Premier League 2021/22 Season: FPL Gameweek 10 Fantasy Forecast
Ahead of each Gameweek in the Premier League, The Hype Train's team - Robert Austin, Sam Austin and Phil Jones - compete for FPL and league standings supremacy in predicting Premier League scores, as well as going head-to-head in picking a Scout Picks squad for each round of games. We also comb over other relevant statistics, impressions and insight from around the game and the league to best navigate you through the weekly helping of fixtures. Welcome to the Forecast. All aboard.
Premier League 2021/22: Gameweek 10 Fixtures
Premier League 2021/22 Season: FPL Gameweek 10 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, or on Instagram!
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 10
Leicester 2-1 Arsenal
Burnley 1-2 Brentford
Liverpool 3-0 Brighton
Man City 4-0 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea
Watford 1-1 Southampton
Spurs 1-1 Man United
Norwich 1-2 Leeds
Aston Villa 0-2 West Ham
Wolves 2-2 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 10
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Chelsea (Watch): Having only conceded three goals this season, Chilwell is back in the team and in amazing form, Edouard Mendy can’t stop making saves, scoring goals when both their forwards are out, and they are winning games. Travelling away to this Newcastle team should be easy work for the Blues.
Liverpool (Watch): Mo Salah single-handily tripled the average score for GW9. Liverpool are winning games with ease, keeping clean sheets, and looking like a real force to be reckoned with again this season. A home game against Brighton should be a no brainer for anyone in the FPL.
Spurs vs. Manchester United (???): This should be an interesting game, two teams bang out of form, with neither team looking like they are going to win a game again. Manchester United were mauled by Liverpool in GW9, and Spurs limped to an embarrassing loss to West Ham (who are having a great year) in a London derby. This feels like a low scoring draw, I can’t see either team winning this game. Don’t put too much stock into players from this game.
Top FPL player targets this weekend:
GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE, GK, £6.2mil, 17.9% ownership)
DEF: Ben Chilwell (CHE, DEF, £5.9mil, 14.7% ownership)
MID: Mason Mount (CHE, MID, £7.5mil, 16.0% ownership)
FWD: Roberto Firmino (LIV, FWD, £8.9mil, 5.1% ownership)
Gameweek 10 – FPL Differential Picks:
LEI/ARS: James Maddison (LEI, MID, £6.7mil, 4.0% ownership)
BUR/BRE: Rico Henry (BRE, DEF, £4.5mil, 1.3% ownership)
LIV/BHA: Andrew Robertson (LIV, DEF, £7.0mil, 2.2% ownership)
MCI/CRY: Bernardo Silva (MCI, MID, £7.0mil, 5.6% ownership)
NEW/CHE: Reece James (CHE, DEF, £5.6mil, 7.0% ownership)
WAT/SOU: Joshua King (BOU, FWD, £5.6mil, 2.8% ownership)
TOT/MUN: Harry Kane (TOT, FWD, £12.1mil, 6.6% ownership)
NOR/LEE: Rodrigo Moreno (LEE, FWD, £6.3mil, 1.6% ownership)
AVL/WHU: Jarrod Bowen (WHU, MID, £6.3mil, 1.3% ownership)
WOL/EVE: Raúl Jiménez (WOL, FWD, £7.6mil, 7.5% ownership)
Differential Captain: Reece James (Chelsea)
Chelsea are on a hot-streak and they have the players to now sustain a title challenge. Their defence has lots of moving parts, and as exhibited by the 7-0 win over Norwich in GW9 they can even do it convincingly when their two strikers are out injured. Reece James had a 13pt game against Norwich, with both of Chelsea’s full backs impressing. I doubt they are going to change their team for this game against Newcastle, with both the wingbacks having an important role in breaking down a five-man Newcastle defence. James might also be a good investment for the next three games.
Gameweek 10 - FPL Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Mohamad Salah (Liverpool)
Alternative: Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
Differential: Reece James (Chelsea)
England vs. FPL:
Before Liverpool played, the 3 Lions were dominating the average score. Then, Mo Salah played. The Egyptian King tripled the average score because he was awarding every team 48pts. Salah is having a Carlos Vela year by fantasy game comparison, the Mexican dominated the MLS two seasons ago before his long-term injury, and the main difference is that Salah is doing it in the best league in the world consistently. This isn’t 3 Lions vs. Template FPL anymore. It is 3 Lions vs. Mo Salah (C). I lost out to the average score because of Salah, and I am okay with that being a Liverpool supporter.
Ins: Reece James (CHE)
Outs: Kyle Walker (MCI)
Just the one transfer this week, with Reece James coming in for the disappointing Kyle Walker who got me 1pt in two weeks. I am sticking with the RWB who is also this week’s differential captain. Lots of points in defence, so sticking what has been working. That is why I am going with the combo of Trent (C) and Chilwell (VC) as my captaincy options for GW10.
