Premier League 2020/21: FPL Gameweek 13 Fantasy Forecast
Ahead of each Gameweek in the Premier League, The Hype Train's team, Robert Austin, Sam Austin and Phil Jones, duel for FPL and league supremacy in predicting Premier League scores, as well as going head to head in picking a Scout Picks squad for each round of games. With the 2020/21 Premier League season starting tomorrow, we provide our Gameweek Forecast predictions, speculating how we think the first round of games will be played out. Welcome to the Forecast. All aboard.
Premier League 2020/21: Gameweek 13 Fixtures
Premier League 2020/21: FPL Gameweek 13 Forecast
Enjoy our FPL Forecast article, with each of our team forecasting how we think the Premier League will shape up this upcoming Gameweek. If you agree or want to challenge us on our point of view, get in touch with us on our main Twitter account, @RealHypeTrain.
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 13
Wolves 1-1 Chelsea
Man City 3-0 West Brom
Arsenal 1-2 Southampton
Leeds 2-0 Newcastle
Leicester 2-1 Everton
Fulham 1-1 Brighton
Liverpool 1-0 Spurs
West Ham 2-0 Crystal Palace
Aston Villa 2-0 Burnley
Sheffield United 0-3 Man United
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 13
Top FPL player targets ahead of these midweek fixtures:
GK: Illan Meslier (LEE, GK, £4.6mil, 5.5% ownership)
DEF: Ezri Konsa (AVL, DEF, £4.7mil, 9.7% ownership)
MID: Kevin De Bruyne (MCI, MID, £11.8mil, 26.6% ownership)
FWD: Danny Ings (SOU, FWD, £8.4mil, 8.1% ownership)
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Man United (Watch): For all those people on Reddit who think we are ‘anti-United’, last week United and City drew in what was a game that ended as it started. I said it was a game to avoid for this reason. I normally always favour United to get a result as they have players such as Fernandes that can pull a result out of a hat, and I’ll admit I was surprised that they beat Southampton in the manner they did as that hasn’t been accustomed to their recent history under OGS. When it comes to fantasy, I am no way biased, especially in this fixture where this must be a locked-on win for the Red Devil’s. If they lose against 1pt Sheffield United I will be incredibly surprised and concerned all the same.
Southampton (Watch): Yeah, Southampton are here to stay under Hasenhüttl. They currently sit fourth in the table after an amazing run of form, with the only blip since the beginning of the season coming against United in their comeback a few weeks ago. After demolishing Sheffield Wednesday, and having their talisman Danny Ings back, they are going to get better. After seeing Arsenal collapse against Burnley, I can only see things in North London get worse. Ralph Hasenhüttl is one of my favourite managers in the league, and there is no way that Southampton don’t get a result at the Emirates.
Spurs (Avoid): This is just a personal gut call, but Spurs will look to defend and hit on the break against Liverpool, much like what they did against Chelsea. In the last seven years Spurs have only beaten Liverpool once in the league, and the Reds are on a five-game winning streak against Spurs, including the Champions League final in 2019. Mourinho has done a great job, and I have the gut feeling that I might be horribly wrong, if there is one manager that can win at Anfield it is him. That said I can’t see Liverpool being as shocking as they were against Fulham, and they still have the front three available, and if Spurs play the sit-back-and-defend game they might be caught out as Liverpool have a more fluid attack that Chelsea did.
Crystal Palace (Avoid): I can’t believe I am saying this: West Ham look decent this season. I don’t get it though, they really haven’t recruited any better players, things are just clicking. David Moyes is slowly turning things round, and the dunce cap of the Premier League has passed over to Chris Wilder in the Blades collapse. I can Palace struggling, especially at set pieces which West Ham are thriving on at the moment.
Gameweek 13 – FPL Differential Picks:
This week has a huge asterisk on it, being the dreaded capital R word: rotation. Christmas is the period of giving, family, and Premier League managers rotating the FPL players you transfer into your team. When picking players for this week you have to select players that are 100% locked on to start. Joao Cancelo (MCI) for example is a prime rotation candidate this week. Salah for Liverpool was a doubt to start, but with Jota’s injury the Reds have no choice but to play him. I also predict that over the next run of games, there will be at least one pandemic related postponement much like the Villa vs. Newcastle game. I’ll apply the rotation logic to this week’s ten differentials.
WOL/CHE: Thiago Silva (CHE, DEF, £5.5mil, 3.6% ownership)
MCI/WBA: Rúben Dias (MCI, DEF, £5.6mil, 3.9% ownership)
ARS/SOU: Che Adams (SOU, FWD, £6.0mil, 7.1% ownership)
LEE/NEW: Illan Meslier (LEE, GK, £4.6mil, 5.5% ownership)
LEI/EVE: James Maddison (LEI, MID, £7.0mil, 4.2% ownership)
FUL/BHA: Bobby Decordova-Reid (FUL, FWD, £5.3mil, 0.6% ownership)
LIV/TOT: Roberto Firmino (LIV, FWD, £9.2mil, 2.2% ownership)
WHU/CRY: Jarrod Bowen (WHU, MID, £6.4mil, 4.6% ownership)
AVL/BUR: Matt Target (AVL, DEF, £4.5mil, 2.9% ownership)
SHU/MUN: Marcus Rashford (MUN, MID, £9.4mil, 6.6% ownership)
Differential Captain: James Maddison (Leicester)
Leicester have found their groove again, and a big part of that is the return of the fully fit James Maddison. The England midfielder in his last two games has two goals and one assist, with both goals coming against Brighton. Maddison is in great form, with a winnable game against Everton coming up in the midweek. Brendan Rodgers can’t justify dropping Maddison in his current form and is rotation proof. Everton’s have had huge blips this year, and their defence isn’t even a thing, so Leicester will get tonnes of chances.
