FANTASY FORECAST 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 23
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 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 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 are asking 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 3 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.
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: 2017/18 Points Table
In our predictions a perfect score is 3 points, and predicting the right outcome is worth 1 point (aka if a team wins but, you predict it, but don't get the perfect score). Below is the Gameweek and overall rundown of our Premier League predictions series for the season.
Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam): 6 (1), 4 (2), 8 (3), 3 (4), 9 (5), 6 (6), 7 (7), 7 (8), 4 (9), 12 (10), 5 (11), 7 (12), 4 (13), 6 (14), 8 (15), 4 (16), 12 (17), 6 (18), 6 (19), 8 (20), 2 (21), 6 (22) = 140pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 10 (1), 5 (2), 6 (3), 4 (4), 9 (5), 5 (6), 5 (7), 3 (8), 3 (9), 8 (10), 4 (11), 7 (12), 5 (13), 4 (14), 5 (15), 6 (16), 9 (17), 7 (18), 2 (19), 8 (20), 2 (21), 12 (22) = 129pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 4 (1), 5 (2), 8 (3), 2 (4), 7 (5), 9 (6), 8 (7), 10 (8), 8 (9), 6 (10), 5 (11), 6 (12), 13 (13), 5 (14), 8 (15), 9 (16), 10 (17), 9 (18), 5 (19), 5 (20), 5 (21), 9 (22) = 156pts
Special Guests: 4 (1), 4 (2), 7 (3), 2 (4), 2 (5), 8 (6), 13 (7), 9 (8), 3 (9), 10 (10), 4 (11), 8 (12), 7 (13), 4 (14), 13 (15), 8 (16), 8 (17), 9 (18), 4 (19), 5 (20), 6 (21), 12 (22) = 145pts
Special Guests
GW1 - @FPLConnect: 4 points (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW2 - @FPLsleuth: 4 points (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW3 - @FPLBraveheart: 6 points (1 perfect, 3 correct, 6 wrong)
GW4 - @FPLJournalBlog: 2 points (0 perfect, 2 correct, 8 wrong)
GW5 - @FPL_Ted: 2 points (0 perfect, 2 correct, 8 wrong)
GW6 - @CGA_FPL: 8 points (1 perfect, 5 correct, 4 wrong)
GW7 - @FPLMad: 11pts (3 perfect, 2 correct, 5 wrong)
GW8 - @OddsOnFPL: 9pts (2 perfect, 3 correct, 5 wrong)
GW9 - @FPL_vs: 3pts (0 perfect, 3 correct, 7 wrong)
GW10 - @TheTinkerMen: 10pts (2 perfect, 4 correct, 4 wrong)
GW11 - @FPLStag: 4 pts (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW12 - @FFootballHub: 8pts (1 perfect, 5 correct, 4 wrong)
GW13 - @FPL_Aussie: 7pts (1 perfect, 4 correct, 5 wrong)
GW14 - @ShirtsvSkinsFPL: 4pts (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW15 - @TheFPLPodcast: 13pts (3 perfect, 4 correct, 3 wrong)
GW16 - @FPLFanatix: 8pts (2 perfect, 2 correct, 6 wrong)
GW17 - @FPLDino: 8pts (1 perfect, 5 correct, 4 wrong)
GW18 - @FplFreddo: 9pts (1 perfect, 6 correct, 3 wrong)
GW19 - @FPL_Batman: 4pts (0 perfect, 4 correct, 6 wrong)
GW20 - @FPL_FC: 5pts (0 perfect, 5 correct, 5 wrong)
GW21 - @FPLSavage: 6pts (1 perfect, 3 correct, 6 wrong)
GW22 - FPLMoose: 12pts (2 perfect, 6 correct, 3 wrong)
Individual Gameweek Predictions