GW9 Returns: 5/11
GW9 Points: 57pts (-4pts: 53pts)
GW9 Average Points: 64pts
England FPL XI
Formation: 4-3-3
GK: James McCarthy (SOU)
DEF: Reece James (CHE)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV) (C)
DEF: Ben Chilwell (CHE) (VC)
DEF: Aaron Creswell (WHU)
MID: Jack Grealish (MCI)
MID: Bukayo Saka (ARS)
MID: Curtis Jones (LIV)
FWD: Jamie Vardy (LEI)
FWD: Harry Kane (TOT)
FWD: Danny Ings (AVL)
Substitutes:
GK: Aaron Ramsdale (ARS)
MID: Emile Smith Rowe (ARS)
DEF: Conor Coady (WOL)
MID: Conor Gallagher (CRY)
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 10
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)
DEF: Reece James (CHE)
DEF: Ben Chilwell (CHE)
MID: Bernardo Silva (MCI)
MID: Mohamad Salah (LIV) - (C)
MID: Sadio Mane (LIV)
MID: Phil Foden (MCI)
FOR: Hee-Chan Hwang (WOL)
FOR: Michail Antonio (WHU)
FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI) - (VC)
Substitutes
GK: Ederson (MCI)
MID: Emile Smith-Rowe (ARS)
DEF: Aaron Cresswell (WHU)
DEF: Tino Livramento (SOU)
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 10
Leicester 2-1 Arsenal
Burnley 0-2 Brentford
Liverpool 2-0 Brighton
Man City 4-0 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea
Watford 0-0 Southampton
Spurs 1-0 Man United
Norwich 1-3 Leeds
Aston Villa 1-2 West Ham
Wolves 1-1 Everton
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 10
What are the potential stumbling blocks to a good Gameweek 10?:
1) League Cup Rotation: Most of the top sides were in action and largely rotated their teams in the Carabao Cup. A few key FPL players currently on the radar, Phil Foden and Kai Havertz for example, featured during the week. I’m not expecting a lot, but there always runs the risk of a few players missing out, especially at City and Chelsea.
2) Injuries: There are a lot of doubts right now across popular players in FPL. Press conferences have cleared the likes of Jamie Vardy (LEI) to play, which is great news, though it might be a week of taking pre-emptive points hits.
3) Salah Blanks: Playing devils advocate here, but let’s just say Mo Salah doesn’t score or assist against Brighton, the midfielder who is carrying 69.1% of FPL players right now, will drastically bring down the average score. I’m expecting virtually every single active FPL player from that near 70% to put the armband on Salah.
4) Mid-Table Clashes: Villa v. West Ham and Wolves v. Everton are classic mid-table clashes that threaten to bore and provide little in terms of FPL returns. I’ve always hated these type of negating fixtures.
5) The ‘Big 3’ This Gameweek: It looks like most of the points will be arising from Chelsea’s visit to Newcastle, Man City hosting Palace, and Liverpool hosting Brighton. Everything else does not look promising, so a lot of public and social media expectation will be on the trio of 3pm games coming good.
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Predictable Winners (LIV, MCI & CHE):
3pm kick-offs on Saturday is where the meat of the action for FPL players will be this Gameweek, with Liverpool, City and Chelsea all in heavily favourable and winnable fixtures. Liverpool have the form and the players to roll through Brighton, whilst Newcastle will be defending for 90 minutes against Chelsea without much of a goal threat. Man City’s home game against Palace seems like an academic home win at this point, but the Eagles might offer a little something going forward. All seems largely predictable and routine though, so it would be nice to have some spice put on these fixtures if at all possible.
Predictable Losers (BUR, NEW & NOR):
Shoe on the other foot, those occupying the relegation look like they’ll all be struggling to pick up their first wins against this weekend. Brentford have some steel away from home, whilst Newcastle as noted above aren’t up to Chelsea’s level (yet – give it a few years), with Norwich a complete afterthought already this season and destined for the most predictable relegation of all time.
Man United (Avoid):
I think Spurs are organised well-enough to get through this game with a win. United have a lot of power in attack but are poorly organised, and have absolutely no direction on the pitch. Spurs at least know how they play, and will absorb pressure in a low-block, with Kane and Son as the outlets. A narrow home win feels right this week, though in reality it is a hard call as no one knows the type of reaction to expect after United had their pants pulled down against Liverpool last Sunday.
Leicester (Watch):
This Leicester team has back-to-back results that pleases the eye, tearing open Man United 4-2 at home (GW8), before snatching a professional 2-1 away win at Brentford (GW9). The visit of Arsenal in Saturday’s early kick-off threatens to be a lively game if the early game doesn’t strike again with a slow and lazy early game, as both teams are on the up. I’m still fancying Leicester for this one to get the business done and for Jamie Vardy to redeem the masses after last weekend’s half-time withdrawal at Brentford.
Gameweek 10 - FPL Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Mohamed Salah (LIV)
Alternative: None
Differential: None
Mo Salah is undeniable after 9 games in the Premier League this season. 10 goals, 6 assists and 16 bonus in FPL, helping a grand total of 107pts is 50pts more than the next best asset in the game, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy (57pts). This is of course ignoring Champions League football too, with Salah scoring 5 in the UCL, bringing his tally to 15 goals in 12 matches.
