs. Man United
Chelsea (A) vs. West Ham
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Lukasz Fabianski (GK), Mamadou Sakho (DEF), Sadio Mane (MID), Jamie Vardy (FW)
OUT: Ben Foster (GK), Davinson Sanchez (DEF), David Silva (MID), Romelu Lukaku (FW)
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Liverpool midfielders, Crystal Palace assets, and Chelsea assets. Big points from these three teams will prove enough. The Watford and Burnley game is very interesting as points might go either way.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool: The last two seasons has seen two 4-0 Liverpool victories. The Reds have been in blistering form, and the combination of Firmino, Coutinho, Mane, and Salah will prove too much for Michael Keane and Phil Jagielka. Honestly, it will be carnage. Everton have just off a two-game winning
Man City: Form is form.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Newcastle: Form for the Tyneside club is almost non-existent, and Leicester are back to winning ways. Recently defeating Spurs puts the Foxes in a huge position of power going into this gameweek, no teams should be looking to play them, especially Newcastle.
West Ham: The new Sunderland.
GW Differential Picks:
Riyad Mahrez is the standout pick, but Mamadou Sakho might also be a huge player for this gameweek. Charlie Austin, Philippe Coutinho, and Nick Pope are all value differentials for this gameweek.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
Captain (C): Sadio Mane - The Everton destroyer is my natural pick for this gameweek, the Senegalese forward terrorised the Toffees in both games last year, and with the Reds most likely to field a formidable team for the Merseyside Derby we expect that it will be another Anfield thriller. The Reds track record in this fixture is iron clad and Mane should be excellent value to punish the neighbours.
Vice-Captain (VC): Mohamad Salah - Should Sadio Mane fail at returning, the chances of the King of Egypt coming up short is also very, very slim. The hit signing from Roma is a fantasy points magnet, so expect him to be causing the Everton defence nightmares.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Rotation among the teams playing in Europe will happen once again. I have no idea what to expect from this week, there will probably be once again disappointed fantasy managers. I can see Pep Guardiola smile in delight at infuriating people an hour before kick-off.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 16
Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK: Lukasz Fabianski
DEF: Mamadou Sakho
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Alberto Moreno
MID: Sadio Mane (C)
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Riyad Mahrez
MID: Mohamad Salah (VC)
MID: Christian Eriksen
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Alvaro Morata
Substitutes
GK: Hugo Lloris
FOR: Jamie Vardy
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi
DEF: Kyle Walker
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 16
West Ham 0-3 Chelsea Burnley 1-2 Watford Crystal Palace 0-2 Bournemouth Huddersfield 1-0 Brighton Spurs 4-1 Stoke Swansea 1-0 West Brom Newcastle 1-2 Leicester Southampton 0-2 Arsenal Liverpool 4-2 Everton Man United 2-1 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 16
Best GW Attacking Options: Chelsea (a) vs West Ham Liverpool (H) vs Everton Spurs (H) vs Stoke
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Chelsea (a) vs West Ham Arsenal (a) vs Southampton Bournemouth (a) vs Crystal Palace Huddersfield (H) vs Brighton
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Hazard, Morata, Sterling, Salah/Mane/Coutinho, Richarlison, Martial, Kolasinac, Sanchez, Ramsey, Pickford.
OUT: Aguero, Jesus, Sane, Lukaku, Pogba, Silva, Hart. Niasse.
GW Differential Picks:
Glenn Murray (BHA): I’m more likely to pick DCL personally but Murray has the ability to score a brace from nowhere.
DCL (EVE): Everyone’s favourite Hazard makeweight. Rotation could be an issue so make sure you have good squad depth.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C): Harry Kane: I don’t even know why. The button is stuck.
(VC): Eden Hazard: Now playing in a forward role and living up to his potential. Would be nice to get a 20/20 (Goals/Assists) season out of him.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 16 Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Andreas Christensen DEF: Harry Maguire DEF: Sead Kolasinac
MID: Richarlison MID: Alexis Sanchez MID: Mo Salah MID: Eden Hazard (VC) MID: Riyad Mahrez
FOR: Harry Kane (C) FOR: Alvaro Morata
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster FOR: Sergio Aguero DEF: Kyle Naughton DEF: Charlie Daniels
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 16
West Ham 1-3 Chelsea
Swansea 2-1 West Brom
Spurs 2-0 Stoke City
Crystal Palace 2-1 Bournemouth
Burnley 1-0 Watford
Huddersfield 0-0 Brighton
Newcastle 2-2 Leicester
Liverpool 4-0 Everton
Southampton 1-1 Arsenal
Man United 0-1 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 16
Best GW Attacking Options:
Liverpool (H) vs. Everton
Chelsea (A) vs. West Ham
Spurs (H) vs. Stoke City
Leicester (A) vs. Newcastle
Man City (A) vs. Man United
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Liverpool (H) vs. Everton
Spurs (H) vs. Stoke City
Swansea (H) vs. West Brom
West Brom (A) vs. Swansea
Huddersfield (H) vs. Brighton
Brighton (A) vs. Huddersfield
Man City (A) vs. Man United
Chelsea (A) vs. West Ham
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Mane, Mahrez, Vardy, Otamendi
OUT: David Silva
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Burnley defenders will be overlooked, same with Watford.
Crystal Palace options are back on the radar.