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 13
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ederson (MCI)
DEF: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (MUN)
DEF: Ruben Dias (MCI)
DEF: Ezri Konsa (AVL)
MID: Jack Grealish (AVL)
MID: James Maddison (LEI)
MID: Kevin De Bruyne (MCI) - (C)
MID: Mohamad Salah (LIV)
FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI)
FOR: Danny Ings (SOU)
FOR: Patrick Bamford (LEE) - (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Illan Meslier (LEE)
MID: Marcus Rashford (MUN)
DEF: Harry Maguire (MUN)
DEF: Andrew Robertson (LIV)
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 13
Wolves 0-3 Chelsea
Man City 5-0 West Brom
Arsenal 0-1 Southampton
Leeds 4-1 Newcastle
Leicester 0-0 Everton
Fulham 1-2 Brighton
Liverpool 1-2 Spurs
West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace
Aston Villa 3-0 Burnley
Sheffield United 1-4 Man United
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 13
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE)
DEF: Kyle Walker-Peters (SOU)
DEF: John Stones (MCI)
DEF: Ben Chilwell (CHE)
MID: Hueng-Min Son (TOT)
MID: Bruno Fernandes (MUN) - (C)
MID: Mohamad Salah (LIV)
MID: Jack Grealish (AVL)
FOR: Harry Kane (TOT)
FOR: Dominic Calvert-Lewindowski (EVE)
FOR: Patrick Bamford (LEE)
Substitutes
GK: Illan Meslier (LEE)
MID: James Ward-Prowse (SOU)
DEF: James Justin (LEI)
DEF: Max Kilman (WOL)
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 13
Wolves 0-1 Chelsea
Man City 3-0 West Brom
Arsenal 1-1 Southampton
Leeds 0-1 Newcastle
Leicester 2-1 Everton
Fulham 2-1 Brighton
Liverpool 3-2 Spurs
West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace
Aston Villa 2-0 Burnley
Sheffield United 1-0 Man United
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 13
Top FPL player targets ahead of these midweek fixtures:
A Gameweek of heavyweights battling - Calvert-Lewin vs. Vardy and Salah vs. Kane/Son, among others, sees a slight
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Leeds (Avoid): As a Newcastle fan, this is a fixture that might end up spooking a few FPL players that have taken the plunge to put in Patrick Bamford - Phil has done this exact thing and he’ll be hoping I’m dead wrong. Newcastle get energised by taking liberties with fantasy football players and get results when you least expect them to. Wouldn’t surprise me if this is a close 1-0 game – the exact type of game that keeps the Magpies in the division for another season.
Man United (Avoid): Just got a feeling that these midweek fixtures are going to throw up a few unexpected results and even though I’ll get battered by the Reddit community for even suggesting so, but it might be a lacklustre Man United side that bite that bullet this Gameweek. There’s no logic or reason behind this, and it is not a bias wish, just a hunch.
Liverpool (Watch): It’s Liverpool at home, never forget it. Even though it is Spurs, Jurgen Klopp’s side are pretty much unbeatable at Anfield. Against all odds, and stacked with injuries, they always find a way and they’ve a good record against Spurs so I’m expecting a game littered with chances and goals.
Chelsea (Watch): Wolves’ lack of goals will give Mendy and Chilwell owners a huge boost this week. It’s not clicking in the final third right now and should lead to Mendy redeeming himself after the calamity at Everton to earn a sixth clean sheet of the campaign.
Fulham (Watch): The standout performance from Gameweek 12 from a personal perspective was watching Fulham purr against a Liverpool team that refused to die. Scott Parker’s team are bang in form and *should* get a result against Brighton, though if there is one team who can put out the embers of a good patch, it’s a team like Brighton, so please disregard this advice when Brighton are 2-0 up at half-time.
Gameweek 13 - FPL Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Kevin De Bruyne (MCI)
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (LIV)
Differential: Ollie Watkins (AVL)
If you own KDB, the world is your oyster this week. If you don’t, perhaps Bruno Fernandes is your trusted second in command, though if you’re like me and own neither it looks like Mohamed Salah will be the default pick. It’s a week which will see Manchester clubs dominate the captaincy selection, though in truth it screams like a Gameweek where the trusted old guards of FPL captaincy from the last couple of years will be the dominant selections.
Outside of the obvious, Ollie Watkins has an enticing home game against Burnley, whilst you could flip a coin over the likelihood of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jamie Vardy scoring in another fixture that has highly-selected FPL assets competing against one another.
Other Gameweek Comments:
As you’ll see below, I’ve now gotten in the habit of dropping points each and every week. Injuries have ravaged my squad week-by-week and with a lot of games coming up over the festive period, I’ve done it again this week to add a couple of extra benched players to come in should (and when) the dreaded Pep Roulette runs its course.
Usually people would be freaking out about dropping points, but it has felt like second nature this season in an uncertain, out of sorts season – perhaps a slight detachment from the game has seen me lose some empathy and in turn not care about the hits – but in truth it has been necessary to get my squad over the hill each week, so never be afraid to hit that trigger if you need to.
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 13
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE)
DEF: Ruben Dias (MCI)
DEF: Kurt Zouma (CHE)
DEF: Ezra Konsa (AVL)
MID: Kevin De Bruyne (MCI) – (VC)
MID: Mohamed Salah (LIV) – (C)
MID: Wilfried Zaha (CRY)
MID: Phil Foden (MCI)
FOR: Harry Kane (TOT)
FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI)
FOR: Ollie Watkins (AVL)
Substitutes
GK: Karl Darlow (NEW)
MID: James Ward-Prowse (SOU)
DEF: Jannik Vestergaard (SOU)
DEF: James Justin (LEI)
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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.
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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.
