FANTASY FORECAST 2018/19: FPL Gameweek 1
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 Special 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 1 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 ask 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 three 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 that will feature throughout the season.
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).
Gameweek 1: Fixture Prediction
Man United 1-1 Leicester
Newcastle 0-2 Spurs
Bournemouth 3-0 Cardiff
Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace
Huddersfield 0-1 Chelsea
Watford 2-1 Brighton
Wolves 1-0 Everton
Liverpool 4-0 West Ham
Southampton 2-1 Burnley
Arsenal 1-3 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 1
Best GW Attacking Options:
Spurs (A) vs. Newcastle
Bournemouth (H) vs. Cardiff
Crystal Palace (A) vs. Fulham
Watford (H) vs. Brighton
Liverpool (H) vs. West Ham
Man City (A) vs. Arsenal
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Spurs (A) vs. Newcastle
Bournemouth (H) vs. Cardiff
Chelsea (A) vs. Huddersfield
Wolves (H) vs. Everton
Liverpool (H) vs. West Ham
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Liverpool everything. Man City attackers and midfielders. Bournemouth forwards. Wilfried Zaha.
Draft is new, so the marque players you picked up should be hitting the ground running. I personally didn’t get Mo Salah, a player who I picked up last year, so I am currently still mourning that loss.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool: Goals, goals, goals, goals, goals, and even more goals. That is what I expect from the Reds on their return to Anfield for the new season. Manuel Pellegrini must be rueing his luck of having to take his squad to a team whose senior forwards all notched in pre-season. Firmino, Salah, Mane, Sturridge, and Shaqiri are all eyeing another decimation of West Ham, as Liverpool have made a regular occurrence in the past few seasons.
Spurs: Talk about fortune, I’d have backed everyone in the league, any league, over Newcastle on the opening gameweek of the new season. Inner turmoil within the ranks of the Toon won’t lead to work rate on the pitch, the fact that the players are striking against Mike Ashley doesn’t fill anyone with confidence that they are going to turn up to attack Spurs underpowered defence. Spurs are the luckiest team going into the season, and they don’t deserve to be after Pochettino has opted against reinforcing his squad for the new season.
Bournemouth: Cardiff look weak, real weak, going into the start of the season. Without major reinforcements for their return to the top flight I can see Joshua King run riot in this game, as he has been doing in pre-season for the Cherries. I can see Eddie Howe being a happy man on Match of the Day come Saturday evening.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Fulham: Everyone is acting like the newly promoted club are a bastion with a few key signings, but the truth is that they are lacking depth in defence, and with Wilfried Zaha in strong pre-season form.
Everton: After beating a pub team 22-0 in Austria, the Toffees have struggled in pre-season and were it not for Richarlison (who I can’t believe cost nearly £50mil) it would have been a total shamble.
Arsenal: New manager bounce? No, I don’t think so. Pep Guardiola will continue haunting the Gunners as he always has done. Business as usual at the Emirates.
GW Differential Picks:
I do the differential forecast for The Hype Train and I have gone for some of the usual suspects and some new faces to the Premier League. Alexis Sanchez is the big name, and the only Red Devil I would trust in the opening week. Naby Keita is also a player I am interested in seeing perform for the first time in the league for Liverpool. But, it is his team mate Gini Wijnaldum who I am most interested in seeing carry on his excellent pre-season form, scoring goals once again in a dynamic free-floating midfield role.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohamad Salah – Who else? Really, who else? The Egyptian King is back and fully recovered from the injury that ruled him out of the Champions League final. Salah has been sharp in pre-season and will be the focal point of Liverpool’s title push this season.
(VC): Sergio Aguero – The Argentine has showed his intent in the Community Shield to start the season strong after notching two goals versus Chelsea at Wembley. Arsenal must be sick of his sight by now.
Other Gameweek Comments:
I am really not pumped for this season. The World Cup hangover is still lingering, and with so many player price rises it has soured my love of the traditional game. Drafting a team this year has been frustrating, I don’t even have a final version, it is just a horror show of fitting in £120mil worth of players with a budget of only £100mil. The fantasy game has been reduced to bartering over two, maybe three, cheap midfield options who’ll be worth it.
