EPL Season 2019/2020 – Gameweek 16 Predicted Lineups – Clubs in 4th to 6th

Every week this new series will take a look at the predicted starting line-ups for clubs in the English Premier League. Knowing which players are expected to play each weekend is a crucial element for every active Fantasy Football manager. The starting XIs for the EPL clubs is increasingly hard to predict, due to congested fixture calendars and the quality of squad depths as a result of the vast amounts of money the EPL clubs generate.

For the moment, we will consider the lineups of the top-10 teams in the Premier League as it stands by the start of the upcoming gameweek, divided over three articles. This part 2 covers the teams in positions 4 to 6, part 1 covers the lineups for positions 1 to 3, and part 3 looks at the formations for positions 7 to 10. We might analyse the lineups of all teams at a later stage, based on the interest shown in this series. As far as gameweek 16 goes, we will take a look at confirmed starting lineups for the top-10 teams in gameweek 15, compare those to our predictions for that gameweek, and then predict their lineups for gameweek 16.

For much of the injury news mentioned in these pieces, we consult, among other club-specific sources, the excellent Twitter account and website of Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery). Lineups are written down from left to right, as seen from the goalkeeper’s perspective (so in defence, for example, from left-back to right-back).

Factors potentially affecting lineups per team in the build-up to GW16

Chelsea Gameweek 15 taking place mid-week
Wolves Gameweek 15 taking place mid-week
Manchester United Gameweek 15 taking place mid-week

The Premier League at the start of gameweek 16 (positions 3 to 7)

3 Manchester City 32 pts
4 Chelsea 29 pts
5 Wolves 23 pts
6 Manchester United 21 pts
7 Crystal Palace 21 pts

Lineups for gameweek 15: Predicted vs. confirmed

CHELSEA (home vs. Aston Villa, 2-1)

  PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 15   CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 15
Form. 4 – 2 – 3 – 1   4 – 2 – 3 – 1
       
FOR Giroud   Abraham
MID Pulisic, Mount, Willian   Pulisic, Mount, Willian
DEF MID Jorginho, Kanté   Kovacic, Kanté
DEF Emerson, Tomori, Zouma, Azpilicueta   Azpilicueta, Christensen, Zouma, R. James
GK Kepa   Kepa
       
Subs ///   (Late 2nd half) Batshuayi > Abraham, Hudson-Odoi > Pulisic, Jorginho > Willian
       
Goals ///   Abraham (R. James), Mount (Abraham)

WOLVES (home vs. West Ham, 2-0)

  PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 15   CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 15
Form. 5 – 2 – 3   5 – 2 – 3
       
FOR Jota, Jimenez, Traoré   Jota, Jimenez, Traoré
MID Neves, Moutinho   Neves, Moutinho
DEF Jonny, Saiss, Coady, Dendoncker, Doherty   Jonny, Saiss, Coady, Dendoncker, Doherty
GK Patricio   Patricio
       
Subs ///   (2nd half) Neto > Jota, Cutrone > Jimenez, Bennett > Traoré
       
Goals ///   Dendoncker (Moutinho), Cutrone (Neto)

MANCHESTER UNITED (home vs. Spurs, 2-1)

  PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 15   CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 15
Form. 4 – 2 – 3 – 1   4 – 2 – 3 – 1
       
FOR Martial   Greenwood
MID Rashford, Lingard, D. James   Rashford, Lingard, D. James,
DEF MID McTominay, Fred   McTominay, Fred
DEF Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka   Young, Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka
GK De Gea   De Gea
       
Subs ///   (Late 2nd half) Pereira > Greenwood, Shaw > Lingard
       
Goals ///   Rashford, Rashford (pen)

Predicted lineups for gameweek 16

CHELSEA (away vs. Everton)

Form. 4 – 2 – 3 – 1
   
FOR Abraham
MID Pulisic, Mount, Willian
DEF MID Jorginho, Kanté
DEF Emerson, Tomori, Zouma, Azpilicueta
GK Kepa
   
Ruled out Loftus-Cheek
Doubtful Rüdiger, Barkley
Notes Chelsea will be facing a struggling and manager-less Everton on Saturday. The defence shielding Kepa will likely consist of Emerson, Tomori (who were both rested for GW15), Zouma and Azpilicueta. Seeing as Azpilicueta and Zouma played the full 90 minutes against Villa on Wednesday, Lampard might opt for R. James and/or Christensen again. There are currently three players vying for the two central midfield spots: Kanté, Kovacic and Jorginho. The former two started mind-week, so we can see Jorginho coming on (for Kovacic) this weekend. Up front, even though Abraham limped off late on against Villa he is expected to be fit and starting, with Pulisic and perhaps Willian (assuming fully recovered from his knock against Villa, although CHO could be preferred) on his sides, and Mount in the central number-ten position. If Lampard wants to rest Pulisic or Willian, who played 86 and 90 minutes respectively this week, Hudson-Odoi and Pedro would be top of the list. Another possibility is to move Mount to the wing and have the three of Jorginho, Kanté and Kovacic start against the Toffees.

WOLVES (away vs. Brighton)

Form. 5 – 2 – 3
   
FOR Jota, Jimenez, Traoré
MID Neves, Moutinho
DEF Jonny, Saiss, Coady, Dendoncker, Doherty
GK Patricio
   
Ruled out Boly, Gibbs-White
Doubtful None
Notes Considering Wolverhampton’s current fifth spot in the league, manager Espirito Santo will have little reason to mix up his squad. Key central defender Boly remains out injured, but Bennett is fit again and there are not other immediate injury concerns. While Bennett was an assured starter prior to his injury, it remains to be seen if he will displace Saiss as part of the central back three. Dendonker has been good centrally and scored in GW15, so we expect him to retain his spot. Neves and Moutinho are expected to once again form the double pivot. In attack, we expect the usual three: Jimenez, flanked by Jota and Traoré. Most of the Wolves players have been playing twice a week for much of the season!

MANCHESTER UNITED (away vs. Manchester City)

Form. 5 – 2 – 3
   
FOR Rashford, Martial, D. James
MID Fred, McTominay
DEF Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Wan-Bissaka
GK De Gea
   
Ruled out Pogba, Bailly, Dalot, Fosu-Mensah
Doubtful Matic, Rojo, Martial
Notes We’re tempted to say that manager Solskjaer won’t tinker too much after a home victory over Spurs, but City at the Etihad are another kind of beast altogether. We can imagine a starting 5-man defence consisting of Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, possibly Tuanzebe and Wan-Bissaka. Poga remains sidelined (although is not far away from playing again) and we can’t imagine Matic being thrown into this match after such a long time out, so the two spots in front of United’s defence will likely be filled by Fred and McTominay. Despite the doubt surrounding Martial’s likeliness of starting up front, we have picked him to begin up front, with D. James and Rashford on his favoured left side to cause City some trouble on the counter. If Martial is not fit then Greenwood should again take his spot up front. In the United goal, we obviously expect De Gea.

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