FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 20
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), 6 (18), 6 (19) = 124pts
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), 7 (18), 2 (19) = 107pts
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), 9 (18), 5 (19) = 137pts
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), 9 (18), 4 (19) = 122pts
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)
GW18 - @FplFreddo: 9pts (1 perfect, 6 correct, 3 wrong)
GW19 - @FPL_Batman: 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)
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)
GW18: Sam (6), Phil (7), Rob (9), @FplFreddo (9)
GW19: Sam (6), Phil (2), Rob (5), @FPL_Batman (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), 58 (15), 68 (16), 54 (17), 53 (18), 89 (19) = 1,165pts
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), 75 (18), 101 (19) = 1,158pts
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), 79 (18), 91 (19) = 1,149pts
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), 69 (18), 86 (19) = 1,141pts
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)
GW18 - @FplFreddo: 69pts (Captain Salah, 16pts)
GW19 - @FPL_Batman: 86pts (Captain Aguero, 32pts)
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)
GW18: Sam (53), Phil (75), Rob (79), @FplFreddo (69)
GW19: Sam (89), Phil (101), Rob (91), @FPL_Batman (86)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 20
Spurs 2-0 Southampton
Bournemouth 2-1 West Ham
Chelsea 3-0 Brighton
Huddersfield 1-1 Stoke
Man United 2-0 Burnley
Watford 0-1 Leicester
West Brom 0-1 Everton
Liverpool 4-0 Swansea
Newcastle 0-3 Man City
Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 20
Best GW Attacking Options:
Spurs (H) vs. Southampton
Chelsea (H) vs. Brighton
Man United (H) vs. Burnley
Leicester (A) vs. Watford
Liverpool (H) vs. Swansea
Man City (A) vs. Newcastle
Arsenal (A) vs. Crystal Palace
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Spurs (H) vs. Southampton
Chelsea (H) vs. Brighton
Man United (H) vs. Burnley
Leicester (A) vs. Watford
Liverpool (H) vs. Swansea
Man City (A) vs. Newcastle
Everton (A) vs. West Brom
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Pope (GK), Jonjoe Kenny (DEF), Coutinho (MID), Morata (FW)
OUT: Fabianski (GK), Bertrand (DEF), David Silva (MID), Austin (FW)
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Leicester midfielders, Spurs forwards, defenders from Man United, and my favourite big guy of all time…Peter Crouch.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool: Goals are expected at Anfield against Swansea who are without a manager. I expect moderate rotation, but with the race for the top four heating up Klopp can’t be found trifling with his team too much.
Leicester: The Foxes are Stag hunting after a last-minute Harry Maguire goal gave Claude Puel’s team an early Christmas present. Watford have really fallen off the wagon and they are going up against a team in good form.
Man City: Champions elect, unfortunate for Newcastle who just picked up a rare win against West Ham.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
West Brom: In the battle of ‘lump of forward and hope for the best’ the winner must be Big Sam every day of the week. I can see the Toffees making it a dull game, but one which has defensive potential for Everton.
Southampton: A perfect combination of Harry Kane’s form, and Charlie Austin’s three match suspension is a crippling blow for the Saint’s who go to Wembley sweating over good luck.
GW Differential Picks:
I do the weekly differentials, so you might want to check them out. The two most obvious differentials are Andreas Christensen, and Mesut Ozil, players in good form against weaker opposition for GW20.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohamad Salah – Goals, goals, goals. There is now way I am back against the King of Egypt continuing his superb form. Liverpool host Swansea and I expect lots of goals.
(VC): Alvaro Morata – Coming back from a suspension I expect the Spaniard to provide the goal threat that Chelsea lacked against Everton.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Looking at my scout picks it was clear to see that the festive fixtures on boxing day favoured the ‘big’ teams. Four of last seasons top seven have cosy home fixtures, and Arsenal are given a London game for the festive period. Surprise? No.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 20
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi
DEF: Andrew Robertson
DEF: Andreas Christensen
MID: Mohamad Salah (C)
MID: Philippe Coutinho
MID: Kevin De Bruyne
MID: Alexis Sanchez
FOR: Alvaro Morata (VC)
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
Substitutes
GK: Nick Pope
MID: Eden Hazard
DEF: Davinson Sanchez
DEF: Jonjoe Kenny
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 20
Spurs 2-0 Southampton Bournemouth 0-2 West Ham Chelsea 4-0 Brighton Huddersfield 1-2 Stoke Man United 0-0 Burnley Watford 2-1 Leicester West Brom 0-3 Everton Liverpool 4-1 Swansea Newcastle 1-3 Man City Crystal Palace 2-1 Arsenal
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 20
Best GW Attacking Options: Spurs (H) vs Southampton Chelsea (H) vs Brighton Liverpool (H) vs Swansea Man City (a) vs Newcastle Everton (a) vs West Brom
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Chelsea (H) vs Brighton Spurs (H) vs Southampton Man United (H) vs Burnley Everton (a) vs West Brom West Ham (a) vs Bournemouth
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?: IN: Pickford, Jones, Sigurdsson, Kane (for all you Kanexit fools) OUT: Fabianski, Kolasinac, Richarlison, Murray
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C): Harry Kane: Can we expect the HurriKane to perform two weeks in a row? Probably not. Will we all Captain him anyway? Probably, yes.