Are there any £4.0mil defenders out there who’ll play?
Do I only have one premium forward?
How will the bonus point system change?
Why haven’t they changed the points scoring system?
Will penalties and set piece goals make a return to the league?
Will Harry Kane score in August?
The last one I can answer, but this season has already left me with a bad taste in my mouth and it hasn’t even kicked off yet. I wish everyone the best of luck in the new season, kind of, because that is all we have now, luck, to get us through.
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 1
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ederson
DEF: Patrick van Aanholt
DEF: Davinson Sanchez
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
MID: Leroy Sane
MID: Christian Eriksen
MID: Mohamad Salah (C)
MID: Sadio Mane
FOR: Roberto Firmino
FOR: Sergio Aguero
FOR: Joshua King
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster
MID: Pedro
DEF: Marcos Alonso
DEF: Willy Boly
Gameweek 1: Fixture Prediction
Man United 1-2 Leicester Newcastle 0-2 Spurs Bournemouth 1-1 Cardiff Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace Huddersfield 0-3 Chelsea Watford 1-0 Brighton Wolves 2-3 Everton Liverpool 3-0 West Ham Southampton 0-0 Burnley Arsenal 1-2 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 1
Best GW Attacking Options: Man City, Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea.
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Southampton.
Who are your Gameweek 1 essential player picks?: GK:Foster, DEF:Davies, MID:Salah, FOR:Aguero.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?: Impossible to say at this stage. Just keep an eye out for the breakout players that are yet to be picked up.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C) Mo Salah: his ownership is over 50% for a reason. Not captaining him is madness. Not owning him is FPL suicide.
(VC) Sergio Aguero: could be a tricky fixture but his brace against Chelsea once again displayed his quality, and it could have been more.
Other Gameweek Comments: GW1 Line ups are not essential to a good FPL campaign. Assess and develop your team over the first 4 Gameweek's and try not to make drastic changes.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 1 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: Andrew Robertson DEF: Ben Davies DEF: Benjamin Mendy
MID: Riyad Mahrez MID: Mo Salah (C) MID: Christian Eriksen MID: Richarlison
FOR: Sergio Aguero (VC) FOR: Roberto Firmino FOR: Alvaro Morata
Substitutes
GK: David De Gea MID: Pedro DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta DEF: Ryan Bertrand
Gameweek 1: Fixture Prediction
Man United 1-0 Leicester Newcastle 2-1 Spurs Bournemouth 2-0 Cardiff Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace Huddersfield 0-2 Chelsea Watford 1-0 Brighton Wolves 1-1 Everton Liverpool 4-0 West Ham Southampton 1-0 Burnley Arsenal 1-3 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 1
Best GW Attacking Options: Man City, Liverpool - everyone else is in a tussle.
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential: Liverpool, Chelsea
Who are your Gameweek 1 essential player picks?: GK - Foster
DEF - Robertson
MID - Mahrez
FOR - Firmino
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Man City: Have you seen their fixtures after Arsenal? Triple down on them.
Newcastle: In Rafa we trust.
Watford: Easy access to good home fixtures. Ben Foster is a lock for us here at Hype Train HQ.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Spurs: This isn't bias being a Newcastle fan, but there is blood in the water right now. Spurs are likely to field a weakened team, and Newcastle's downfall has been over-exaggerated by some corners of the footballing world. We ended the season strong and have a point to prove after losing to Spurs at home last season.
Burnley: I think a narrow defeat to Southampton is on the cards as they chase Europa League success on Thursday.
FPL Captaincy Picks: (C) Mo Salah: The only option is The King of Egypt. You'll be a brave man to bank against him this week.
(VC) Josh King: Aguero is the favourite for this role, so I've gone a little different and highlighted King as a starter.
