Ahead of each Gameweek in the Fantasy Premier League, The Hype Train's three front-men, Robert Austin and Sam Austin, duel for FPL supremacy in predicting Premier League scores, as well as going head to head in picking a Scout Picks squad for each round of games. In addition, we provide general insight that we believe might be relevant for FPL players, such as our personal captaincy picks, differentials for the week, and more. Welcome to the Forecast. All aboard.

Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 28 Deadline

For the 2019/20 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. Our website provides a real-world countdown timer for the the upcoming Gameweek, whilst you can read our latest Fantasy articles from the season on our 2019/20 FPL weekly hype sub-section.

How does our Forecasting work?

For three years we invited guests from the FPL Community to tackle us with picks for the upcoming Gameweek in Fantasy Premier League. We'll be taking a break from inviting guests onto this article for a year, and have introduced a new feature, Fantasy 5's, which we'll be asking weekly guests their top pick in each position ahead of each Gameweek.

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 28

Due to the League Cup final between Man City and Aston Villa, there are only 8 teams. Arsenal and Sheffield make up the foursome of Premier League sides that aren’t in league action this coming weekend.

Premier League Fixtures (8):

Norwich 0-2 Leicester

Brighton 1-1 Crystal Palace

Bournemouth 1-3 Chelsea

Newcastle 0-0 Burnley

West Ham 1-2 Southampton

Watford 0-3 Liverpool

Everton 1-1 Man United

Spurs 1-1 Wolves

Carabao Cup Final Prediction:

Man City 5-0 Aston Villa

Postponed Matches:

Man City vs. Arsenal (AFTV)

Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United

FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 28

Top FPL transfer targets for the Gameweek:

GK: Kasper Schmeichel (LEI, GK, £5.3mil, 14.0% ownership)

DEF: Patrick van Aanholt (CRY, DEF, £5.5mil, 4.7% ownership)

MID: Bruno Fernandes (MUN, MID, £8.2mil, 7.1% ownership)

FWD: Tammy Abraham (CHE, FWD, £7.6mil, 20.3% ownership)

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

Liverpool (Watch): The Reds will make history by beating Watford by going 19 straight games without dropping a single point. Jürgen Klopp’s team has a great scoring record against Watford in his time in charge, and this could be a comfortable fixture for the Reds.

EVE/MUN (Avoid): Yes, both teams think they are better than they are. This is a Champions League six pointer in both of their eyes, and normally hotly contested games both teams cancel each other out. Also, from what I have seen so far, no team really wants CL football next year. No team outside the top four appears capable of winning more than three games in a row. Score draw, guaranteed.

TOT/WOL (Avoid): Like the above fixture, these two teams will cancel each other for different reasons. Wolves will play their usual compact style which will stifle Spurs’ attack plan, plus, the North London team are poor in front of goal without Son or Kane who are injured. Score draw, guaranteed.

Southampton (Watch): Liverpool’s academy side are up against a West Ham team that gave their parent club quite a scare on Monday. West Ham look completely lost, and Southampton have their proverbial ducks lined up in a row. With Danny Ings in superb form you can’t look past a Saints win this weekend.

FPL Captaincy Picks:

(C) – Mohamad Salah (LIV): Well, this one isn’t a pick to spark imagination. Captaincy picks normally aren’t, but in this reduced Gameweek you need a safety pick to grant your team consistency, and Mo Salah is in great form with a great fixture this weekend. Liverpool have an exceedingly good record against Watford under Klopp, so this captaincy is a straightforward one.

(VC) – Jamie Vardy (LEI): Although the form isn’t there for the Englishman, the fixture is. Leicester travel to Norwich who look destined for a return to the Championship. Vardy will bounce back after a poor run, and this is the fixture to do it.

FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 28

Formation: 3-4-3

Starting 11

GK: Kasper Schmeichel (LEI)

DEF: Fabian Schär

DEF: Ricardo Pereira (LEI)

DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)

MID: Sadio Mane (LIV) (C)

MID: Bruno Fernandes (MUN)

MID: Lucas Moura (TOT)

MID: Mohamad Salah (LIV)

FOR: Danny Ings (SOU)

FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI) (VC)

FOR: Tammy Abraham (CHE)

Substitutes

GK: Nick Pope (BUR)

MID: Dwight McNeil (BUR)

DEF: Patrick van Aanholt (CRY)

DEF: Cezar Azpilicueta (CHE)

Fixture Prediction: Gameweek 28

Due to the League Cup final between Man City and Aston Villa, there are only 8 teams. Arsenal and Sheffield make up the foursome of Premier League sides that aren’t in league action this coming weekend.

