What The Fans Are Saying – Gameweek 5

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

Chelsea fans are wondering if their players will get kicked all over the park by Liverpool and the referee will turn a blind eye again. Some want Cesc Fabregas to play to help outscore Liverpool, others want Matic to stop Liverpool. They could see Branislav Ivanovic being dropped but that would make it a baptism of fire for Marco Alonso. They expect a high scoring game and think Fabregas’ creativity will be needed.

Liverpool fans aren’t as confident as you’d think. They say it’s one of those games they normally win but it will be hard. They need to mark Eden Hazard out of the game and defend set pieces well if they are to emerge with a victory. Again they expect a lot of goals.

Hull expect to lose to Arsenal and call it a free game where they can try their new signings or at least pick their best side. Many would keep Jake Livermore at centre back and believe Ryan Mason should start. They will concede with many thinking they will ship around two to three goals.

Arsenal’s midweek game showed how much a top striker can make a difference. If PSG still had Zlatan Ibrahimovic they’d have won easily, and the fans wished Arsene Wenger would take note. Many want Lucas Perez to start against Hull, though others assume Olivier Giroud will instead. They expect to win, probably about 3-0 with Alexis Sanchez being a prospective scorer.

Leicester fans are enjoying their Champions League campaign and wouldn’t mind dropping to the Europa League if it meant staying in Europe. But it would be an embarrassment not to get through the easiest Group Stage of all time. They didn’t like Daniel Amartey’s performance against Liverpool but they will give him time. Perhaps Daniel Drinkwater can drop further back, is among suggestions.  It’s early days, though they aren’t looking forward to the game against Burnley. Sean Dyche will set his team up to stop Leicester, so a small win is ok with the Leicester fans.

Burnley fans are upset by Leicester’s huge odds to win against them. Potential fatigue for the Foxes after their midweek match will help Burnley but their fans want to see a dramatic improvement in goal attempts if they are to upset the Champions. More pace on the Burnley wings is also needed, to ensure Andre Gray has more service.

Man City fans want a similar team to the one the fielded midweek in Europe. They like that Bournemouth try to play football as it should play into City’s hands. They have a few worries about resting players and believe that some of City’s stars could be hauled off earlier to avoid fatigue and injury.  That could be good new for Kelechi Iheanacho punters, after he was rested during Wednesday’s Champions League match, coming on only for the final few minutes.

Bournemouth fans are impressed that they created good chances against Tony Pulis’ West Brom. They are also impressed that their supposedly weak link Steve Cook has been excellent. I think they don’t expect to get a result here; their first goalscorer list in this game is mostly Man City players with almost every City attacker name included. At the start of the season, Bournemouth fans pointed out pressing teams like City are their nemesis.

West Brom fans aren’t overly keen on their match-up against West Ham. If the Hammers turn up they will batter West Brom. It will be a poisonous atmosphere, especially if they go behind early. The tide is turning against Tony Pulis. They say they won’t score two in a million years and could easily concede three with mainly West Ham midfielders predicted as the goalscorers. They would like Nacer Chadli to show what’s he’s capable of. 

West Ham are a side who want to stop the rot. They’d take a bore draw even a 0-0. They talk of changing personnel at defensive positions and they think Dmitri Payet isn’t match fit but he has to play. This is the match they’ve been dreading, however, some think if they get a goal the floodgates will open. 

Everton fans are really enjoying their team at the moment, even Gareth Barry looks good. They think Ross Barkley will start because he’s hot and cold, but he has to learn to be more consistent and they like that Ronald Koeman won’t give him an easy ride. They expect to win comfortably.

Middlesborough fans are quite happy with their defence. Gibson has impressed hugely. George Friend has been the weak link, he’s made more mistakes in the first few games than in seven years in the lower leagues so he’ll be ok. Gaston Ramirez is still pulling the strings but Cristhian Stauni is limited and will be replaced.

Watford fans are annoyed about the fracas with West Ham fans. I’m trying to find out what their second half formation was, they said it was more positive and would prefer that over 3-5-2. It may have been 4-3-3. Whatever it was, Watford have a back up plan to score if they are trailing. They like Roberto Pereyra and he is what they’ve been missing. Maybe they are being biased but only 27% think Man Utd will beat them. Additionally, the referee for the match Michael Oliver always gives penalties against them but they’ve all been missed strangely.

No threads about this game from Manchester United fans because of their Europa League game. But you could always ask one, don’t worry there’s loads of them.

Crystal Palace fans say that Andros Townsend will score in the near future, especially with Christian Benteke supplying layoffs and he is also getting better with every game. They are also annoyed at Everton fans for stealing the Yannick Bolasie song. Don’t forget Pardew teams go on huge losing streaks but also long good streaks. Hopefully they’ll beat Stoke,  who may park the bus.

Stoke fans think the game could go either way. They are worried about their form but still rate their squad highly. They just want the players to show some fight and commitment and be harder to break down. The fans have a lot of ideas but they all agree that parking the bus against Palace may be the best strategy to bring in a badly needed win.

Southampton fans are quite despondent. They should beat Swansea but feel that may not be possible, due to  the Swans’ far better second half display against Chelsea last weekend. Expect the Saints fans to turn against their manager and team if they fail to win this, on paper, easy tie.   They were reasonably happy with their performance against Arsenal though but are concerned about the poor form of Shane Long.

There’s a lot of debate within the Swansea forums about how they should set up against Southampton. They are likely to play 4-2-3-1 but fear the manager may go back to the detested 3-5-2 he tried unsuccessfully early on against Chelsea. They aren’t impressed by Gylfi Siggurdsson’s form with some even questioning whether he should start. They know they can beat Southampton on a good day.

Spurs fans want Harry Kane to be rested. He needs it they say and it’s a good chance to have a real look at Vincent Janssen. He played well in the Champions League; he didn’t disappear down the channels like Harry Kane did. Janssen and Dele Alli could be as much a formidable partnership as Kane and Alli. The match against Sunderland should go Spurs’ way and they expect to win reasonably heavily. 

Conclusion

Lots of goals, lots of clean sheets look on the cards, but not among the usual suspects. Instead fans this week are touting a raft of mid price Fantasy assets to prosper, in particular Stoke’s Marko Arnautovic, Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic and Palace winger Andros Townsend.

Who to captain? This may be a week to play it safe and go for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Kelechi Iheanacho is definitely the standout choice for those ready to take a punt. Another is his city team mate Nolito, who was rested midweek. A Manchester City win looks among the only certainties this week. Harry Kane owners ought to be worried, with the Spurs fans convinced a rest, rather than a goal is imminent for the striker.