FANTASY FORECAST 2018/19: FPL Gameweek 31
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 31 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 31
Bournemouth 2-2 Newcastle
Burnley 1-2 Leicester
West Ham 2-0 Huddersfield
Fulham 0-3 Liverpool
Everton 1-2 Chelsea
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 31
Best GW Attacking Options:
Bournemouth (H) vs. Newcastle
Newcastle (A) vs. Bournemouth
Leicester (A) vs. Burnley
West Ham (H) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (A) vs. Fulham
Chelsea (A) vs. Everton
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
West Ham (H) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (A) vs. Fulham
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Liverpool: I keep hearing how Liverpool assets are the ‘surprise package’ this weekend. Everywhere I look I see ‘Omg, nobody is backing Sadio!’ like nobody else thinks about the transfer.
West Ham: The obvious second pick is Huddersfield’s away trip to the London Stadium. If the Hammers can’t get a clean sheet in this game, there is no hope for them.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Burnley: Leicester have been scoring goals since Rodgers took charge
Bournemouth: Newcastle have been on a roll lately, and if there was any team to provide an upset this week
GW Differential Picks:
Ayoze Perez, Youri Tielemans, Declan Rice, Gonzalo Higuain, and Joel Matip were my five big differentials this reduced weekend.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mohamad Salah – The Egyptian King is the only real captaincy option this weekend, and he has begun to show his unselfish nature in the past month which might be good news against Fulham who will no doubt dig their heels in.
(VC): Sadio Mane – Ten goals in ten games for the Senegalese winger, and after he was crucial in putting Bayern Munich to the sword, nobody can ignore his importance this Gameweek.
Other Gameweek Comments:
We are in the endgame of the season, and last week was the final ‘normal’ Gameweek. There will be nothing more than rotation, reduced Gameweek's, and planning for chips. Good luck.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 31
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Lukasz Fabianski
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
DEF: Issa Diop
DEF: Andrew Robertson
MID: Ryan Fraser
MID: Sadio Mane (VC)
MID: Mohamad Salah (C)
MID: Eden Hazard
FOR: Gonzalo Higuain
FOR: Salomon Rondón
FOR: Jamie Vardy
Substitutes
GK: Martin Dubravka
MID: Youri Tielemans
DEF: Declan Rice
DEF: Ben Chilwell
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 31 Bournemouth 2-2 Newcastle Burnley 1-2 Leicester West Ham 3-0 Huddersfield Fulham 0-4 Liverpool Everton 1-2 Chelsea
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 31 Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Lukasz Fabianski
DEF: Andrew Robertson DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold DEF: David Luiz
MID: Felipe Anderson MID: David Brooks MID: Eden Hazard (VC) MID: Mo Salah (C)
FOR: Salomon Rondon FOR: Callum Wilson FOR: Jamie Vardy
Substitutes
GK: Kasper Schmeichel MID: Ryan Fraser DEF: Declan Rice DEF: Harry Maguire
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 31
Bournemouth 2-2 Newcastle
Burnley 1-0 Leicester
West Ham 2-0 Huddersfield
Fulham 0-3 Liverpool
Everton 1-2 Chelsea
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 31
Best GW Attacking Options:
Bournemouth & Newcastle
West Ham (H) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (A) vs. Fulham
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
West Ham (H) vs. Huddersfield
Liverpool (A) vs. Fulham
Who are your essential Gameweek player picks?:
A trio of Liverpool players – van Dijk, Mane and Salah
West Ham defensive assets – Diop and Rice
Newcastle/Bournemouth attackers – Rondon, Fraser, Wilson
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Literally anyone who is playing. A week where you just need the numbers.
Who are the teams to look out for?:
Burnley: Jamie Vardy has scored in 3 consecutive PL matches and travels to a Burnley side that will pose a serious threat to Leicester’s quick attack. I expect a low-scoring affair in this one.
Everton: By default, many will be expecting Chelsea to beat Everton this weekend, and I am in the majority that sees a good afternoon for Sarri’s men.
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Bournemouth: Based on form alone, this fixture is one to worry about for Eddie Howe’s side. Newcastle have only lost 1 of their last 6 matches and beat his Cherries 2-1 during Gameweek 12. Rafa’s men will come to frustrated and hit on the break, and could blunt the Wilson/Fraser combination.
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C) – Mohamed Salah: The Egyptian gets one last stab with the armband. Mane has been the one that is finding himself as the finisher of the team, though Fulham’s defensive clumsiness has me thinking that Salah might profit from set-piece opportunities.
(VC) – Salomon Rondon: The one-man wrecking ball has been in great form since Miguel Almiron’s arrival to Newcastle. Where there are goals for Newcastle right now, Rondon is usually involved.
Other Gameweek Comments:
My strategy for the week is to do a -4 with 3 transfers and just rely on 10 starters. There’s a bit of a wait until Gameweek 32, so the landscape of the fixture list will change given the upcoming Double Gameweek.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 31
Formation: 3-5-2
Starting 11
GK: Lukasz Fabianski
DEF: Virgil van Dijk
DEF: Declan Rice
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta
MID: Mohamed Salah
MID: Sadio Mane
MID: Eden Hazard
MID: Felipe Anderson
MID: Miguel Almiron
FOR: Callum Wilson
FOR: Salomon Rondon
Substitutes
GK: Martin Dubravka
FOR: Marko Arnautovic
DEF: James Tarkowski
DEF: David Luiz
Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 31
Bournemouth 1-0 Newcastle
Burnley 1-1 Leicester
West Ham 2-1 Huddersfield
Fulham 1-3 Liverpool
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 31
Best GW Attacking Options:
Mane, Wilson, Vardy, Mane
Best GW Defensive / Clean Sheet Potential:
TAA, Robertson, VVD, Fabianski, Rice
Who are your essential Gameweek player picks?:
Mane, Salah, Brooks/Fraser, Wilson/Vardy, Robertson
Who are the players that might make the difference this Gameweek in the Draft?:
Has to be the Liverpool boys, maybe Hazard if he has a good week!
Who are the teams to look out for?:
West Ham, Liverpool and Bournemouth for me!
Who are the teams to avoid?:
Fulham and Huddersfield, obviously! Why oh why do I still own Mitrovic?
GW Differential Picks:
Almiron, Arnie and Tielemans could surprise!
FPL Captaincy Picks:
(C): Mane
(VC): Salah
Other Gameweek Comments:
It’s a huge week in terms of whether to captain Salah or not, who’s effective ownership will be through the roof. Personally, I’m going Mane due to recent form, and just praying he outscores the Egyptian.
FPL Hype Picks: Gameweek 31
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Fabianski
DEF: Robertson
DEF: Luiz
DEF: Rice
MID: Salah
MID: Mane
MID: Hazard
MID: Fraser
FOR: Wilson
FOR: Higuain
FOR: Vardy
Substitutes
GK: Schmeichel
MID: Almiron
DEF: Ake
DEF: Keane
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.
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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.
