Premier League 2022/23 Season: FPL Fantasy Forecast - Gameweek 2
Ahead of each Gameweek in the Premier League, The Hype Train's team - Robert Austin, Sam Austin, and Phil Jones - provide a rundown of the upcoming round of games in the Premier League; predicting scores for every game, picking a budgeted squad of 15 players that we think are the top selections each week, whilst ee also comb over other relevant statistics, impressions and insight from around the game and the league to best navigate you through the world of fantasy football, all for free. Welcome to the Forecast. All aboard.
Premier League: Gameweek 2 Fixtures:
2022/23 Premier League Season: Fixture Predictions
Below, our score predictions pit the train's three members against one another. Let's find out how they think the Gameweek will shape up for teams.
- There are only 3 games this week which the team agree on, and that's wins for Arsenal over Leicester, Man City over Bournemouth, and Liverpool over Crystal Palace.
- There are 3 different results for 1 game, with Aston Villa vs. Everton on the end of varying winners in each.
- Only Man City and Liverpool have been given the seal of approval for clean sheets during Gameweek 2.
- Rob has gone against the grain and has predicted that Nottingham Forest will pick up a point on their first home match of the season, whilst Phil has gone the other way and thinks Brighton are value for money against Newcastle.
- Overall, due to some very difficult games to predict, the team have largely downgraded the number of goals they think will be scored during Gameweek 2.
2022/23 Premier League Season: Fantasy Forecast
The team go through a list of questions and insight to provide their predictions ahead of each Gameweek. None of the team pay for any subscription based FPL services, and the type of opinions here are based in both stats and analytical thinking where possible, as we tackle the latest round of games.
2022/23 Premier League Season: Gameweek 2 Fantasy Forecast (Sam Austin)
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 2
Aston Villa 0-0 Everton
Arsenal 2-0 Leicester
Brighton 0-1 Newcastle
Man City 4-0 Bournemouth
Southampton 1-2 Leeds
Wolves 2-1 Fulham
Brentford 2-1 Man United
Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham
Chelsea 1-1 Spurs
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 2
What did you learn from Gameweek 1?:
That Mo Salah is essential to every team.
That Haaland is going to score a scary number of goals.
That Newcastle’s defence is going to be an elite option this year.
That Chelsea is going to grind out many games this season.
That Manchester United may struggle, again.
That Spurs are going to score lots of goals across their front three.
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Liverpool (Watch): The Reds beat Palace 2-0 in pre-season, and I can see an exact repeat. Mo Salah also scored in that game.
Man City (Watch): Pep’s team host Bournemouth, and it may be the first time we see a walkover score from the Sky Blues this season.
Chelsea vs. Spurs (???): This could be a stalemate. Chelsea looks very gritty in defence but lack an outlet, and that might lead to them just sitting back against Spurs.
Leeds (Watch): Leeds looked very good against Wolves on the opening day, and with Bamford back, and Aaronson looking like a goal threat, I think that Leeds are moving in the right direction. Southampton looked woeful in their first game so I can see this game going in favour of the away team.
Top FPL player targets ahead of Gameweek 2:
GK: Nick Pope (NEW, GK, £5.0mil, 4.5% ownership)
DEF: Oleksandr Zinchenko (ARS, DEF, £5.1mil, 24.8% ownership)
MID: Jarrod Bowen (WHU, MID, £8.5mil, 6.5% ownership)
FWD: Darwin Núñez (LIV, FWD, £9.1mil, 24.8% ownership)
Gameweek 2 - FPL Differential Picks:
AVL/EVE: Danny Ings (AVL, FWD, £7.0mil, 1.9% ownership)
ARS/LEI: William Saliba (ARS, DEF, £4.5mil, 5.3% ownership)
BHA/NEW: Nick Pope (NEW, GK, £5.0mil, 4.5% ownership)
MCI/BOU: Jack Grealish (MCI, MID, £7.0mil, 4.4% ownership)
SOU/LEE: Brenden Aaronson (LEE, MID, £5.5mil, 1.3% ownership)
WOL/FUL: Hwang Hee-chan (WOL, MID, £6.0mil, 0.6% ownership)
BRE/MUN: Ivan Toney (BRE, FWD, £7.0mil, 5.7% ownership)
NFO/WHU: Aaron Cresswell (WHU, DEF, £5.0mil, 3.5% ownership)
CHE/TOT: Ben Chilwell (CHE, DEF, £6.0mil, 4.6% ownership)
LIV/CRY: Joe Gomez (LIV, DEF, £4.5mil, 0.3% ownership)
Differential Captain: Ivan Toney (Brentford)
After watching Man United get torn apart by Brighton, I can see Ivan Toney causing United plenty of problems. This is also the best differential this week that will be overlooked because a lot of people still expect something from United. Nobody will be looking at Brentford to get a result, but I do. I can see Toney getting on the scoresheet, and Brentford winning.
