Fantasy Forecast 2019/20: FPL Gameweek 21
Ahead of each Gameweek in the Fantasy Premier League, The Hype Train's three front-men, Robert Austin, Sam Austin and Phil Jones, duel for FPL supremacy in predicting Premier League scores, as well as going head to head in picking a Scout Picks squad for each round of games. In addition, we provide general insight that we believe might be relevant for FPL players, such as our personal captaincy picks, differentials for the week, and more. Welcome to the Forecast. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 21 Deadline
For the 2019/20 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. Our website provides a real-world countdown timer for the the upcoming Gameweek, whilst you can read our latest Fantasy articles from the season on our 2019/20 FPL weekly hype sub-section.
How does our Forecasting work?
For three years we invited guests from the FPL Community to tackle us with picks for the upcoming Gameweek in Fantasy Premier League. We'll be taking a break from inviting guests onto this article for a year, and have introduced a new feature, Fantasy 5's, which we'll be asking weekly guests their top pick in each position ahead of each Gameweek.
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).
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 21
Brighton 1-2 Chelsea
Burnley 1-0 Aston Villa
Newcastle 0-2 Leicester
Southampton 1-2 Spurs
Watford 1-1 Wolves
Man City 2-1 Everton
Norwich 0-1 Crystal Palace
West Ham 2-1 Bournemouth
Arsenal 2-2 Man United
Liverpool 2-0 Sheffield United
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 21
Top FPL transfer targets for the weekend:
GK: Vincente Guaita (CRY, GK, £5.1mil, 3.5% ownership)
DEF: Ricardo Pereira (LEI, DEF, £6.4mil, 15.4% ownership)
MID: Adama Traoré (WOL, MID, £5.5mil, 13.2% ownership)
FWD: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (EVE, FWD, £5.8mil, 3.2% ownership)
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Chelsea (Watch): The Blues are better away from home, and that has been evident from their back-to-back home losses, and back-to-back away wins. Brighton are a good unit, but this should be a relatively no fuss fixture. Tammy is also back in form, which over 30% of the FPL will be relieved to see.
Leicester (Watch): After rotating against West Ham, and still winning, the Foxes first team will be reformed for the trip to Newcastle. They may be the best rested team for the final game of rotation season, and there isn’t any discounting them this Gameweek. Newcastle are on back-to-back losses and should be easy pickings.
Man City (Avoid): Whilst I think City have the billion-pound squad to win any game, there is also a grain of doubt given their form, and Everton’s form. Everton believe it or not have the best run of form behind Liverpool (I couldn’t process it either) and with Ancelotti making statements over Burnley and Newcastle, he will want to claim his first big scalp. Sheffield United were very good against City in GW20, and were it not for the referee interfering with the Blades play, they could have got a result.
Wolves (Avoid): Watford have been in great form, and they swept away Villa with ten men. The midlands club have also recently lost to Liverpool which could have racked their confidence. Either way, there is momentum and flaws on both sides of this fixture which makes it a proverbial banana peel.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C) – Jamie Vardy (LEI): The Premier League’s leading scorer was rested for Leicester’s win over West Ham, also because Vardy had another child. This means he should be fully fit for the trip to Newcastle, and he has more chance of starting and finishing the game in the final hurdle of rotation season.
(VC) – Sadio Mane (LIV): The leagues best player sank Wolves in a nitty-gritty game, and they have another test against Sheffield United. He is a worthy deputy to Vardy this week, but due to having played a lot during rotation season there is the slightest of chances Mane has his minutes managed.
Other Gameweek Comments:
We have one week left of rotation season. That means that teams are going to swap out players in your FPL team.
