FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 18
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), 4 (16), 12 (17) = 112pts
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), 6 (16), 9 (17) = 98pts
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), 9 (16), 10 (17) = 123pts
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), 8 (16), 8 (17) = 109pts
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)
GW16 - @FPLFanatix: 8pts (2 perfect, 2 correct, 6 wrong)
GW17 - @FPLDino: 8pts (1 perfect, 5 correct, 4 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)
GW16: Sam (4), Phil (6), Rob (9), @FPLFanatix (8)
GW17: Sam (12), Phil (9), Rob (10), @FPLDino (8)
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), 68 (16), 54 (17) = 1,023pts
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), 62 (16), 47 (17) = 982pts
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), 65 (16), 51 (17) = 979pts
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), 55 (16), 54 (17) = 986pts
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)
GW16 - @FPLFanatix: 55pts (Captain Kane, 24pts)
GW17 - @FPLDino: 54pts (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)
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)
GW16: Sam (68), Phil (62), Rob (65), @FPLFanatix (55)
GW17: Sam (54), Phil (47), Rob (51), @FPLDino (54)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 18
Leicester 3-1 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Watford 1-0 Huddersfield
Brighton 0-1 Burnley
Stoke City 1-1 West Ham
Chelsea 2-0 Southampton
Man City 2-1 Spurs
West Brom 0-2 Man United
Bournemouth 1-3 Liverpool
Everton 2-1 Swansea City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 18
Best GW Attacking Options:
Leicester (H) vs. Crystal Palace
Arsenal (H) vs. Newcastle
Chelsea (H) vs. Southampton
Man City (H) vs. Spurs
Man United (A) vs. West Brom
Liverpool (A) vs. Bournemouth
Everton (H) vs. Swansea
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Arsenal (H) vs. Newcastle
Watford (H) vs. Huddersfield
Burnley (A) vs. Brighton
Chelsea (H) vs. Southampton
Man United (A) vs. West Brom
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Nick Pope (GK), James Tarkowski (DEF), Alexis Sanchez (MID), Alexandre Lacazette (FW)
OUT: Lukasz Fabianski (GK), Kiko Femenia (DEF), Eden Hazard (MID), Alvaro Morata (FW)
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Leicester forwards.
Man City midfielders.
Liverpool midfielders.
And Everton players of any variety, because why not.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Man United: This match screams of a generic two goal win for the Red Devils. Lukaku might even score again, the world is full of possibilities when the BBC is ramping up his form after they reported he was a failure.
Everton: Currently under the thumb of the disciplined Big Sam, the Toffees are showing a renewed defensive mentality which will serve them well. I can see them easing past Swansea with returns at both ends of the pitch.
Arsenal: The Gunners have the easiest comparable fixture of the gameweek as Newcastle visit the Emirates. Struggling for any sort of form I can see Rafa's squad being turned over by Arsenal. Wenger is a master at winning fixtures against opposition of this quality.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Crystal Palace: Form is everything, and Palace have it, but so do Leicester and the Foxes have the better squad. The drama of Palace's rise out of the relegation could hit a massive speed bump with Riyad Mahrez setting his sights on more goals.
Liverpool: As a Reds supporter I have flashbacks of this very encounter last season, as the Cherries came back from a three-goal deficit to win the game after the worst defensive display I've ever seen. Klopp is rotating his team and after the disappointing result at home against Everton I hold out no hope that Liverpool will win this match.
Spurs: Nobody wants to face Man City, pretty much a guaranteed drop of points, so naturally I am hesitant of any FPL assets from Spurs.
GW Differential Picks:
Alexis Sanchez & Riyad Mahrez, and would you look at that, they are both my captain selections this week too…
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Alexis Sanchez - Differential number one leading the line in my scout-picks team is Alexis Sanchez, the Chilean who is fighting back to essential status. The visiting team is Newcastle, and this is a fixture that I can see the Toon struggle in for ninety minutes. Sanchez has been getting steady returns and can blow the northern team away.
(VC): Riyad Mahrez - Differential number two that I am entrusting my captaincy with is Riyad Mahrez who is nothing sort of maverick now. The Algerian is on red hot form and Leicester have a favourable fixture against Crystal Palace.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Rotation crippled my own team, and no doubt racked the hearts of FPL managers with plenty of heartache as trusted options failed to amass points whilst warming the bench. I expect not as much rotation as we saw in gameweek eighteen, but expect players like Aguero to be dropped.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 18
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope
DEF: Antonio Valencia
DEF: Andreas Christensen
DEF: Nacho Monreal
MID: Mohamad Salah
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Alexis Sanchez (C)
MID: Riyad Mahrez
FW: Alexandre Lacazette
FW: Jamie Vardy
FW: Sergio Aguero
Substitutes
GK: David De Gea
MID: Philippe Coutinho
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Christian Kabasele
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 18
Leicester 2-1 Crystal Palace Arsenal 4-0 Newcastle Brighton 0-1 Burnley Chelsea 3-0 Southampton Stoke 1-2 West Ham Watford 2-0 Huddersfield Man City 3-1 Spurs West Brom 0-2 Man United Bournemouth 1-3 Liverpool Everton 2-0 Swansea
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 18
Best GW Attacking Options: Arsenal (H) vs Newcastle Chelsea (H) vs Southampton Liverpool (a) vs Bournemouth Watford (H) vs Huddersfield
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Chelsea (H) vs Southampton Man United (a) vs West Brom Everton (H) vs Swansea Arsenal (H) vs Newcastle
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Sanchez, Walker, Christensen, Sterling, Silva, Richarlison, Masuako. OUT: Moreno, Sane, Ritchie, Gross, Daniels, Austin.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C) Alexis Sanchez: not quite living up to previous campaigns but has an easy fixture against a Newcastle team spiralling out if control. This could be the game that makes him an essential once again.
