FANTASY FORECAST 2018/19: FPL Gameweek 26
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 Special 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 26 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 ask 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 three 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 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 26
Fulham 0-2 Man United
Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham
Huddersfield 0-3 Arsenal
Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth
Southampton 1-0 Cardiff
Watford 1-1 Everton
Brighton 0-0 Burnley
Spurs 2-1 Leicester
Man City 2-0 Chelsea
Wolves 1-1 Newcastle
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 26
Best GW Attacking Options:
Man United (A) vs. Fulham
Crystal Palace (H) vs. West Ham
Arsenal (A) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (H) vs. Bournemouth
Southampton (H) vs. Cardiff
Spurs (H) vs. Leicester
Man City (H) vs. Chelsea
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Man United (A) vs. Fulham
Arsenal (A) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (H) vs. Bournemouth
Southampton (H) vs. Cardiff
Brighton (H) vs. Burnley
Burnley (A) vs. Brighton
Man City (H) vs. Chelsea
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Man City: I don’t think City are the ones to watch, I only believe that Chelsea struggle in big games away from home. They’ll dominate a team like Huddersfield and then get rocked by Man City within seven days.
Southampton: A home game against Cardiff could be easy fantasy points, and I wanted to be a bit different with a differential team. Guarantee all the other forecasters will say Liverpool, United, and City.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Wolves: Newcastle will be primed with their new signing Miguel Almiron, and Newcastle are making life hard for opponents on their travel. In support of the new Paraguayan who we backed in the Fantasy MLS I am going to give them a chance to surprise Wolves.
West Ham: This has nothing to do with them doing one on Liverpool, but I believe that Crystal Palace with Batshuayi will be a different kind of team. It has been typical that teams who have a good performance are more likely to have a poor one.
GW Differential Picks:
I would love Gonzalo Higuain to carry on his goal scoring form against Manchester City.
Southampton may also have a good fixture to keep a clean sheet, so McCarthy in goal
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohamad Salah – Surely draws must turn to wins soon, and it will be the forward line that gives Liverpool the edge. The Egyptian is the main man to get things back on track.
(VC): Hueng-Min Son – The South Korean has been Spurs best player this season. He has also been bailing players out in my personal league, so I am going to be using my greatest foe for maximum fantasy points.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 26
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ederson
DEF: Laurent Koscielny
DEF: Toby Alderweireld
DEF: Andrew Robertson
MID: Sadio Mane
MID: Raheem Sterling
MID: Hueng-Min Son (VC)
MID: Mohamad Salah (C)
FOR: Michy Batshuayi
FOR: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
FOR: Marcus Rashford
Substitutes
GK: Alex McCarthy
MID: Pascal Gross
DEF: Aymeric Laporte
DEF: Shane Duffy
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 26 Fulham 1-4 Man United Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham Huddersfield 0-2 Arsenal Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth Southampton 2-2 Cardiff Watford 1-1 Everton Brighton 2-1 Burnley Spurs 2-0 Leicester Man City 3-1 Chelsea Wolves 1-0 Newcastle
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 26 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Rui Patricio
DEF: Sead Kolasinac DEF: Aaron Wan Bisaka DEF: Andrew Robertson
MID: Paul Pogba MID: Mo Salah (C) MID: Heung Min Son (VC) MID: Richarlison Andrade
FOR: Sergio Aguero FOR: Marcus Rashford FOR: Pierre Emerick Aubameyang
Substitutes
GK: David De Gea MID: Sadio Mane DEF: Lucas Digne DEF: Kieron Trippier
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 26
Fulham 0-3 Man United
Crystal Palace 1-1 West Ham
Huddersfield 0-2 Arsenal
Liverpool 4-0 Bournemouth
Southampton 1-1 Cardiff
Watford 2-1 Everton
Brighton 1-0 Burnley
Spurs 2-0 Leicester
Man City 2-2 Chelsea
Wolves 1-2 Newcastle
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 26
Best GW Attacking Options:
Man United (A) vs. Fulham
Arsenal (A) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (H) vs. Bournemouth
Southampton (H) vs. Cardiff
Spurs (H) vs. Leicester
Man City (H) vs. Chelsea
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
Man United (A) vs. Fulham
Arsenal (A) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (H) vs. Bournemouth
Brighton (H) vs. Burnley
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Cardiff: A club in the midst of tragedy is always one to fear on the field.