Defensive options from Huddersfield and Brighton will be good for one week.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Leicester: Newcastle are in bad form. Leicester are on top of their game. It could be a long afternoon for Newcastle fans.
Crystal Palace: Woy's got the team ticking, and at home they're looking back to their best from last season.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Watford: Going away to Burnley is one of the hardest games of the season. Nick Pope should get back on track.
Arsenal: They're going to be in for a hard game against Southampton.
GW Differential Picks:
Charlie Austin (SOU): Southampton love a home game against Arsenal. Austin's getting his form back. Why not
FPL Captaincy Picks:
Captain (C): Harry Kane - Rested in the week for the Champions League, Spurs should unleash The Hurrikane against Stoke. Has a good record against Stoke, so should deliver the goods.
Vice-Captain (VC): Eden Hazard - If he plays, he's going to destory West Ham. There is a slight doubt in my head that Hazard might be rotated, which is why he starts as vice captain.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Rotation among the teams playing in Europe will happen once again. I have no idea what to expect from this week, there will probably be once again disappointed fantasy managers. I can see Pep Guardiola smile in delight at infuriating people an hour before kick-off.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 16
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Jan Vertonghen
MID: Philippe Coutinho
MID: Eden Hazard (VC)
MID: Kevin de Bruyne
MID: Mohamad Salah
MID: Jamie Vardy
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
FOR: Alvaro Morata
Substitutes
GK: Kasper Schmeichel
MID: Riyad Mahrez
DEF: Harry Maguire
DEF: Kyle Walker
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 16
West Ham 1-2 Chelsea
Burnley 1-0 Watford
Crystal Palace 2-1 Bournemouth
Huddersfield 0-0 Brighton
Spurs 3-0 Stoke
Swansea 1-0 West Brom
Newcastle 0-2 Leicester
Southampton 1-2 Arsenal
Liverpool 3-1 Everton
Man United 2-2 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 16
Best GW Attacking Options:
Liverpool (H) vs Everton
Spurs (H) vs Stoke
Chelsea (A) vs West Ham
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Burnley (H) vs Watford
Swansea (H) vs West Brom
Spurs (H) vs Stoke
Leicester (A) vs Newcastle
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Salah (season keeper for me), Hazard (form impossible to ignore now), Morata (fixtures + form), Austin (in form and has always been a prime FPL 3rd striker asset), Christensen (seems nailed on and cheaper than other Chelsea defenders)
OUT: Lukaku (scored last night but lacking PL form, Pogba missing will deepen troubles further), Pogba (suspended for 3 games), Tom Carroll (RLC a much better option at just 0.1 more), Elliott (seems to have permanently lost his place)
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Salah, Hazard, Morata, Kane
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool: scintillating in attack at Brighton and with Cout, Bobby, Mane and Mo on song, we’ll see quite a few goals this week too. Kind fixture run as well.
Chelsea: In good form, Haz and Morata playing extremely well together and with an absolutely mind blowing run of fixtures now, even a triple up wouldn’t be the worst idea. Can see them scoring a few goals this week and keeping a CS possibly too
Spurs: What better team and fixture than this to turn around your form. Stoke have been piss poor defensively and with Martins Indi out I think Spurs will bounce back strongly. Can see Spurs putting a few past Stoke this week
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Bournemouth: Have Palace away this week but followed by United, Liverpool and City which is an awful near-term fixture run. No need bringing in players this week but can hold for one more week if you already have them.
Swansea: Horrible form (4 losses and a draw in last 5 games) and with City Liverpool Spurs in the next 7 fixtures, you are better off without any Swansea assets
Southampton: Again, just 1 win in last 5 games and with fixtures against Arsenal Chelsea United and Spurs in the next 6 their form may go down even further. Avoid their defence at all costs. Perhaps consider Austin (only)
GW Differential Picks:
Coutinho (7.2% TSB) - Back to his bloody best vs Brighton and ran the show. Merseyside Derby up next where there will be plenty of goals and Coutinho can be a super differential this week.
Calvert-Lewin (5.2% TSB) - Seems the favoured striker under Big Sam and has unbelievable returns for that kind of a price. The best enabler who can help free up funds and give you a decent option for certain weeks.
Riyad Mahrez (5.0% TSB) - Decent form, kind fixtures and nailed on, what more do you need going into this packed Christmas schedule.
Aaron Ramsey (8.7% TSB) - 5th in midfielders and in top 10 overall in terms of FPL points this season, Ramsey is definitely going under the radar. Has now returned in 6 of his last 7 games and has pretty amazing underlying stats too. For a price of 7.2m, I am shocked that his ownership isn’t more.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C) Harry Kane: Think Spurs and he will bounce back this week and turn their poor form around. They will need their talisman to improve their form and I think the Golden Ball boy will be up for it this week
(VC) Mohammed Salah: This is Egyptian is lighting up the PL this season and has been simply terrific. Leading the overall points table by 22 points at this stage of the season is mind-blowing. He is very close to Kane for captaincy just that the fixture favours Kane slightly more
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 16
Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK: Lukasz Fabianski
DEF: Ben Mee
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Jan Vertonghen
MID: Aaron Ramsey
MID: Kevin De Bruyne
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Mohammed Salah (VC)
MID: Philippe Coutinho
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
FOR: Alvaro Morata
Substitutes
GK: Nick Pope
FOR: Dominic Calvert-Lewin
DEF: Mamadou Sakho
DEF: Kiko Femenia
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