GW1: Sam (6), Phil (10), Rob (4), @FPL_Connect (4)
GW2: Sam (4), Phil (5), Rob (5), @FPLsleuth (4)
GW3: Sam (8), Phil (6), Rob, (8), @FPLBraveheart (7)
GW4: Sam (3), Phil (4), Rob (2), @FPLJournalBlog (2)
GW5: Sam (9), Phil (9), Rob (7), @FPL_Ted (2)
GW6: Sam (6), Phil (5), Rob (9), @CGA_FPL (8)
GW7: Sam (5), Phil (7), Rob (8), @FPLMad (11)
GW8: Sam (7), Phil (3), Rob (10), @OddsOnFPL (9)
GW9: Sam (4), Phil (3), Rob (8), @FPL_vs (3)
GW10: Sam (12), Phil (8), Rob (6), @TheTinkerMen (10)
GW11: Sam (5), Phil (4), Rob (5), @FPLStag (4)
GW12: Sam (7), Phil (7), Rob (6), @FFootballHub (8)
GW13: Sam (4), Phil (5), Rob (13), @FPL_Aussie (7)
GW14: Sam (6), Phil (4), Rob (5), @ShirtsvSkinsFPL (4)
GW15: Sam (8), Phil (5), Rob (8), @TheFPLPodcast (13)
GW16: Sam (4), Phil (6), Rob (9), @FPLFanatix (8)
GW17: Sam (12), Phil (9), Rob (10), @FPLDino (8)
GW18: Sam (6), Phil (7), Rob (9), @FplFreddo (9)
GW19: Sam (6), Phil (2), Rob (5), @FPL_Batman (4)
GW20: Sam (8), Phil (8), Rob (5), @FPL_FC (5)
GW21: Sam (2), Phil (2), Rob (5), @FPLSavage (6)
GW22: Sam (6), Phil (12), Rob (9), @FPLMoose (12)
FPL Scout Picks: 2017/18 Points Table
Picking a squad of 15 for a single Gameweek, 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). Below is the Gameweek and overall rundown of our Premier League predictions series for the season.
Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam): 82 (1), 61 (2), 58 (3), 23 (4), 60 (5), 72 (6), 55 (7), 54 (8), 51 (9), 45 (1), 59 (11), 101 (12), 47 (13), 75 (14), 58 (15), 68 (16), 54 (17), 53 (18), 89 (19), 93 (20), 65 (21), (22) = 1,323pts
Phil Jones (@HypeTrainPhil): 81 (1), 57 (2), 38 (3), 49 (4), 58 (5), 73 (6), 65 (7), 63 (8), 46 (9), 48 (10), 57 (11), 77 (12), 55 (13), 59 (14), 47 (15), 62 (16), 47 (17), 75 (18), 101 (19), 106 (20), 51 (21), (22) = 1,315pts
Robert Austin (@HypeTrainRob): 67 (1), 43 (2), 48 (3), 36 (4), 74 (5), 78 (6), 68 (7), 39 (8), 47 (9), 55 (10), 55 (11), 80 (12), 54 (13), 51 (14), 68 (15), 65 (16), 51 (17), 79 (18), 91 (19), 98 (20), 63 (21), (22) = 1,310pts
Special Guests: 54 (1), 45 (2), 41 (3), 40 (4), 72 (5), 77 (6), 81 (7), 53 (8), 26 (9), 52 (10), 56 (11), 84 (12), 47 (13), 74 (14), 75 (15), 55 (16), 54 (17), 69 (18), 86 (19), 118 (20), 71 (21), (22) = 1,330pts
Special Guests
GW1 - @FPL_Connect: 54 points (Captain Kane, 2pts)
GW2 - @FPLsleuth: 45 points (Captain Lukaku, 12pts)
GW3 - @FPLBraveheart: 41 points (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW4 - @FPLJournalBlog: 40 points (Captain Mane, -4pts)
GW5 - @FPL_Ted: 72 points (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW6 - @CGA_FPL: 77 points (Captain Aguero, 22pts)
GW7 - @FPLMad: 81pts (Captain Kane, 26pts)
GW8 - @OddsOnFPL: 53pts (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW9 - @FPL_vs: 26pts (Captain Jesus, 2pts)
GW10 - @TheTinkerMen: 52pts (Captain Salah, 8pts)
GW11 - @FPLStag: 56pts (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW12 - @FFootballHub: 84pts (Captain Lukaku, 12pts)
