Gameweek 15 brought a lot of shock results and evidently not the best amount of points for FPL managers. We saw; Bournemouth scrape a 1-0 away victory to Chelsea, and Newcastle earn a surprise 2-0 home victory to in-form Liverpool. Has this gameweek got the potential to shock and cause havoc in the FPL? Let’s find out with the gameweek 16 preview…
Norwich vs Everton
Norwich were on a decent run of form ‘til the Watford result last week which saw them slump to another defeat in their difficult start to the season. The main problem is that they haven’t got a proven goal scorer in their team unlike other promoted and struggling clubs. Everton have certainly got a proven goal scorer in Belgian beast Romelu Lukaku, who has bagged himself a goal in every one of his last 6 games in both league and cup.
Star Man – Romelu Lukaku (9.0m)
Norwich failed to handle Ighalo’s pace and strength last week, and Lukaku will do the same.
Prediction – Norwich 1-3 Everton
Crystal Palace vs Southampton
Crystal Palace have had a great start to the season finding themselves just a place outside the Europa league spot, a 5-1 thrashing of Newcastle being the most recent win for the Eagles. Southampton on the other hand have been woeful in recent games in both league and cup. Recent results include a poor showing in a 1-1 draw to struggling Aston Villa and a 6-1 thrashing at home to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Star Man – Yannick Bolasie (6.1m)
Cannot stop tormenting defences throughout games, the last few games especially.
Prediction – Crystal Palace 2-0 Southampton
Manchester City vs Swansea
A tale of 2 teams stuck in a bit of a pickle. Man City are without a few players, the most notable of all being club captain Vincent Kompany. They have struggled in pretty much every game defensively without him and struggled to score goals without Sergio Aguero. Swansea are very much relegation contenders if the results for the Swans continue as they are, a 3-0 loss to Leicester being the most recent one of all.
Star Man – David Silva (9.9m)
Has been injured for the majority of the season but has still managed to rack up the points.
Prediction – Manchester City 2-0 Swansea
Sunderland vs Watford
Sunderland have improved since the sacking of Dick Advocaat and the appointment of well experienced manager Sam Allardyce. They have grabbed wins at Southampton and their Tyne-Wear rivals Newcastle. Watford have been solid throughout the whole season which continued last week with a win at home to Norwich
Star Man – Duncan Watmore (4.3m)
Amazing value for a promising player at a rejuvenated club and he’s a striker!
Prediction – Sunderland 1-2 Watford
West Ham vs Stoke City
West Ham grabbed a well worked draw at ‘boring’ Manchester United at the weekend which was their first decent result for a while. Stoke had an even better weekend last week with a dominating 2-0 victory over table toppers at the time, Man City. Stoke’s form is questionable however, including a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland a couple of weeks ago.
Star Man – Xherdan Shaqiri (6.6m)
Set up both goals for Arnautovic last week and can easily grab a goal or two this week.
Prediction – West Ham 1-2 Stoke City
Bournemouth vs Manchester United
This enthralling games is the 5:30 game on the Saturday and should not be missed as this may well be another shock result. Bournemouth have just come off a fantastic 1-0 away victory to Chelsea and a gutsy performance against Everton before hand. Man United have been labelled ‘boring’ recently as they have scored just 3 goals in their last 6 home games at Old Trafford.
Star Man – Joshua King (4.6m)
He is just 4.6m and he is classed as a midfielder despite playing up top for the cherries.
Prediction – Bournemouth 1-1 Manchester United
Aston Villa vs Arsenal
The appointment of Remi Garde may have not changed much for Villa but the away game at Southampton last week shows that they may have turned a corner in their season. Arsenal are on decent form themselves, situated in 2nd in the Barclays Premier League table. A nail biting win against Sunderland however, may put some doubts into the result of this tough game for both teams.
Star Man – Aaron Ramsey (8.0m)
Looked dangerous against Sunderland and should continue his form against Villa.
Prediction – Aston Villa 1-3 Arsenal
Liverpool vs West Brom
Liverpool have obviously been shook by their shocking performance against an out of form Newcastle side. However they do have it in them to turn over a team, shown by the 6-1 away thrashing of Southampton. West Brom are going through a tough patch of games after playing both North London giants, but doing well as they scrambled 4 points from those 2 games.
Star Man – Philippe Coutinho (8.4m)
Should return to action this weekend and was the stand out performer before picking up his recent injury.
Prediction – Liverpool 2-1 West Brom
Tottenham vs Newcastle
This fixture is a very hard one to look at indeed. Both teams showing inconsistent form at the moment. Tottenham firstly, failed to beat West Brom but battled to a good 0-0 draw against Chelsea. Newcastle looked a lost cause after their thrashing to Crystal Palace but gave all the league a massive shock when they got a win out of Liverpool, a lot of the plaudits going to Dutch attacking midfielder Wijnaldum who orchestrated the midfield.
Star Man – Dele Alli (5.0m)
Has scored in his last 2 games for Spurs and has the ability to shut down dangerous attacks.
Prediction – Tottenham 2-1 Newcastle
Leicester City vs Chelsea
The Monday night football this week is arguably the best game of all for the neutral. Leicester at the moment look like they could beat anybody and the reigning champions of England will not phase them one bit. Chelsea’s form shows that they are in for a tough ride at the King Power, since losing at home against recently promoted and struggling, Bournemouth.
Star Man – Marc Albrighton (4.9m)
Out of the spotlight at Leicester, but has played well throughout the whole of this season.
Prediction – Leicester City 2-1 Chelsea
By Harry Clark