Gameweek 2 - FPL Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Mo Salah (LIV)
Alternative: Erling Haaland (MCI)
Differential (low ownership %): Ivan Toney (BRE)
Rest of the World XI Challenge Team:
What is Sam’s team all about?: For the 22/23 season, Sam’s latest challenge sees his actual squad only being comprised of players from outside of Europe, with players only from Asia, North and South America, Australasia, and Africa considered.
Target Points: 2330pts
Total Points: 57pts
22/23 Captaincy: 1/1
Ins: Brendon Aaronson (LEE), Matt Turner (ARS)
Outs: Bruno (NEW), Robert Sanchez (BHA)
The Gameweek 2 team of the non-EU challenge includes:
22/23 Challenge: Rest of the World XI
GW1 Formation: 3-5-2
GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE)
DEF: Kalidou Koulibaly (CHE)
DEF: Diego Carlos (AVL)
DEF: Lisandro Martinez (MUN)
MID: Hueng-Min Son (TOT)
MID: Riyad Mahrez (MCI)
MID: Brendon Aaronson (LEE)
MID: Mohamad Salah (LIV) - (C)
MID: Andreas Pereira (FUL)
FWD: Gabriel Jesus (ARS)
FWD: Darwin Núñez (LIV) - (VC)
Substitutes:
GK: Matt Turner (ARS)
FWD: Taiwo Awoniyi (NFO)
DEF: Davinson Sánchez (TOT)
DEF: Tariq Lamptey (BHA)
2022/23 Premier League Season: Gameweek 2 Fantasy Forecast (Phil Jones)
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 2
Aston Villa 0-0 Everton
Arsenal 2-0 Leicester
Brighton 0-1 Newcastle
Man City 4-0 Bournemouth
Southampton 1-2 Leeds
Wolves 2-1 Fulham
Brentford 2-1 Man United
Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham
Chelsea 1-1 Spurs
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace
FPL Squad Picks: Gameweek 1
Formation: 4-4-2
Budget: £100.0m
Starting 11
GK: Nick Pope (AVL)
DEF: Reece James (CHE)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)
DEF: Oleksandr Zinchenko (ARS)
DEF: James Tarkowski (EVE)
MID: Mohamed Salah (LIV) – (C)
MID: Jarrod Bowen (WHU)
MID: Gabriel Martinelli (ARS)
MID: Riayd Mahrez (MCI)
FOR: Erling Haaland (TOT) - (VC)
FOR: Gabriel Jesus (ARS)
Substitutes
GK: Danny Ward (LEI)
DEF: Andreas Pereira (FUL)
MID: Neco Williams (NFO)
FOR: Cameron Archer (AVL)
2022/23 Premier League Season: Gameweek 2 Fantasy Forecast (Robert Austin)
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 2
Aston Villa 1-0 Everton
Arsenal 3-1 Leicester
Brighton 0-2 Newcastle
Man City 5-0 Bournemouth
Southampton 1-1 Leeds
Wolves 2-1 Fulham
Brentford 2-1 Man United
Nottingham Forest 1-1 West Ham
Chelsea 0-0 Spurs
Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 2
What did you learn from Gameweek 1?:
The opening weekend of fixtures only had a couple of surprises. The first was Liverpool dropping points at Fulham, and the next being Man United losing at home to Brighton – if you can even call that a surprise at this point.
It was an odd Gameweek for set-piece takers. Of the 28 goals, only 2 were penalty kicks (Mitrovic vs. Liverpool and Haaland vs. West Ham), whilst open play goals were most common.