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 21
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Vincente Guaita (CRY)
DEF: Ricardo Pereira (LEI)
DEF: Virgil van Dijk (LIV)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)
MID: Dele Alli (TOT)
MID: Kevin De Bruyne (MCI)
MID: Anthony Martial (MUN)
MID: Sadio Mane (LIV) (VC)
FOR: Sergio Aguero (MCI)
FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI) (C)
FOR: Harry Kane (TOT)
Substitutes
GK: Kasper Schmeichel (LEI)
MID: Adama Traore (WOL)
DEF: Matt Doherty (WOL)
DEF: Kyle Walker (MCI)
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 21
Brighton 1-2 Chelsea
Burnley 1-0 Aston Villa
Newcastle 0-2 Leicester
Southampton 2-1 Spurs
Watford 1-2 Wolves
Man City 2-2 Everton
Norwich 0-2 Crystal Palace
West Ham 1-2 Bournemouth
Arsenal 1-1 Man United
Liverpool 2-0 Sheffield United
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 21
Top FPL transfer targets for the weekend:
Wolves have Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore.
Neal Maupay and Mat Ryan have good fixtures on the horizon for Brighton.
Leicester have some good fixtures.
Liverpool have their Double Gameweek quickly approaching – Salah, TAA, Mane, Virgil or Robbo are the major contenders, with Firmino a good option too.
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Man City (Avoid): City have been rather pedestrian at times over the last few games. They faded against Wolves and then took some good fortune from the referee to spark them in to life against Sheffield United. Everton have been playing some good stuff and have been getting their shots off, so they might pose City some real threats. I’d love to go for an away win to extend Ancelotti’s winning start, but I can see some points getting dropped.
West Ham (Avoid): David Moyes showed a level of arrogance when he returned to West Ham this week, stating that winning is what he does. Wouldn’t be surprised to see this turned into a Meme within days.
Southampton (Watch): Danny Ings is in form. Spurs have been so-so for a while. It’s not going to be a quick fix for Jose, so can see another hiccup on New Year’s Day.
Predictable Winners: Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester are top-tiered teams that look well worth their value this week, whilst Wolves and Crystal Palace also have a favourable fixture to settle on.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C) – Sadio Mane (LIV): Liverpool at home? Check. Mane in form? Check. I’m finding it hard not to captain a Red in a home game. They’re pretty much a sure bet for points as they look to close in on the Premier League title.
(VC) – Jamie Vardy (LEI): Well rested might be an understatement as Vardy’s just had a kid. The baby boom effect will probably see Vardy celebrating an 18th goal of the season away at Newcastle. The Toon were destroyed 5-0 in the reverse fixture, so maybe Newcastle have a point to prove, or they’re just for the taking.
Other Gameweek Comments:
I’m actually getting a little wound up watching the football recently, and can’t be the only one depressed at being over-exposed to teams like Newcastle sending us into a festive coma. VAR is making the masses lose their collective nut and I am no different. It’s a generic statement, but the soul and pace of the game has gone when four or more perfectly good goals were ruled out due to being 1mm offside (if that) according to one blurry screenshot.
I did a poll about VAR as we’ve been deep-diving VAR stats so far this season and the majority of people voting in my poll actually want to see VAR amended. It sure needs some tweaking, not only to speed up decision making, but to educate or replace the referees that are using the system like they’ve never touched a computer – I know a good community centre in Reading that offers silver surfer courses, all ages welcome, that can get a few of these stubborn and illiterate match officials up to the twenty-first century.
Anyway, here’s to a better 2020! I’ve hoped everyone has had a good year and have a lot to be thankful for, and to look forward too. I’ve had a blast starting Hype Train FC and am looking forward to spending my Saturday afternoons back playing on the field.
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 21
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope (BUR)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)
DEF: Caglar Soyuncu (LEI)
DEF: Virgil van Dijk (LIV)
MID: Adama Traore (WOL)
MID: Wilfried Zaha (CRY)
MID: Sadio Mane (LIV) – (C)
MID: Kevin De Bruyne (MCI)
FOR: Raul Jimenez (WOL)
FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI) – (VC)
FOR: Tammy Abraham (CHE)
Substitutes
GK: Alex McCarthy (SOU)
MID: Todd Cantwell (NOR)
DEF: Martin Kelly (CRY)
DEF: Diego Rico (BOU)
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018.
We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb rankings tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review games, live sport, and professional wrestling.
In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.
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All aboard.
