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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 20 goes, we will take a look at confirmed starting lineups for the top-10 teams in gameweek 19, compare those to our predictions for that gameweek, and then predict their lineups for gameweek 20.

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 GW20

Sheffield Utd	Less than 48 hours between GW19 and GW20.
Manchester United	Less than 48 hours between GW19 and GW20.
Crystal Palace	Less than 48 hours between GW19 and GW20.
Newcastle	Less than 48 hours between GW19 and GW20.

The Premier League at the start of gameweek 20 (positions 6 to 11)

6	Spurs	29 pts
7	Sheffield United	29 pts
8	Manchester United	28 pts
9	Crystal Palace	26 pts
10	Newcastle	25 pts
11	Arsenal	24 pts

Lineups for gameweek 19: Predicted vs. confirmed

SHEFFIELD UNITED (home vs. Watford, 1-1)

	PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 19		CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 19
Form.	5 – 3 – 2		5 – 3 – 2
FOR	McGoldrick, McBurnie		McGoldrick, McBurnie
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) Mousset > McBurnie
Goals	///		Norwood (pen, Baldock)

MANCHESTER UNITED (home vs. Newcastle, 4-1)

	PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 19		CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 19
Form.	4 – 2 – 3 – 1		4 – 2 – 3 – 1
FOR	Martial		Martial
MID	Rashford, Pogba, D. James		Rashford, A. Pereira, Greenwood
DEF MID	Fred, McTominay		Fred, McTominay
DEF	Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka		Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka
GK	De Gea		De Gea
Subs	///		(2nd half) Pogba > McTominay, Lingard > Rashford, Mata > Martial
Goals	///		Martial (A. Pereira), Greenwood, Rashford (Wan-Bissaka), Martial

CRYSTAL PALACE (home vs. West Ham, 2-1)

	PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 19		CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 19
Form.	///		4 – 3 – 2 – 1
FOR	///		Ayew
MID	///		Zaha, Meyer
DEF MID			McArthur, Milivojevic, Kouyaté
DEF	///		Van Aanholt, Sakho, Tomkins, Kelly
GK	///		Guaita
Subs	///		(2nd half) Riedewald > Van Aanholt, Wickham > Meyer, McCarthy > Kouyaté
Goals	///		Kouyaté (Ayew), Ayew (Wickham)

NEWCASTLE (away vs. Manchester United, 4-1)

	PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 19		CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 19
Form.	5 – 3 – 2		5 – 3 – 2
FOR	Joelinton, Carroll		Joelinton, Gayle
MID	Shelvey, Hayden, Almirón		S. Longstaff, M. Longstaff, Almirón
DEF	Willems, Lejeune, Fernandez, Schär, Manquillo		Willems, Lejeune, Fernandez, Schär, Manquillo
GK	Dubravka		Dubravka
Subs	///		(2nd half) Atsu > Gayle, Yedlin > Almirón, Krafth > Schär
Goals	///		M. Longstaff (Joelinton)

Predicted lineups for gameweek 20

SHEFFIELD UNITED (away vs. Manchester City)

Form.	5 – 3 – 2
FOR	McGoldrick, McBurnie
MID	Fleck, Norwood, Lundstram
DEF	Stevens, O’Connell, Egan, Basham, Baldock
GK	Henderson
Ruled out	Moore
Doubtful	None
Notes	Generally, manager Chris Wilder sticks to the same eleven or twelve players for his starting lineups, and especially in a game like the one coming up against City at the Etihad, we can’t imagine him breaking this pattern. The Blades have no relevant injuries to deal with, so we expect the usual eleven to line up on Sunday, including McBurnie to partner McGoldrick in attack but no doubt fitness levels will be assessed prior to the game.

MANCHESTER UNITED (away vs. Burnley)

Form.	4 – 2 – 3 – 1
FOR	Martial
MID	Rashford, Lingard, D. James
DEF MID	Fred, Pogba
DEF	Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka
GK	De Gea
Ruled out	Bailly, Rojo, McTominay, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe
Doubtful	None
Notes	Despite the short turn-around of fixtures, United’s defence is likely to remain unchanged. B. Williams might get a chance at left-back instead of Shaw, but considering the team’s need to move up the table, we’re sticking with manager Solskjaer’s preferred back four. McTominay’s knee injury is bad news for the Red Devils, but fortunately they have got Pogba back. We expect him to slot right in next to Fred to add some much needed creativity and quality on the ball to their midfield. Both D. James (did not feature) and Lingard (entered for Rashford in the 63rd minute) were rested in GW19, so we expect them to regain their spots for GW20 at the cost of A. Pereira and Greenwood. Rashford (63rd minute) and Martial (67th minute) were subbed off early against Newcastle, which makes us think that Solskjaer is starting the pair again on Saturday at Turf Moor.

CRYSTAL PALACE (away vs. Southampton)

Form.	4 – 3 – 2 – 1
FOR	Ayew
MID	Zaha, Meyer
DEF MID	Kouyaté, Milivojevic, McArthur
DEF	Riedewald, Sakho, Tomkins, Kelly
GK	Guaita
Ruled out	Van Aanholt, Benteke, Townsend, Schlupp, Cahill, Ward, Dann
Doubtful	None
Notes	Manager Roy Hodgson is not known to have a tendency to rotate a lot and the current wave of injuries severely limits his options anyway, especially at the back, so we expect a starting eleven in GW20 that is largely identical to the one in GW19. Van Aanholt is back in the treatment room, so Riedewald looks like starting on Saturday. The central duo will likely consist of Sakho and Tomkins, and Kelly will fill in for Ward on the right. We expect the midfield block to consist of Milivojevic, Kouyaté and McArthur, while Meyer could continue to replace the injured Townsend further up the pitch. Together with Zaha, the German will be supporting striker Ayew, whose Man-of-the-Match performance (1 goal, 1 assist) got Palace their victory over Southampton in GW19.

NEWCASTLE (home vs. Everton)

Form.	5 – 3 – 2
FOR	Joelinton, Gayle
MID	Shelvey, Hayden, Almirón
DEF	Willems, Lejeune, Fernandez, Schär, Yedlin
GK	Dubravka
Ruled out	Saint-Maximin
Doubtful	Ritchie, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett, Manquillo, Ki
Notes	With Newcastle currently in 10th place, we believe manager Steve Bruce will continue to put his trust in a back line of five. Despite some minor injury worries, we expect largely the same defensive set-up, with the exception of Yedlin replacing Manquillo to give the latter a rest. In midfield, the Longstaff brothers will likely make way for a return of Shelvey and Hayden to the starting lineup. Gayle was subbed off in the 59th minute in GW19, which makes us believe that he will once again partner Joelinton up front coming weekend although Andy Carrol could provide extra height.