Largely though, not a lot has changed (yet) in the league. So it will be more of the same from last season to be honest, maybe one team will start well and build momentum, but that’s it. Brighton did it last season and dropped off.
Gameweek 2 has flipped the script with away teams at home, so there may be a few more surprises yet, especially as the second weekend has some very hard 50/50 games to predict.
What are the potential stumbling blocks to a good Gameweek?:
In FPL last week, I managed 82 points with an overall ranking of 169,876, so had a very good start. Had Haaland in over Kane and largely had a bulk of returns, so my team is going to be identical this week – definitely one of the luck one’s who doesn’t have to make any surgery this early on. So any advice will be thinking about players whose Gameweek 1 didn’t go completely to plan.
Overthinking: Last week I (and millions others) stated that FPL is a marathon, not a sprint. If you had a bad Gameweek, it’s not the end of the world. Next week could see your teams thrive, whilst others suffer. It’s the nature of the game. Just ensure that you aren’t making knee-jerk moves that sees you cannibalise points by dropping points that don’t need to be dropped.
50/50 Matches: It took me a while to make my predictions this week, to the point that I was scouring the records between clubs to look for a theme. Only Arsenal, Liverpool, and City, are nailed on this week according to the pundits, whilst Chelsea play Spurs in a game that could go either way, whilst Brentford can get a result against United too. Every other game has this problem, so there will be lot of swing results this week that will shape Gameweek 2.
Shocks for City & Liverpool: Liverpool and City are clear of other teams this week, though if Palace or Bournemouth show up, which isn’t an impossibility, it will severely reduce the Gameweek’s potential.
Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:
Leeds (Watch): Played with some serious attacking intent and were entertainers against Wolves on opening day. Southampton looked all over the place defensively against Spurs, it happens to the best teams under Conte teams at times, but really looked all over the shop and may struggle in the early part of the season.
West Ham (Dubious): After being destroyed by a top Newcastle team, Nottingham Forest can reset and have a home game they’ll never forget, and it’s possible that due to a false start against City, West Ham are ideal candidates to play as they look to bounce back. Forest kept a compact shape and were compact at times,
Newcastle (Watch): The Magpies are being unfairly compared to Man United when it comes to Gameweek 2. Unlike United, Newcastle have a top level defensive line and a settled, balanced team. United played without a striker against Graham Potter’s side, and made it easy for the Seagulls, a luxury they won’t get if a classy Newcastle team turn up with a purpose.
Man United (Avoid): This club needs a Guy Fawkes moment which allows the club to start fresh. No matter the Manager, the club has the same black mould on the walls and it won’t go away. Brentford will offer similar problems as Brighton did, so can see a repeat of Sunday’s game at Old Trafford.
Chelsea & Spurs (Avoid?): A truly unpredictable game, that is being edged by Spurs by the pundits due to the Conte effect on the travelling side. Spurs haven’t scored in 5 games against Chelsea though, and largely struggles against Tuchel’s side, so I am expecting a low-scoring, tactical affair.
Gameweek 1 - FPL Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Erling Haaland (MCI)
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (LIV)
Differential (low ownership %): Patrick Bamford (LEE)
FPL Squad Picks: Gameweek 2
Formation: 4-3-3
Budget: £100.2m
Starting 11
GK: Aaron Ramsdale (ARS)
DEF: Reece James (CHE)
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)
DEF: Kieran Trippier (NEW)
DEF: Kyle Walker (MCI)
MID: Mohamed Salah (LIV) – (VC)
MID: Luis Diaz (LIV)
MID: Gabriel Martinelli (ARS)
FOR: Erling Haaland (MCI) – (C)
FOR: Callum Wilson (NEW)
FOR: Gabriel Jesus (ARS)
Substitutes
GK: Danny Ward (LEI)
MID: Leon Bailey (AVL)
MID: Andreas Pereira (FUL)
DEF: Neco Williams (NFO)
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
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.
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. We won both Goal of the Season Awards in the Berkshire and County FA regions, with Callum Parr-Jones winning the Berks & Bucks FA award, whilst Martin King won the PlaySport UK award.
In 2021, we formed the Reading Sunday Social League (RSSL), a competitive Sunday League involving 8 teams in its debut season. During the 2021/22 season, we won our first-ever trophy, lifting the East Berkshire Football League's Presidents Cup!
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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