Premier League Fixtures (8):

Norwich 1-2 Leicester

Brighton 1-0 Crystal Palace

Bournemouth 2-2 Chelsea

Newcastle 0-0 Burnley

West Ham 1-2 Southampton

Watford 0-2 Liverpool

Everton 3-1 Man United

Spurs 1-2 Wolves

Carabao Cup Final Prediction:

Man City 3-0 Aston Villa

Postponed Matches:

Man City vs. Arsenal

Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United

FPL Forecasting: Gameweek 28

Top FPL transfer targets for the Gameweek:

I'm not sure people should be going for Bruno Fernandes. Man United have some tough fixtures and the real lesson with their squad is just not being reliable. For that price, you might as well go with Richarlison.

I'm actually going to say that Leicester players are the most likely performers of all teams this weekend, so maybe James Maddison is one pick I might consider as a replacement for Riyad Mahrez, or maybe it's time for Ayoze Perez's end of season form to propel The Foxes in to the Champions League.

It's slim pickings though, and a lot of short-term picks, a shame given the 8-game format this weekend.

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

Man United (avoid): Europa League commitments aren’t ideal before a crunch match away at Everton, with OGS holding on to 5th place in the table by the tightest of margins. I fancy Everton to bounce back this weekend with a win.

West Ham (avoid): A good team performance at Anfield means nothing when The Hammers return back to the current toxicity of the London Stadium. I’m fully expecting Shane Long and Danny Ings to be picking apart the club’s carcass on Saturday as angst over West Ham’s ownership rages on. It also hurts that David Moyes is clearly with the fairies about his own ability to lead a Premier League club in 2020.

Newcastle / Burnley (watch): We wouldn’t actually advise watching this game unless you want an afternoon nap. As a Magpie myself, I’m giving the squad the benefit of the doubt that they can hold off Burnley at home, though if this game had to swing one way, Burnley have some in-form players that will surely test Dubravka in the sticks.

Wolves (watch): Nuno’s side spanked Spurs 3-1 away from home last season and given how the current campaign is panning out, a repeat is on the cards. Jose Mourinho is short of genuine attackers whilst Wolves have already sewn up their Europa League tie, beating Espanyol. This could be a big moment in the race for Champions League qualification come the end of the season.

FPL Captaincy Picks:

(C) – Mohamed Salah (LIV): 6 goals and 2 assists in 8 games, the overwhelming captaincy favourite amongst the masses, there is a reason The Egyptian King is in this position. Even with City involved, Salah would have been the go-to pick, so why deny him? The only point of contention is having his minutes managed due to playing a crucial Champions League home tie against Atletico next week. It would hardly impact on Liverpool if they rotated their attacking trio for this fixture… It’s not like they’ll be caught by Man City at this point.

(VC) – Dominic Calvert-Lewin (EVE): Goals in 4 of his last 5 league appearances, with no European commitments. DCL is the perfect backup to Salah this week and keeps the captaincy amongst the Merseyside clubs.

Other Gameweek Comments:

It’s a reduced Gameweek, sure, though it doesn’t feel like one. My advice would be not to rush in with a Chip. It’s just not a week with too much promise, especially with sides in European competition thinking long and hard about their selections this weekend. Just go in with the basics – Trent, Salah/Mane and a few inform players. That’ll get you through this minefield.

FPL Scout Picks: Gameweek 28

Formation: 3-4-3

Starting 11

GK: Martin Dubravka (NEW)

DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)

DEF: Virgil van Dijk (LIV)

DEF: Caglar Soyuncu (LEI)

MID: Mohamed Salah (LIV)

MID: Richarlison (EVE)

MID: James Maddison (LEI)

MID:

FOR: Jamie Vardy (LEI)

FOR: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (EVE)

FOR: Danny Ings (SOU)

Substitutes

GK: Nick Pope (BUR)

MID: Leandro Trossard (BHA)

DEF: Lewis Dunk (BHA)

DEF: Ben Mee (BUR)

Want to know more about The Hype Train?

The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in 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.

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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All aboard.