Newcastle: The big shock of the weekend could be the difference Miguel Almiron makes for Newcastle on his debut.
Chelsea: City will be in for one hell of a game at The Etihad this weekend, and I wouldn't rule Chelsea out just yet.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Everton: Probably the worst team in the Premier League right now. Absolutely bang average.
Southampton: A time for Bednarek owners to be brought down to reality against a united Cardiff side.
GW Differential Picks:
Jota. Almiron. Redmond. A lot of tasty differential midfielders to choose from this week.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohamad Salah – Sometimes the art of playing FPL is knowing when to bank on a no-brainer, even if you don't want to. Salah is in that category right now and I'll be putting the armband on him, even if it spits me.
(VC): Hueng-Min Son – Salah-lite has been in great form for months. It's the obvious pick if you can stomach what will be a tight affair against The Foxes.
Other Comments:
This past month has been very draining if you have been following the news about Emiliano Sala's plane crash. I'll openly admit that I've been welling up every time there is a new article. This entire saga has been a hard read, and an even harder watch (especially when Warnock couldn't hold the tears back any longer after beating Bournemouth).
I'd like to say on behalf of everyone at The Hype Train, we're are very relieved that Sala's family has found a sense of closure, even if it is the worse outcome possible. The wider community have been brilliant in their support, encouragement and funding to find the truth in a distressing period.
Even though his name was not synonymous with the Premier League, Sala's death highlights that there is a fine line in life, and that we should do our best to enjoy the time we have on earth, and to chase are dreams. For me, that means to embrace what I love more any anything on this planet, the beautiful game.
Have a good weekend, and may your arrows be green.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 26
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Ben Foster
DEF: Sead Kolasinac
DEF: Virgil van Dijk
DEF: Andrew Robertson
MID: Paul Pogba
MID: Raheem Sterling
MID: Hueng-Min Son (VC)
MID: Mohamad Salah (C)
FOR: Raul Jimenez
FOR: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
FOR: Marcus Rashford
Substitutes
GK: Hugo Lloris
MID: Miguel Almiron
DEF: Aymeric Laporte
DEF: Matt Doherty
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 26
Fulham 1 - 3 Man United
Palace 3 - 0 West Ham
Huddersfield 0 - 2 Arsenal
Liverpool 2 - 2 Bournemouth
Southampton 0 - 1 Cardiff
Watford 3 - 1 Everton
Brighton 0 - 0 Burnley
Spurs 2 - 1 Leicester
Man City 4 - 1 Chelsea
Wolves 2 - 2 Newcastle
Best GW attacking options:
Aguero - Aguero has scored 7 in 12 vs Chelsea and has turned up in big games this season already. With pep chasing the title and Aguero in top form I can see a big Aguero haul
Deeney - Deeney hasn’t scored in his last 4 games, but I can see his physical presence being a nuisance to a poor Everton defense. A great differential option.
Best defensive options:
Watford - Everton continue to struggle with set plays, so Watford defenders could have some luck in front of goal
Essential picks:
None - Aubamyang is the standout captain this week, however I don’t see him picking up a huge amount of points.
Draft differentials:
Watford defenders & Crystal Palace attackers both look like good assets this week.
Teams to look out for:
Crystal Palace - palace have been playing well recently. Partner that with the new addition of Batshuayi and an out of form West Ham side, it could be a good gameweek for the eagles
Watford - As previoslt mentioned, Everton aren’t playing well and there could be a good opportunity for Watford well placed to pick up some points
Avoid:
Southampton - With the loss of Ings goal scoring could be an issue for the Saints.
Chelsea - despite a 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Chelsea still don’t look convincing against the bigger teams. A huge challenge lies ahead of them with an in form city side.
Differentials:
Aguero - It sounds silly to say but many will be looking to swap Aguero to Aubamyang. Aguero could be a great differential captain pick.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
As always I am a play it safe FPL player. This week I will be going for.
C - Salah
VC - Rashford
Gameweek 26: FPL Hype Picks
Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK - Guaita
DEF - Cathcart
DEF - Robertson
DEF - Kolasinac
MID - Son
MID - Salah
MID - Townsend
MID - Pogba
MID - Sane
FWD - Aguero
FWD - Aubamyang
Substitutes:
GK - Foster
DEF - Wan-Bissaka
DEF - Doherty
FWD - Deeney
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.