GW13 - @FPL_Aussie: 47pts (Captain Kane, 16pts)
GW14 - @ShirtsvSkinsFPL: 74pts (Captain Kane, 12pts)
GW15 - @TheFPLPodcast: 75pts (Captain Hazard, 30pts)
GW16 - @FPLFanatix: 55pts (Captain Kane, 24pts)
GW17 - @FPLDino: 54pts (Captain Kane, 4pts)
GW18 - @FplFreddo: 69pts (Captain Salah, 16pts)
GW19 - @FPL_Batman: 86pts (Captain Aguero, 32pts)
GW20 - @FPL_FC: 118pts (Captain Kane, 34pts)
GW21 - @FPLSavage: 71pts (Captain Salah, 28pts)
GW22 - @FPLMoose: TBA
Individual Gameweek Scout Picks
GW1: Sam (82), Phil (81), Rob (67), @FPL_Connect (54)
GW2: Sam (61), Phil (57), Rob (43), @FPLsleuth (45)
GW3: Sam (58), Phil (38), Rob, (48), @FPLBraveheart (41)
GW4: Sam (23), Phil (49), Rob (36), @FPLJournalBlog (40)
GW5: Sam (60), Phil (58), Rob (74), @FPL_Ted (72)
GW6: Sam (72), Phil (73), Rob (78), @CGA_FPL (77)
GW7: Sam (55), Phil (65), Rob (68), @FPLMad (81)
GW8: Sam (54), Phil (63), Rob (39), @OddsOnFPL (53)
GW9: Sam (51), Phil (46), Rob (47), @FPL_vs (26)
GW10: Sam (45), Phil (48), Rob (55), @TheTinkerMen (52)
GW11: Sam (59), Phil (57), Rob (55), @FPLStag (56)
GW12: Sam (101), Phil (77), Rob (80), @FFootballHub (84)
GW13: Sam (47), Phil (55), Rob (54), @FPL_Aussie (47)
GW14: Sam (75), Phil (59), Rob (51), @ShirtsvSkinsFPL (74)
GW15: Sam (58), Phil (47), Rob (68), @TheFPLPodcast (75)
GW16: Sam (68), Phil (62), Rob (65), @FPLFanatix (55)
GW17: Sam (54), Phil (47), Rob (51), @FPLDino (54)
GW18: Sam (53), Phil (75), Rob (79), @FplFreddo (69)
GW19: Sam (89), Phil (101), Rob (91), @FPL_Batman (86)
GW20: Sam (93), Phil (106), Rob (98), @FPL_FC (118)
GW21: Sam (65), Phil (51), Rob (63), @FPLSavage (71)
GW22: Sam (), Phil (), Rob, @FPLMoose ()
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 23
Chelsea 2-1 Leicester
Crystal Palace 2-1 Burnley
Huddersfield 1-1 West Ham
Newcastle 1-0 Swansea
Watford 1-1 Southampton
West Brom 0-0 Brighton
Spurs 2-1 Everton
Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal
Liverpool 1-1 Man City
Man United 3-0 Stoke
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 23
Best GW Attacking Options
Chelsea (H) vs. Leicester
Crystal Palace (H) vs. Burnley
Newcastle (H) vs. Swansea
Spurs (H) vs. Everton
Arsenal (A) vs. Bournemouth
Liverpool (H) vs. Man City
Man City (A) vs. Liverpool
Man United (H) vs. Stoke City
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential
Newcastle (H) vs. Swansea
West Brom (H) vs. Brighton
Brighton (A) vs. West Brom
Man United (H) vs. Stoke City
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?
IN: Mathew Ryan (GK), Luke Shaw (DEF), Marko Arnautovic (MID), Cenk Tosun (FW)
OUT: Asmir Begovic (GK), Chris Smalling (DEF), Coutinho (MID), Alvaro Morata (FW)
The reason I have stated Morata as an ‘Out’ is the fact that he misses easy chances. I am breaking my exception of commenting on individual players because Morata let everyone down last week, and I firmly support the argument that Chelsea should have done more to convince Diego Costa that his future was in London.