Other Gameweek Comments: I'm going to probably have 15 certain starters for GW1, just in case it all goes horribly wrong. The only hope for most is that Liverpool turn on the style. If they don't, we're in for a world of trouble for GW1.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 1 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: Andrew Robertson DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta DEF: Benjamin Mendy
MID: Riyad Mahrez MID: Mo Salah (C) MID: Christian Eriksen MID: Alexis Sanchez
FOR: Sergio Aguero FOR: Roberto Firmino FOR: Josh King (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Alex McCarthy MID: Richarlison DEF: Luke Shaw DEF: Ben Davies
Gameweek 1 Fixture Prediction
Man United 2-1 Leicester
Newcastle 1-1 Spurs
Bournemouth 2-0 Cardiff
Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace
Huddersfield 0-2 Chelsea
Watford 1-0 Brighton
Wolves 2-2 Everton
Liverpool 3-0 West Ham
Southampton 0-1 Burnley
Arsenal 1-2 Man City
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 1
Best GW Attacking Options:
Liverpool (H) vs. West Ham
Man City (A) vs. Arsenal
Bournemouth (H) vs. Cardiff
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Liverpool (H) vs. West Ham
Chelsea (A) vs. Huddersfield
Burnley (A) vs. Southampton
Who are your Gameweek 1 essential player picks?:
Mohammed Salah (£13.0m) – if you haven’t got the Egyptian king in your team I advise you go for a long walk on Sunday lunchtime, it’s going to be a tough watch. If he bags a brace in this fixture the huge ownership (with the vast majority of those handing him the armband) will mean you’re already playing catch-up at this early stage.
Bernardo Silva (£7.5m) – the problem with Man City is we simply do not know who is going to play. Pep has recently come out and said his team is “Bernardo and 10 others”. A nailed-on City attacking asset is an enticing prospect even if it’s only for a few games.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Josh King (£6.5m) – strong end to last season when he appeared to claim penalty duties, along with a pre-season in which he has scored goals. Nice opening fixtures starting with newly promoted Cardiff.
Alexis Sanchez (£10.5m) – he’s had a summer to rest and looks like he could be leading the line in gameweek 1 against a Leicester side unlikely to have Harry Maguire available regardless of his transfer situation. Sanchez’s low ownership could make him an interesting, though expensive differential.
James Tomkins (4.5m) – the Palace centre-back started on 27 occasions last season, scoring 3 goals from his 20 goal attempts inside the box. If he can bring that form into the new season he could return some double figure hauls starting with a trip to Craven Cottage.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool – they’ve bought very well over the summer and the fab three will surely be too much for a new-look West Ham side.
Bournemouth – put five passed Marseille in pre-season, they’ll play their usual attacking game against newly promoted Cardiff.
Burnley – started their season early in the Europa League and will be looking to capitalise on their extra match sharpness against a Southampton side who struggled for creativity last season.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Man United: defence – it’s basically a lucky dip
West Ham: they’ve bought well over the summer and I’m expecting them to improve, but with the toughest opening gameweek fixture I’m expecting very little from their assets on this occasion.
Tottenham: at the time of writing there’s talk of them missing nine first team players for their opening fixture at Newcastle, one to avoid early doors with players returning late from international duty and a new stadium on the horizon.
GW Differential Picks:
At the time of writing Alexis Sanchez, Josh King, Diogo Jota and Bernardo Silva are all well under 10% owned. One or two of these picks could really boost your opening rank.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohammed Salah – no explanation required. If you’re not captaining Salah you’re a braver FPL manager than me.
(VC): Sergio Aguero – the Argentine looked back to his best in the Community shield in a Man City team who laid down an impressive early marker, picking up exactly where they left off from their centurion season.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Plan ahead but not too far ahead. Personally I’m looking at the opening fixtures as a four week block before the international break, and will reassess once I get to that point.
If you have a bad or indifferent gameweek 1 don’t panic and do anything drastic like taking multiple hits or cashing-in your wildcard, there’s 37 gameweeks and a lot of twist and turns to come.
Have fun!
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 1
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Benjamin Mendy
DEF: Andrew Robertson
MID: Sadio Mane
MID: Bernardo Silva
MID: Alexis Sanchez
MID: Mohammed Salah (C)
FOR: Josh King
FOR: Sergio Aguero (VC)
FOR: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster
MID: Diogo Jota
DEF: Ben Mee
DEF: James Tomkins
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.
