Premier League 2021/22 Season: FPL Gameweek 5 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 5 Fixtures

Premier League 2021/22 Season: FPL Gameweek 5 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 5

Newcastle 0-2 Leeds

Wolves 2-0 Brentford

Burnley 0-0 Arsenal

Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace

Man City 4-1 Southampton

Norwich 1-1 Watford

Aston Villa 2-2 Everton

Brighton 1-2 Leicester

West Ham 1-2 Man United

Spurs 1-1 Chelsea

FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 5

Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:

Watch: Leeds, Wolves, Liverpool, Man City, Leicester, Ronaldo United,

Avoid: Newcastle, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Brighton, West Ham

???: Burnley & Arsenal (dead draw), Norwich & Watford (Both not good enough to keep a clean sheet, score draw), Aston Villa & Everton (Entertaining draw), Spurs & Chelsea (Both on top four, could cancel each other out, will probably be a terrible game to watch…I hope I am wrong though)

Top FPL player targets this weekend:

GK: Sá (WOL, GK, £5.0mil, 2.0% ownership)

DEF: Fernando Marçal (WOL, DEF, £4.6mil, 5.2% ownership)

MID: Demarai Gray (EVE, MID, £5.7mil, 14.0% ownership)

FWD: Ronaldo (MUN, FWD, £12.6mil, 40.6% ownership)

Gameweek 5 – FPL Differential Picks:

NEW/LEE: Joe Willock (NEW, MID, £6.0mil, 1.1% ownership)

WOL/BRE: Fernando Marçal (WOL, DEF, £4.6mil, 5.2% ownership)

BUR/ARS: Bernd Leno (ARS, GK, £4.9mil, 1.7% ownership)

LIV/CRY: Sadio Mané (LIV, MID, £11.9mil, 2.7% ownership)

MCI/SOU: Bernardo Silva (MCI, MID, £6.9mil, 1.4% ownership)

NOR/WAT: Teemu Pukki (NOR, FWD, £5.9mil, 5.5% ownership)

AVL/EVE: Andros Townsend (EVE, MID, £5.4mil, 1.2% ownership)

BHA/LEI: James Maddison (LEI, MID, £6.8mil, 5.5% ownership)

WHU/MUN: Jadon Sancho (MUN, MID, £9.1mil, 2.8% ownership)

TOT/CHE: Emerson (Spurs (TOT, DEF, £5.0mil, 0.2% ownership)

Differential Captain: Sadio Mané (Liverpool)

The Liverpool winger has been at the low end of ownership ever since they put him and Salah at the same price, but also, because Salah was the more effective of the two wingers. Last season, and going into this one, Mane has been all over the place. He had countless shots against Leeds and could have a bucketful of goals but only walked away with one. Just looking at the numbers, Mane doesn’t look like a bad option. He has three consecutive returns and despite his erratic playing form the gears are turning, and he is getting into goal scoring positions. Liverpool has a home goal against Palace which they are expected to win, and it could be the perfect time for Mane to reach second gear.

Gameweek 5 - FPL Captaincy Picks:

Essential: RonalDUH…uhum…Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Alternative: Mohamad Salah (Liverpool)

England vs. FPL:

The 3 Lions narrowly missed out on beating the average score for the third straight week, mostly down to the fact that barring Demarai Gray, none of the attackers of midfielders did anything. Captain Kane was a bust, and the second Spurs went down to 10 men against Palace I knew it would be a low scoring week. That was the first match. The defensive players have been excellent this week with all four performing: Trent, Cresswell, Shaw, and Chalobah. The Chelsea defender only featured because Calvert-Lewin picked up an injury.

Ins: Patrick Bamford (LEE)

Outs: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (EVE)

I had my first tough week for transfers, mostly because a lot of English players are facing each other: Cresswell vs. Greenwood, Kane & Dier vs. Chalobah, Ings vs. Gray, White vs. Pope. I chose to drop the injured Calvert-Lewin for Patrick Bamford who has a nice run of fixtures, starting with Newcastle away in the Friday game. I opted for Trent Alexander-Arnold as the record assist holder has a great home fixture and the best attacking potential. I don’t trust Kane because Chelsea are a defensive dynamo under Tuchel.

Can I also say how amusing it is to see Arsenal at Home for Burnley is now a 3 on the difficulty rating, hopefully Nick Pope can pick up his first clean sheet of the season.