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?
Defenders. Defenders. Defenders. So many dead games, so many defensive opportunities, most games look tight, very close, so take advantage of defenders in your draft team.
Also, I have Coutinho in my draft team, and I am mortally wounded by the lack of midfielders left on the market. It was good whilst it lasted.
Who are the teams to look out for?
Crystal Palace: Roy’s boys are back at it again, and the amazing stat is that they have lost only one game (vs. Arsenal) since the end of October. Burnley are missing defenders, and Palace are regularly scoring a minimum of two goals per game at Selhurst Park.
Liverpool: As a supporter I have a good feeling the Reds might hit Man City where it hurts. I have hope, and why can’t it be a good afternoon at Anfield? Salah is back and Liverpool have a point to prove after losing Coutinho, and the thrashing the Reds had at the hands of Man City earlier on in the season.
Who are the teams to avoid?
Arsenal: The reserves are depleted, poor Lacazette might have Iwobi, and…someone else, up top with him at the weekend. Might even be Theo Walcott to bump up his value if Everton are interested. Bournemouth might push them. I have gone for a Gunners win due to the record Arsenal have in this fixture, but I am a weary over the result.
Swansea: This might be a tight encounter, but one that sways into the corner of Newcastle. The Swans might be one of the few teams to not have any players pick up points.
GW Differential Picks
Wilfried Zaha and Marko Arnautovic are the ones to watch this week. I do the weekly differential article so take a peak and be amazed at the number of defensive assets I have selected.
FPL Captaincy Picks
(C): Romelu Lukaku – The easiest captaincy selection of the upcoming weekend, Man United have the clearest fixture for attacking potential, and Lukaku will play. Case closed.
(VC): Mohamad Salah – The King of Egypt is back after recovering from injury and he has the qualities and form to dent Man City’s defence.
Other Gameweek Comments
There are so many tightly contested fixtures this week I can’t imagine many teams winning by more than single goal margins. Weigh it up in your mind, do most of these teams really have what it takes to better the teams around their level? Teams will come back from a break having the incentive to keep it tight, which might to a very negative detail about the Gameweek.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 23
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David De Gea
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles
DEF: Luke Shaw
MID: Mohamad Salah (VC)
MID: Wilfried Zaha
MID: Richarlison
MID: Eden Hazard
FOR: Romelu Lukaku (C)
FOR: Harry Kane
FOR: Sergio Aguero
Substitutes
GK: Mathew Ryan
MID: Marko Arnautovic
DEF: Andreas Christensen
DEF: Virgil van Dijk
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 23
Chelsea 2-1 Leicester Crystal Palace 0-1 Burnley Huddersfield 1-3 West Ham Newcastle 2-0 Swansea Watford 0-1 Southampton West Brom 1-0 Brighton Spurs 3-1 Everton Bournemouth 1-3 Arsenal Liverpool 2-1 Man City Man United 4-0 Stoke
FPL Captaincy Picks (C) Harry Kane: When should it not be? (VC) Mo Salah: A tough fixture to return from injury to, but this is the Egyptian Messi we are talking about. Coutinho moving to Barca should have little impact on his returns as the Brazilians absence in previous weeks has shown.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 23
Formation: 3-5-2
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: Maya Yoshida DEF: Marcos Alonso DEF: Phil Jones
MID: Mo Salah (VC) MID: Eden Hazard MID: Alexis Sanchez MID: Marko Arnautovic MID: Anthony Martial
FOR: Harry Kane (C) FOR: Sergio Aguero
Substitutes
GK: Nick Pope FOR: Christian Benteke DEF: Ben Davies DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 23
Chelsea 2-1 Leicester Crystal Palace 1-0 Burnley Huddersfield 2-1 West Ham Newcastle 2-0 Swansea Watford 1-1 Southampton West Brom 1-1 Brighton Spurs 2-0 Everton Bournemouth 2-2 Arsenal Liverpool 1-3 Man City Man United 3-0 Stoke
