What The Fans Are Saying – Gameweek 2

This article tries to answer the question ‘What the fans are saying’ for the Gameweek ahead by delving into their forums and unearthing their predictions of how the games will be played.

Fans Predictions

Man United fans think Zlatan Ibrahimovic can dominate Virgil Van Dijk and the Southampton defence, but think Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic can cause problems by pressing their centre backs. Most think they’ll win about 2-0 with some more predictions around this mark. They all agree they will score a good amount of goals in this game and don’t think Henrikh Mkhitaryan will start, once again.

Southampton fans are pessimistic about this game and feel they are at last three good players light to adequately handle Manchester United. The way the Saints played in the first game the fans think the best way to stop Southampton is to stop the fullbacks. Man United are very capable of this. Most predictions are a 3-0 loss and upwards. They want to play tighter but not sure their manager has that type of formation. It’s the wings where Southampton will get destroyed they believe. If they start with a diamond they will get smashed, is the consensus.

Stoke fans weren’t too enamored by their performance against Middlesborough and thought both teams played poorly. Stoke’s defence was shaky especially and most worryingly they looked unfit and the whole team was devoid of pace. The defence was passing the ball around the back too much for the fans liking. This could help Manchester City with their high pressing game when they visit the Brittania. Their predictions are of small wins for either themselves, but mainly Man City.

Man City won’t change their team too much because they have a rest midweek. They don’t like playing Stoke and last season’s performance is one of the worst they’ve seen. But if they can play quick passes, as they did against Steaua Bucharest in Tuesday’s Champions League qualifier, they have every chance to beat Stoke handsomely. They worry about Stoke’s wingers but they should win, with predictions around 2-1 and 3-1. A clean sheet looks doubtful though. 

There’s not been enough time for Swansea fans to make predictions against Hull. Instead they have revealed a growing unease with winger Wayne Routledge. He played poorly against Burnley and the fans  want Mo Barrow and Jefferson Montero to be the wingers against Hull. Striker Fernando Llorente did well and there are high hopes for goals when he gets back his match sharpness. Stephen Kingsley could stay first choice left back after he had a great game. Their centrebacks did okay too, say the fans.

Hull fans think it will be a low scoring match that could go either way. Both teams struggle scoring so it could just end up 1-1.

It’s extremely quiet on Burnley’s message boards. That normally shows they think they’ve lost already. They are playing Liverpool and from the few posts I’ve read they give themselves a glimmer of a chance just because Liverpool always concede.

Liverpool fans know teams like Burnley have been their downfall in recent years. They can beat the big teams but they struggle against lower teams that don’t attack. They are reluctantly hoping that James Milner will be available to play left back, and want a more attacking lineup against Burnley because they’ll just try to contain Liverpool. Liverpool’s defence still looks shaky but nevertheless are confident they can buck the trend and conquer this minnow side.

Watford point out how big Troy Deeney has become, fearing he has taken on the appearance of a pub footballer.  They think Deeney and fellow striker Odion Ighalo will probably lose their battle against Chelsea’s John Terry and Gary Cahill. As for the match as whole I don’t think they’re very confident with a loss predicted.

Chelsea fans are happy that Eden Hazard is on his way back, especially at one point of the game where he dribbled past a few players in his own penalty area against West Ham. They don’t want many changes against Watford. They can use 4-2-4, when they are desperate. They aren’t too happy with Diego Costa though and felt he gave the ball away too cheaply against West Ham. The consensus is that Chelsea will win this encounter.

Tottenham fans have a few differing views. Mostly they think they should keep the same team and wouldn’t be surprised because the manager Mauricio Pochettino rarely changes his teams. Others would like Harry Kane to get a rest for Vincent Janssen. All in all, they think they’ll win but only by a goal or two as there is too much fatigue in the team.

Crystal Palace fans thought they were too predictable and slow against West Brom. They need some intensity. Andros Townsend played quite well but all his shots were weak, say the fans who also feel that their defence struggles in the air. Only a tiny percentage think they can beat Spurs with most resigned to a loss. Due to their team’s ineptitude many are predicting a heavy loss of around 3-0, with Kane, Janssen and Dele Alli the players they most fear.

West Brom Albion fans are set to see Yannick Bolasie play against them twice in two games, following his move from Palace to Everton.  They are excited after their first match and think they have a chance against Everton. They say they can’t imagine Everton not scoring because they’ll be overrun in midfield but a fair few have predicted a 2-1 win with Salomon Rondon scoring again. If West Brom score it will be him scoring they say. 

Ronald Koeman has a good record against West Brom, whereas Everton don’t so it will be interesting to see how the team lines up. It will be a hard game because West Brom are difficult to break down but they think they could get a cleansheet. They’d love a team with Yannick Bolasie and Gerard Deulofeu on the wings and many are predicting an away win of around 1-0.

Leicester fans want to keep last season’s good atmosphere at the King Power Stadium going, even though they lost their first game, away to Hull. They want Shinji Okazaki and Marc Albrighton back in the team for their tireless hardworking performances. Some are very pessimistic and  fear an Arsenal victory as they aren’t intercepting enough in midfield following N’Golo Kante’s departure to Chelsea. Most believe it could be a huge scoreline as both teams are conceding and Arsenal don’t look fit. It’s more likely Arsenal will win but it could go either way. A hard to predict encounter.

Arsenal fans have a million different ideas of what team to put out versus Leicester. There are so many options and the fans don’t like most of them. They desperately want to spend heavily in the transfer window and are missing a few players because of fitness concerns. It should be a good game; both teams are unhappy and have to play better. They hope Arsenal can win this. As with Leicester fans they predict a high scoring game.

Sunderland fans want to put some more attacking options in the team ahead of their game against Middlesborough and expect to see Wahbi Khazri back and perhaps Adnan Januzaj playing. They are a bit worried about Middlesbrough’s striker Alvaro Negredo and think he could score.

Middlesborough fans think they looked tired in the last 20 minutes against Stoke but they were quite pleased with the performance. If they’d got the second goal they could’ve sat back and conserved their energy. They don’t want many changes to the team and may have to play Barragan at centre back again. They hope they can beat Sunderland with goalscorers predicted to be Alvaro Negredo and Gaston Ramirez, but it could be a draw.

There is not much noise from the West Ham fans about Sunday’s clash with Bournemouth, with this week’s Europa League clash firmly on their minds. What little chat there is about the Bournemouth game should give investors in Hammers’ players cause for optimism. The Cherries are likely to attack even though they are the away side, which West Ham fans believe will leave considerable gaps for their players to exploit. However, their defence is a concern, especially the raft of mistakes at the back against Chelsea on Monday.

There’s also not much noise on the Bournemouth forums. They give predictions of the result though and almost all of them have predicted conceding twice. Preseason they were worried about their defence and those fears haven’t gone away. They have to outscore teams and hope the vulnerable Michail Antonio will play at right back once again. While some are predicting a 3-2 victory for the Cherries, most believe they will have to endure a 2-1 loss. 

Conclusion

It is a tough Gameweek ahead for our Fantasy teams this week, with a number of hard to predict ties. Some games look highscoring but nailing down the players to will score from the likes of the Arsenal and Liverpool midfields is tough. It is also worth noting that all the forums have a thread on Dalian Atkinson who died recently tragically this week.

Who to captain? My statistics don’t work with such a small sample size so I’m widely guessing here. The fans think a big win for Manchester United, so perhaps Anthony Martial and Ibrahimovic are good bets. However, after reading the Stoke forums and how sluggish they are at the moment it could be good news for those captaining Sergio Aguero.