(VC) Mo Salah: The current front runner for Player of the Season and performing every week. Everything goes through magic Mo.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 20 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Jordan Pickford
DEF: Jonjoe Kenny DEF: Marcos Alonso DEF: Phil Jones
MID: Gylfi Sigurdsson MID: Eden Hazard MID: Mo Salah (VC) MID: Raheem Sterling
FOR: Roberto Firmino FOR: Harry Kane (C) FOR: Sergio Aguero
Substitutes
GK: David de Gea MID: Sadio Mane DEF: Kyle Walker DEF: Arthur Masuaku
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 20
Spurs 2-0 Southampton
Bournemouth 2-1 West Ham
Chelsea 3-0 Brighton
Huddersfield 2-1 Stoke
Man United 2-0 Burnley
Watford 1-3 Leicester
West Brom 1-1 Everton
Liverpool 4-0 Swansea
Newcastle 0-3 Man City
Crystal Palace 2-2 Arsenal
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 20
Best GW Attacking Options:
Chelsea (H) vs. Brighton
Leicester (A) vs. Watford
Liverpool (H) vs. Swansea
Man City (A) vs. Newcastle
And to a smaller extent, Spurs, Palace/Arsenal, and Huddersfield, could be amongst the goals this weekend.
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Spurs (H) vs. Southampton
Chelsea (H) vs. Brighton
Man United (H) vs. Burnley
Liverpool (H) vs. Swansea
Man City (A) vs. Newcastle
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Jonjoe Kenny, Ogbonna (looking a few weeks ahead), Raheem Sterling
OUT: Any benched players that aren’t getting minutes, and will hold you back if there is rotation. No specific players other than the likes of Austin, who has been banned (and is also kind of injured).
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
A few weeks away, but try and snap up as many West Ham assets for their eventual Double Gameweek against Spurs. That said, Spurs will probably only have a few auxiliary players to choose from depending on your Draft League.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Man United – United tend to win on Boxing Day, and I see this Gameweek as no exception when Burnley come to town.
Huddersfield – A few tempting games at home. I’m banking on The Terriers to get some good results in the next two.
Leicester – Looking every bit a top side, Leicester are ticking well and could roll over Watford.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Swansea – Only won at Anfield last season due to Llorente and Sigurdsson. It could be a big afternoon for Liverpool, who must stop dropping easy points if they want to get into the top four at the end of the season.
West Ham – Again, another team who has a Double Gameweek upcoming makes you doubt your selection process. Welcome to the world of FPL.
Watford – I’ve no idea why the Hornets have lost their sting in recent months after looking so strong in a 3-0 win at Newcastle. Leicester could compound on recent poor form.
GW Differential Picks:
Zanka and Lossl (HUD) – A couple of winnable games at home might be enough to tempt some FPL players
Andrew Robertson (LIV) – Looks set to play the Xmas period without much challenge, with a couple of tasty home ties.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C) Mohamed Salah – I am just not going to captain Kane at Wembley, the hurt is too real (for now). Salah, who I think is a slight rotation risk, is still my preferred pick.
(VC) Sergio Aguero – The Kun is the bane of Newcastle, and if he starts, I envision another profitable afternoon for the Argentine.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Try and bank your transfer, you never know what horrors will arise this Gameweek. Best to save for a rainy day when there is another deadline just days away.
On a side note, I hope everyone is having a lovely few days off work for the Xmas and are able to enjoy time with family, friends, or watching obscene amounts of Netflix or sport (like us)! A big shoutout goes to the guys and gals working over the holiday season, especially nurses, doctors, and those in the retail and hospitality sectors, that work ridiculously long hours over holiday periods.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 20
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David de Gea
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi
DEF: Marcos Alonso
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
MID: Raheem Sterling
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Mohamed Salah (C)
MID: Philippe Coutinho
FOR: Sergio Aguero (VC)
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
Substitutes
GK: Jordan Pickford
MID: Riyad Mahrez
DEF: Andrew Robertson
DEF: Zanka
FPL FC: Website
Weekend Wildcarders: Click Here
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 20
Spurs 4-1 Southampton
Bournemouth 2-2 West Ham
Chelsea 3-0 Brighton
Huddersfield 1-2 Stoke
Man United 2-0 Burnley
Watford 1-1 Leicester
West Brom 0-2 Everton
Liverpool 3-1 Swansea
Newcastle 0-5 Man City
Crystal Palace 2-1 Arsenal
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 20
Best GW Attacking Options:
With a hat-trick in his last game and injuries to his next opponent's defence, it has to be Harry Kane. The other 2 main options would be Hazard and Salah, BRI (H) and SWA (H) respectively.
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
The Boxing Day fixtures generally come with a lot of goals, but Everton have improved defensively since appointing Allardyce and against a poor West Brom side, they have the best Clean Sheet potential
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?:
IN: Morata (BRI (H) and fully rested)
OUT: Aguero (might not play)
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Zaha, Lingard and Son
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Man City
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Swansea
GW Differential Picks:
Lingard, Arnautovic and Diouf
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Harry Kane
(VC): Mohamed Salah
Other Gameweek Comments:
Merry Christmas
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 20
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David de Gea
DEF: Marcos Alonso
DEF: Jonjoe Kenny
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi
MID: Mohamed Salah (vc)
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Raheem Sterling
MID: Philippe Coutinho
FOR: Harry Kane (c)
FOR: Alvaro Morata
FOR: Roberto Firmino
Substitutes
GK: Thibaut Courtois
MID: Paul Pogba
DEF: Phil Jones
DEF: Angelo Ogbonna
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.