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 23
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: David de Gea
DEF: Ben Davies
DEF: Phil Jones
DEF: Jamaal Lascelles
MID: Christian Eriksen
MID: Kevin De Bruyne
MID: Wilfried Zaha
MID: Mohamed Salah
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
FOR: Sergio Aguero
Substitutes
GK: Nick Pope
MID: Eden Hazard
DEF: Virgil van Dijk
DEF: Shane Duffy
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 23
Chelsea 2-0 Leicester
Crystal Palace 1-1 Burnley
Huddersfield 1-2 West Ham
Newcastle 1-1 Swansea
Watford 1-1 Southampton
West Brom 0-0 Brighton
Spurs 3-1 Everton
Bournemouth 2-1 Arsenal
Liverpool 2-3 Man City
Man United 4-0 Stoke
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 23
Best GW Attacking Options
Harry Kane, Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli, Marko Arnautovic, Heung-Min Son
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential
Phil Jones, Alonso, Thibaut Courtois, Hugo Lloris, Shane Duffy, Amhed Heghazi
Who would you Transfer In and Out for the Gameweek and beyond?
IN: Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones
OUT: Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?
Ayoze Perez, Andre Carrillo, Andy Carroll, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Who are the teams to look out for?
Man United, Spurs, West Ham
Who are the teams to avoid?
Stoke, Everton
GW Differential Picks
Andy Carroll, Ayoze Perez
FPL Captaincy Picks
(C): Harry Kane
(VC): Marcos Alonso
Other Gameweek Comments
Be sure to have a Man United option on both ends. Stoke have been pretty poor defensively all season & being coach-less will not improve things imo. Easy CS. Might wanna stay away from Aguero since Pep said he will be given some rest. Expect rotation in Pep’s system, so might want to look out for more minutes from B.Silva & Gundo. Don’t buy Liverpool yet, possibly sell Firmino. See how they get by without Coutinho. Arsenal are in a proper slump & losing in the FA Cup might not improve morale. Bournemouth are banging in the goals for once, so upset possible. Everton also in a slump & the Holgate affair might not improve things. Spurs are on form. Kane, Son, Alli all good options. West Brom - Brighton snore fest but expect West Brom to fight for the win, especially with Rondon & Rodriguez finding a bit of form. Expect Brighton to park the bus & see the match out 0-0 or profit on counter or Murray (pen). Watford not solid. Southampton might bring Austin on. Other match if he plays & high chance of scoring if he does. Newcastle are finding form as of late, but Swansea seem rejuvenated under new manager. Will be a good match. West Ham Arnautovic is back & is fully rested. You can bet on him bringing back the points. Carroll also a good option but not nailed. Burnley in a bit of a slump. Palace have shown ability to fight back vs City & Milivojevic arguably the cheapest goalscoring MID. Good test for Benteke & Zaha for many people. Don’t expect a CS from Burnley honestly. Chelsea defensively in great form. Don’t buy Hazard or Morata, not in form & pressure won’t improve it. Defensively buy Alonso, he bangs & keeps CS. Justifies his price tag. Courtois nailed. Seems like one of the best keeper options atm.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 23
Formation: 4-4-2
Starting 11
GK: Thibaut Courtois
DEF: Shane Duffy
DEF: Angelo Ogbonna
DEF: Marcos Alonso (VC)
DEF: Phil Jones
MID: Heung-Min Son
MID: Marko Arnautovic
MID: Jesse Lingard
MID: Bamidele Alli
FOR: Romelu Lukaku
FOR: Harry Kane (C)
Substitutes
GK: Hugo Lloris
DEF: Lewis Dunk
MID: Luka Milivojevic
ATT: Andy Carroll
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.
As well as providing FPL articles on our website, we are a founding Contributor to the new Fantasy Football Hub, where you can find more unique articles, including weekly Power Rankings, from The Hype Team. You can support us and read exclusive members only content for just £2 per-month by clicking here.
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.