GW4 Returns: 6/11

GW4 Points: 52pts (was 56pts but I had a -4pt deduction for 2 transfers)

GW4 Average Points: 57pts

England FPL XI

Formation: 4-3-3

GK: Nick Pope

DEF: Luke Shaw (MUN)

DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV) (C)

DEF: Aaron Creswell (WHU)

DEF: Ben White (ARS)

MID: Jack Grealish (MCI) MID: Mason Greenwood (MUN) (VC)

MID: Demarai Gray (EVE)

FWD: Patrick Bamford (LEE) (VC)

FWD: Danny Ings (AVL)

FWD: Harry Kane (TOT)

Substitutes:

GK: Ben Foster (WAT)

MID: Emile Smith-Rowe (ARS)

DEF: Trevor Chalobah (CHE)

MID: Dele Alli (TOT)

FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 5

Formation: 3-4-3

Starting 11

GK: Sá (WOL)

DEF: Fernando Marçal (WOL)

DEF: Joao Cancelo (MCI)

DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV) (VC)

MID: Demarai Gray (EVE)

MID: Mohamad Salah (LIV)

MID: Ferran Torres (MCI)

MID: Sadio Mane (LIV)

FOR: Patrick Bamford (LEE)

FOR: Ronaldo (MUN) (C)

FOR: Romelu Lukaku (CHE)

Substitutes

GK: Nick Pope (BUR)

MID: Mason Greenwood (MUN)

DEF: Marcos Alonso (CHE)

DEF: Luke Ayling (LEE)

Fixture Predictions: Gameweek 5

Newcastle 1-3 Leeds

Wolves 1-0 Brentford

Burnley 1-1 Arsenal

Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace

Man City 5-0 Southampton

Norwich 1-2 Watford

Aston Villa 1-2 Everton

Brighton 1-1 Leicester

West Ham 1-3 Man United

Spurs 0-2 Chelsea

FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 5

What are the potential stumbling blocks to a good Gameweek 5?:

· Europa League & Conference League: Dreaded Thursday night football has arrived, with West Ham, Spurs and Leicester all competing in difficult games this week. I’ll be surprised, massively so, if any of them pick up a win this week, especially considering Spurs host Chelsea and West Ham host Man United. Avoid on all fronts.

· Brentford spoiling the Wolves party: FPL players have taken note of Wolves’ fixture list, with left wing-back Marcal the most transferred in defender so far ahead of the Gameweek 5 deadline. Hwang (£5.5m) and Jimenez (£7.4m) are also attractive alternatives, but what we might see is Thomas Frank’s well-drilled Brentford side spring a surprise as they look to avenge their 1-0 loss to Brighton at home during GW4. Bryan Mbeumo could have had a treble against The Seagulls and played well, only robbed at the end against a Brighton side who have started brilliantly.

· ‘Home’ Advantage: Aside from Liverpool and City, I’m not sure which teams get a win in front of their fans this weekend. Is all geared up, on paper, for some away wins and tight draws.

· Pep’s Rotation Plan: This might as well be a weekly insert, that nobody knows for sure who Pep will play for City, a complication that grows thicker now that Kevin De Bruyne is back amongst the party of attacking midfielders at the club’s disposal.

Who are the teams to look out for and avoid?:

Everton (Watch):

For the second season running, The Toffees have started brightly under new management. Rafa’s team are full of grit and are recovering well when conceding first. They’re a team that comes on strong in the second-half of matches and have some players brimming with FPL potential in Demarai Gray, Andros Townsend and Richarlison, with the latter likely going to occupy the Forward slot in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and his on-going toe injury… Aston Villa haven’t got going this season too, which should make this another likely win for an Everton side who should be mounting pressure on the ‘Top 6’ at the very least.

Chelsea (Watch) and more so, Spurs (Avoid):

After a trio of clean sheets to start the season, it turns out Spurs built their fortifications using cotton candy, though sugar on a stick held up better than Nuno’s team did at Crystal Palace when they were eviscerated out wide. Spurs have major doubts of Eric Dier, Heung-Min Son, Cristian Romero, Davinson Sanchez, and have Japhet Tanganga suspended after becoming Wilfried Zaha’s latest torture victim. Spurs also played out a 2-2 draw in the Europa Conference League away at Rennes (I genuinely can’t tell the difference with this and the Europa League). I highlight Spurs here as it looks like Thomas Tuchel will be licking his lips at the prospect of playing Spurs in a bad moment and should be good for a win and FPL points across the board.

