The Real Tough and Easy Games Revealed

A lot about Fantasy football is choosing the players who have favourable fixtures and are more likely to score points. However, even the “harder” teams can struggle against the “easier” ones. This article looks at how the harder/easier teams fare against each other and also which players thrive against harder/easier teams. This article looks at the team stats and then takes a closer analysis of the players.

TEAMS

Games not scored in:

0 – Chelsea

1 – Manchester City (STK), Everton (SWA), Arsenal (che)

2 – West Ham (TOT, AVL), Spurs (LIV, WBA) Manchester United (bur, mci), Southampton (WBA, tot)

3 – Stoke (AVL, LEI, sou),  Crystal Palace (BUR, hul, mun), Liverpool (AVL, HUL, new), Hull (liv, SOU, bur), Swansea (SOU, sun, eve)

4 – QPR (HUL, tot, mun, whu), Newcastle (MCI, avl, sou, stk), West Brom (sou, swa, EVE, NEW),

5 – Sunderland (qpr, bur, SWA, sou, ARS)

6 – Leicester (che, cry, new, swa, WBA, sou),  Burnley (swa, MUN, cry, SUN, wba, ars)

7 – Villa (NEW, ARS, che, MCI, eve, qpr, whu)

So from this we learn the teams who are hardest to keep clean sheets against. It is quite predictable as Chelsea, City, Everton and Arsenal all pose great offensive threats. It is also worth noting that West Ham have only failed to score twice this season so should be considered just as hard a fixture as Manchester United, Tottenham and Southampton. Your Fantasy players are most likely to keep shut-outs against Aston Villa who have failed to score in more than half their games this season. Leicester, Burnley and Sunderland also struggle for goals. Surprisingly Crystal Palace and Stoke have not managed to score on just three occasions so perhaps stay away from defenders who face them.

Clean Sheets Kept:

7 – Southampton (WBA, NEW, swa, SUN, STK, hul, LEI)

5 – Swansea (BUR, WBA, sun, LEI, eve)

4 – Aston Villa (stk, NEW, liv, whu), Burnley (MUN, cry, SUN, HUL), West Brom (sou, tot, BUR, lei)

3 – Arsenal (avl, sun, BUR), Chelsea (LEI, ARS, AVL), Everton (wba, AVL, SWA), Hull (qpr, CRY, liv), Man City (new, avl, MUN), Man Utd (QPR, bur, CRY), Newcastle (avl, LEI, LIV), Spurs (whu, QPR, SOU)

2 – Crystal Palace (BUR, LEI), Liverpool (tot, HUL), QPR (SUN, AVL), Stoke (mci, NEW), Sunderland (bur, SWA), West Ham (QPR, AVL)

1 – Leicester (stk)

Three clean sheets is clearly the average so far this season. Teams considered to be the strongest in the league are not necessarily the best defensively. Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and Manchester City have only kept three.

Southampton and Swansea lead the way for shut-outs, however none of their clean sheets have come against any of last season’s top five. This makes both sides that may suit a rotation strategy, with their defenders benched when up against tougher teams.

The  hardest teams to defend and attack against (this doesn’t take into account fixtures):

Hardest to defend against: Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton, Arsenal

Hardest to attack against: Southampton, Swansea, Aston Villa, Burnley, West Brom (*notice none of last season’s top seven*)

PLAYERS

These are the most popular players in Fantasy football. It is a well known fact that some players perform better than others when facing harder sides. This should help you decide whether to keep or sell players when the fixtures toughen up. The list only includes high ownership midfielders and forwards (with Leighton Baines thrown in).  For defensive players use the team stats above. I have split the teams in the league into three categories: hard, neutral and easy on current form, and with help from the community. The points referenced are the average Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points per game for each fixture category. I have included the number of games (g) against opposition in that category and also included their ownership % and total FPL points (accurate as of November 17).

Hard – Chelsea, Southampton, Man City, Everton, Arsenal, Swansea

Neutral – West Ham, Man United, Stoke, Spurs, West Brom, Newcastle, Liverpool

Easy – Hull, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Leicester, Burnley, QPR

Diego Costa (56%/63pts)           9pts vs HARD (4g),  7 pts vs NEUTRAL (1g), 5 pts vs EASY (4g)

Cesc Fabregas (53%/63  pts)    5.5pts vs HARD (4g),  4pts vs NEUTRAL (2g), 6.6pts vs EASY (5g)

Gylfi Sigurdsson (44%/63 pts)  3.8 pts vs HARD (4g), 9 pts vs NEUTRAL (4g), 4 pts vs EASY (3g)

Raheem Sterling (38%/55  pts) 5.4 pts vs HARD (4g), 6 pts vs NEUTRAL (4g), 3.3 pts vs EASY (3g)

Angel Di Maria (37%/58 pts)     5.7 pts vs HARD (3g), 3.5 pts vs NEUTRAL (2g),  8.5 pts vs EASY (4g)

Graziano Pelle (32%/66 pts)     5 pts vs HARD (1g), 5 pts vs NEUTRAL (6g), 7.8 pts vs EASY (4g)

Alexis Sanchez (30%/79 pts)    4.5 pts vs HARD (4g),  1 pt vs NEUTRAL (1g), 10 pts vs EASY (6g)

Sergio Aguero (28%/79 pts)     4 pts vs HARD (2g), 7 pts vs NEUTRAL (6g), 9.3 pts vs EASY (3g)

Leighton Baines (25%/69 pts)  3 pts vs HARD (3g), 5.3 pts vs NEUTRAL (3g), 8.8 vs EASY (5g)

Saido Berahino (21%/56 pts)    3 pts vs HARD (3g), 4 pts vs NEUTRAL (4g),  8.5 pts vs EASY (4g)

These stats should help you see which of your players perform better against harder or easier teams and which bring the points home no matter the fixture.

A couple of others who you might be interested in:

Diafra Sakho  (51pts)  8 pts vs HARD (1g), 7.5 pts vs NEUTRAL (2g), 5.6 pts vs EASY (5g)

Charlie Austin (51 pts)  6.3 pts vs HARD, 3g), 2.5 vs NEUTRAL (4g), 7.3 vs EASY (3g)

I included these two for different reasons. I wanted to highlight the fact that Sakho scores better against harder teams, which is particularly interesting as the Hammers face Everton, Swansea, Chelsea and Arsenal before the new year. QPR’s fixtures are getting more favourable in the coming Gameweeks, and with an average of 7.3 points against easier teams, Austin seems to be a fantastic option. His average of 6.3 pts against HARD teams also suggests he is a great option even if the odds appear against him.