We’re talking about top-tier form that we’d have gushed about if these numbers were being delivered by prime Ronaldo or Messi – and the difference in quality was on show and visibly clear at Old Trafford on Sunday when the all-time leading scorer in international football was reduced to a frustrated mess in the first-half as The Reds cruised to a 4-0 lead before the break – literally to the point of Ronaldo kicking his opponents when they’re down on the ground, whilst Salah minutes later wheels off having completed a fantastic hat-trick at the home of Man United’s sworn rivals.
The hype around The Egyptian King is certainly real and it’s not going away. Salah has become the default captain in FPL and right now you have to be a very brave person to bet against this huge train of momentum, especially as Liverpool host Brighton, a team that Salah has scored in 4 of 7 matches against in the league – though he didn’t find the back of the net against The Seagulls last season.
The level of prestige currently put on Salah’s name right now, and the circumstances of him being the only bankable captain choice, is giving me massive déjà vu about another player in Fantasy Football that had, quite arguably, the greatest season in any Fantasy game.
The 2019 Major League Soccer (MLS) season saw LAFC’s Carlos Vela absolutely dominate the MLS Fantasy game, with the Mexican destroying teams every single Gameweek. The former Arsenal winger was clinical and much like Salah right now, inevitable. Of course, we are talking about two massively varying levels of football, with Salah at the very summit of world football right now, but Vela’s bubble within MLS smacks of similarity having covered the game intensely during the 2019 MLS season.
In 2019, Vela broke the scoring record during the regular 34-game season, finding the goal 34 times, whilst providing 15 assists too. Vela managed 85 bonus points, with the game more liberal with awarding bonus points – every player earns bonus organically based on their performances, not just the top few players in each game, a system you see utilised in FPL every week. The Forward managed a huge total of 363 points that season and averaged 11.71 points-per-game, a huge total that surpassed Salah’s record-breaking 303 FPL points obtained during the 2017/18 season.
Interestingly, after 9 games this season we are still far off comparing Vela’s finished product and a fine start, though it is worth noting that Salah has averaged 11.88 points-per-game so far this season, which surpasses Vela’s 11.71 PPG and is even more impressive given that the bonus points system in MLS is uncapped in how much bonus you can earn each game, whilst the FPL limits top players to 3 bonus points as a maximum. Currently, Salah is on course to smash records again in FPL this season (please, please don’t get injured) and even if he has the odd blip, with Vela only blanking 3 times in 31 league appearances for instance, it won’t harm or diminish arguably the best start to an FPL season of all time.
Other Gameweek Comments:
Newcastle Watch:
My beloved Magpies were absolutely woeful away at Crystal Palace, yet somehow managed to nab a point. Thankfully, Benteke’s been an ever-reliable at missing more than he scores, otherwise we’d have been thumped by 5 or 6 goals easily. This weekend doesn’t really offer anything new, with a likely defeat against future title rivals Chelsea putting more pressure on the team to get in a new Manager, with the likelihood of a big January spend more and more likely depending on the club’s position in the table come January – and without spoiling too much, we’re going to be at the bottom of the table as we’ve yet to play many ‘big guns’ in the league so far.
On ‘Black History Month’ promotion on the Premier League website:
I’d love to have black history promoted all the time, and not relegated to a particular month. This applies across the board and is more a social commentary on how certain organisation like to box in particular races into a window of time. What’s so wrong with just Black History? This would fall in line with the year-round No Room for Racism campaign.
On Premier League title favourites:
I honestly think the race for the title depends on the fate of AFCON. Rumoured to be either postponed by hosts Cameroon, potentially cancelled altogether, if Liverpool lose Mane and Salah for the early part of 2022 I think it will decide the title race. Man City have more than enough to cover their losses during the period, with Riyad Mahrez the big name to jet off for Algeria. It looks like the trio of City, Chelsea and Liverpool though will go toe-to-toe for a few months and will begin to split off from the pack before the Champions League returns next year. If Liverpool retain Salah, Mane and Keita, I really think the Reds have enough in the tank to hold off the wealth of their competitors, though without their star performers I just think the City winning-machine will be too much.
FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 10
Formation: 4-3-3
Starting 11
GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE)
DEF: Ben Chilwell (CHE)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV) – (VC)
DEF: Ruben Dias (MCI)
DEF: Tino Livramento (SOU)
MID: Mohamed Salah (LIV) – (C)
MID: Phil Foden (MCI)
MID: Kai Havertz (CHE)
FOR: Michail Antonio (WHU)
FOR: Hee-Chan Hwang (WOL)
FOR: Gabriel Jesus (MCI)
Substitutes
GK: Ben Foster (WAT)
MID: James Maddison (LEI)
MID: Emile Smith-Rowe (ARS)
DEF: Ben Johnson (WHU)
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The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in general football and 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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