Liverpool (Watch):

The Reds have won their last 8 Premier League matches against Crystal Palace with an aggregate score of 24-5. Gone are the days of Palace being Liverpool’s voodoo team, though with Edouard, Gallagher and Zaha playing well, Saturday should be a cracking game.

Newcastle (Avoid):

Leeds have had some tricky fixtures and the current consensus is that there are hints of second season syndrome. For all their early season ‘woes’ though, they’re twice the team that my beloved Newcastle are and should prosper against a team that breaks down in the second-half more often than not. Patrick Bamford is also the only current like-for-like replacement for the suspended Michail Antonio (WHU), so this is a good fixture to pin your hopes on.

Top FPL player targets this weekend:

Undeniable Form:

Paul Pogba (MUN) & Mason Greenwood (MUN) – The Frenchman currently an assist machine with 7 assists, numbers people thought Bruno would manage. Greenwood has attacking contributions in all 4 games so far (3 goals, 1 assist) and won’t cost the earth if you don’t have Ronaldo coverage

Marcos Alonso (CHE) – Back in his preferred wing back position, the 28-point Spaniard is showing showing signs of his Conte-era form in FPL. Rotation with Ben Chilwell won’t be an issue if you have stacked your bench.

Demarai Gray (EVE) – Goals in 3 consecutive games, Gray hangs as the last man for Everton in the second-half to exposes tiring defensive lines. Wouldn’t be surprised to see goals in the next few games too. Currently is my default 5th midfielder due to his £5.7m price.

Fixtures:

Patrick Bamford & Luke Ayling (LEE) – Both are good options to bring in across the pitch if you want to ditch £4.5m Spurs defenders that are either suspended or injured, and mid-range Forward’s in DCL & Antonio, who aren’t playing this week.

Adama Traore, Marcal & Raul Jimenez (WOL) – Wolves have a good fixture on paper and offer value, though pinning their points right now is one tough ask. Adama Traore is one frustrating case of a player playing out of his skin so far this season, but doesn’t have the FPL points to go alongside a strong start to his season.

Edouard Mendy (CHE) & Romelu Lukaku (CHE) – The Blues play Spurs (GW5) and Man City (GW6) up next, but there is another big fixture swing in Gameweek 7 and my temptation would be to plan for that moment now ahead of the next international break.

Dennis & Daniel Bachmann (WAT) – A trip to Norwich is in the middle of a green patch of fixtures for Watford, with Dennis £5.5m a third forward of choice if you need funds to accommodate the likes of Ronaldo and Lukaku in attack.

Gameweek 5 - FPL Captaincy Picks:

Essential: Mohamed Salah (LIV)

Alternative: Romelu Lukaku (CHE)

Differential: Raul Jimenez (WOL)

Reason: Salah is quickly becoming the default captain when you have nothing else to bank on, so that will have to be the order of the day this week, unless you’re rolling the dice again on Ronaldo against West Ham. I’m almost certain that I’ll be putting the armband on Salah in most games at Anfield.

Other Gameweek Comments:

My personal team has seen one change this week. I’ve been basic and put in Patrick Bamford (LEE) for the suspended Michail Antonio (WHU). Fixtures are enough for me to set-and-forget the attacker, especially as the Englishman is on penalty duty against a sloppy Newcastle team.

I also played my Wildcard last week and opted for Lukaku ahead of Ronaldo. I’ve no idea how to cater for both without destroying an ounce of balance, so I’m playing the long game with Lukaku’s fixtures as United’s fixtures start to turn against them in the coming months. I’ll also shoulder the blame for Antonio, a red card and a 0-0 draw was always on the cards after such a good start, and some people just can’t have nice things.

FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 5

Formation: 3-5-2

Starting 11

GK: Edouard Mendy (CHE)

DEF: Luke Shaw (MUN)

DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)

DEF: Ruben Dias (MCI)

MID: Diogo Jota (LIV)

MID: Mohamed Salah (LIV) – (C)

MID: Ferran Torres (MCI)

MID: Demarai Gray (EVE)

MID: Adama Traore (WOL)

FOR: Patrick Bamford (LEE)

FOR: Romelu Lukaku (CHE) – (VC)

Substitutes

GK: Daniel Bachmann (WAT)

FOR: Dennis (WAT)

DEF: Luke Ayling (LEE)

DEF: Mason Holgate (EVE)

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.

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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