Thanks to sponsorship from FanTeam we’ve now expanded our Premier League starting line-ups predictions articles. This extra article helps members of the fiso community manage their fantasy football teams. First a word from our sponsor:
Get ready for the biggest Fantasy Premier League contest this winter!
The World Championship of Fantasy Football will take place through gameweeks 20 and 21 of the current season. The guaranteed prize pool is €100,000 and the first place takes home a life-changing sum of at least €30,000! But that’s not everything: You can qualify for the WCOFF for as little as €2! Fanteam offers plenty qualifier and satellite contests, which take you step-by-step closer to the huge championship. This is your chance to play against the best of the best and win big! There’s even a chance to enter for free in the Boxing Day free roll.
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 3 covers the teams in positions 7 to 10, part 1 covers the lineups for positions 1 to 3, and part 2 looks at the formations for positions 4 to 6. We might analyse the lineups of all teams at a later stage, based on the interest shown in this series. As far as gameweek 18 goes, we will take a look at confirmed starting lineups for the top-10 teams in gameweek 17, compare those to our predictions for that gameweek, and then predict their lineups for gameweek 18.
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 GW18
| Sheffield United | None |
| Wolves | None |
| Crystal Palace | None |
| Arsenal | None |
The Premier League at the start of gameweek 18 (positions 6 to 11)
| 6 | Manchester United | 25 pts |
| 7 | Sheffield United | 25 pts |
| 8 | Wolves | 24 pts |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 23 pts |
| 10 | Arsenal | 22 pts |
| 11 | Newcastle | 22 pts |
Lineups for gameweek 17: Predicted vs. confirmed
SHEFFIELD UNITED (home vs. Aston Villa, 2-0)
| PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 17 | CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 17 | ||
| Form. | 5 – 3 – 2 | 5 – 3 – 2 | |
| FOR | McGoldrick, Mousset | McGoldrick, Mousset | |
| MID | Fleck, Norwood, Lundstram | Fleck, Norwood, Lundstram | |
| DEF | Stevens, O’Connell, Egan, Basham, Baldock | Stevens, O’Connell, Egan, Basham, Baldock | |
| GK | Henderson | Henderson | |
| Subs | /// | (2nd half) McBurnie > Mousset, Besic > Norwood, Osborn > McGoldrick | |
| Goals | /// | Fleck (Lundstram), Fleck (McGoldrick) |
WOLVES (home vs. Spurs, 1-2)
| PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 17 | CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 17 | ||
| 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 | /// | None | |
| Goals | /// | Traoré (Jimenez) |
CRYSTAL PALACE (home vs. Brighton, 1-1)
| PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 17 | CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 17 | ||
| Form. | 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 | 4 – 3 – 3 | |
| FOR | Zaha, Ayew, Townsend | Zaha, Benteke, Ayew | |
| MID | Kouyaté, Milivojevic, McArthur | McArthur, Kouyaté, Milivojevic | |
| DEF | Riedewald, Tomkins, Cahill, Kelly | Riedewald, Dann, Tomkins, Kelly | |
| GK | Guaita | Guaita | |
| Subs | /// | (2nd half) McCarthy > Riedewald, Meyer > Kouyaté | |
| Goals | /// | Zaha (Tomkins) |
ARSENAL (home vs. Manchester City, 0-3)
| PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 17 | CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 17 | ||
| Form. | 4 – 2 – 3 – 1 | 4 – 2 – 3 – 1 | |
| FOR | Lacazette | Aubameyang | |
| MID | Aubameyang, Özil, Pepe | Martinelli, Özil, Pepe | |
| DEF MID | Torreira, Guendouzi | Torreira, Guendouzi | |
| DEF | Kolasinac, D. Luiz, Chambers, Bellerin | Kolasinac, Chambers, Sokratis, M.- Niles | |
| GK | Leno | ||
| Subs | /// | (1st half) Saka > Kolasinac (2nd half Smith-Rowe > Özil, Willock > Torreira | |
| Goals | /// | None |
Predicted lineups for gameweek 18
SHEFFIELD UNITED (away vs. Brighton)
| Form. | 5 – 3 – 2 |
| FOR | McGoldrick, Mousset |
| MID | Fleck, Norwood, Lundstram |
| DEF | Stevens, O’Connell, Egan, Basham, Baldock |
| GK | Henderson |
| Ruled out | Fleck (suspended, 5 yellow cards) |
| Doubtful | /// |
| Notes | As usual, manager Chris Wilder has no relevant injuries to deal with for GW18, but last gameweek’s brace hero Fleck is suspended for this one. We expect Freeman to fill in for the playmaker in midfield. For the rest, our expectation is that the rest of the team will remain unchanged for the clash with Brighton. |
WOLVES (away vs. Norwich)
| 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 | |
| Notes | Manager Espirito Santo is still without Boly and Gibbs-White, but has no new injury concerns to deal with. Like Chris Wilder above, the Portuguese manager is known for very much sticking to a fixed starting eleven, which we expect him to do again versus Norwich this weekend. Wolves had no mid-week obligations, which means that they have had a full week of rest and preparation for Saturday’s game. |
ARSENAL (home vs. Manchester City)
| Form. | 4 – 2 – 3 – 1 |
| FOR | Lacazette |
| MID | Aubameyang, Özil, Pepe |
| DEF MID | Torreira, Guendouzi |
| DEF | Maitland-Niles, D. Luiz, Chambers, Bellerin |
| GK | Leno |
| Ruled out | Tierney, Kolasinac, Ceballos |
| Doubtful | Bellerin, Xhaka, Özil, Holding |
| Notes | Mikel Arteta has just been officially announced as Arsenal’s new manager, so this will be caretaker manager Freddie Ljungberg’s last game in charge for now. It remains to be seen how Arteta will form his starting lineups, but for Saturday we expect a similar approach as in Ljungberg’s previous five games in charge. With Tierney and Kolasinac both seemingly unavailable for the game, we think Maitland-Niles might be moved to left-back, as an out-of-position Saka there would pose too much of a risk to an already suspect defence. Bellerin should start on the opposite, and in between the two fullbacks, David Luiz and Chambers are likely to form the central duo. In front of the defence, we’re expecting to see Torreira and Guendouzi. Despite Martinelli’s good recent form, we find it hard to imagine Lacazette starting on the bench again, especially considering his decent scoring record compared to the minutes he gets. In that case, Aubameyang will provide support from the left and possibly Pepe from the right, while we expect Özil to return to the number ten slot. |
CRYSTAL PALACE (away vs. Newcastle)
| Form. | 4 – 3 – 3 |
| FOR | Zaha, Benteke, Ayew |
| MID | Kouyaté, Milivojevic, McCarthy |
| DEF | Riedeward, Dann, Tomkins, Kelly |
| GK | Guaita |
| Ruled out | Ward, Schlupp, Cahill, Townsend, Sakho (suspended, red card) |
| Doubtful | Van Aanholt, Riedewald |
| Notes | Palace’s defensive injury crisis is still in full swing, so manager Roy Hodgson will have to get creative again this weekend. The left-back position in particular is a problem, as starter Van Aanholt looks like missing this one, his replacement Schlupp is ruled out, and Schlupp’s replacement Riedewald is a doubt as well. Considering the latter’s presence last weekend despite news of a minor hip injury (he only played one half), we feel Hodgson might go for him again this week, despite the risk. The rest of the defence consists of Dann, Tomkins and Kelly. In the middle, the usual three of Kouyaté, Milivojevic and McCarthy should get the nod. Up front, Townsend will be missing for a long time, so we see Ayew moving to his spot on the wing and Benteke taking up the striker position, with Zaha to his left. |