(VC) Eden Hazard: His attacking partnership with Morata has produced well so far and the Spaniard is back in contention to start. While Hazard might not have the highest potential points, he is generally capable of steady returns.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 18 Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope
DEF: Andreas Christensen DEF: Harry Maguire DEF: Sead Kolasinac
MID: Alexis Sanchez (C) MID: Mo Salah MID: Eden Hazard (VC) MID: Raheem Sterling MID: Philippe Coutinho
FOR: Romelu Lukaku FOR: Harry Kane
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster FOR: Oliver Giroud DEF: Ben Mee DEF: Phil Jones
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 18
Leicester 2-1 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 3-1 Newcastle
Brighton 0-0 Burnley
Chelsea 2-0 Southampton
Stoke 1-1 West Ham
Watford 2-0 Huddersfield
Man City 2-1 Spurs
West Brom 0-1 Man United
Bournemouth 1-3 Liverpool
Everton 2-0 Swansea
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 18
Best GW Attacking Options:
Arsenal (H) vs. Newcastle
Liverpool (A) vs. Bournemouth
Everton (H) vs. Swansea
Watford (H) vs. Huddersfield
Leicester (H) vs. Crystal Paalce
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Burnley (A) vs. Brighton
Man United (A) vs. West Brom
Everton (H) vs. Swansea
Chelsea (H) vs. Southampton
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Riyad Mahrez, Calvert-Lewin, Ogbonna (for value), Jonjoe Kenny - all these options I have been considering with two free transfers at my disposal.
OUT: Jamie Vardy (to make way for Mahrez), and in general anyone that isn't getting the business done right now. You need certain starters for the Xmas period. Rotation is going to be a big factor in the coming weeks.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Everton defenders have been overlooked in my mini-league, so the likes of Holgate, Martina, and Kenny, might be valuable options against Swansea.
From an attacking point of view, Troy Deeney could keep his place for Watford against Huddersfield, a side that is beginning to leak goals.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Bournemouth: I've gone for a Liverpool win, but The Cherries are a decent outfit and might just put Klopp to the sword in a repeat of last season.
Leicester: So good to watch right now, but have a hard match against Zaha and Palace. Form dictates a home win for the Foxes in the first match.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Newcastle - We're embarrassing right now, and Wenger knows how to get results against the little teams.
Stoke and West Ham - A scrap between two unpredictable sides. Best to avoid FPL options from this game if you can.
Spurs - Not looking up to the task in the past month and Man City could very very jam another late 2-1 victory.
Brighton - Burnley are going for Europe. Brighton have been benching Gross. Dyche is going to be the next England manager, isn't he?
GW Differential Picks:
Dwight Gayle (NEW) - 'The Clean Sheet Killer' only scores against 'big' teams, and even though I see Newcastle losing, this is exactly the type of fixture that I see Gayle scoring in.
Riyad Mahrez (LEI) - Something in his hair dye is bringing Mahrez back to his best. Unplayable right now in a Leicester side full of attacking spirit.
Nick Pope (BUR) - How on earth is he a differential... still?
Jordan Pickford (EVE) - Another lowly selected GK who has been in good form.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C) Eden Hazard: Another consensus pick this week, Hazard looks safer from the rotation bug than the likes of Salah.
(VC) Romelu Lukaku: The best forward option this week in terms of opposition and form (Lukaku actually scored last Gameweek against Bournemouth!)
Other Gameweek Comments:
It's a very hard week to pin down a captain, with midfielders being the go-to selection this week. Salah and Hazard look primed... Romelu Lukaku might be an outside choice
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 18
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope
DEF: Antonio Valencia
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Nacho Monreal
MID: Mohamed Salah
MID: Kevin De Bruyne
MID: Riyad Mahrez
MID: Eden Hazard (C)
FOR: Jamie Vardy
FOR: Romelu Lukaku (VC)
FOR: Roberto Firmino
Substitutes
GK: Jordan Pickford
MID: Wilfried Zaha
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi
DEF: Jonjoe Kenny
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 18
Leicester 2-2 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Brighton 0-0 Burnley
Chelsea 2-0 Southampton
Stoke 1-1 West Ham
Watford 2-1 Huddersfield
Man City 2-1 Spurs
West Brom 0-2 Man United
Bournemouth 1-3 Liverpool
Everton 2-0 Swansea
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 18
Best GW Attacking Options:
Liverpool and Arsenal.
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Burnley
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: I’ll be doing Smalling
OUT: Sakho
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Ozil
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and United with strong fixtures.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Spurs and Bournmouth this week.
GW Differential Picks:
Ozil 2.2% owned and Mahrez at 5.7%
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Salah vs. Bournemouth
(VC): Hazard vs. Southampton
Other Gameweek Comments:
Some obvious wins on paper this week but it never quite plays out that way, rotation could be a big factor as it’s the third game in the week, getting the captain right will be key.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 18
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David de Gea
DEF: Sead Kolasinac
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Ben Mee
MID: Mohamed Salah (C)
MID: Mesut Ozil
MID: Riyad Mahrez
MID: Eden Hazard (VC)
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Roberto Firmino
FOR: Alexandre Lacazette
Substitutes
GK: Nick Pope
MID: Gylfi Sigurdsson
DEF: Jonjoe Kenny
DEF: Chris Smalling
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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.
