Frisking the Fixtures – Gameweek 24 – The Strong

With plum home fixtures against Aston Villa and Sunderland over the next four Gameweeks, West Ham look a team to side with over the coming weeks. Palace have reason to believe they can turn around their recent poor form, whilst Everton’s prospects also look promising, in spite of their upcoming blank in Gameweek 27.

West Ham

The Hammers have averaged two goals per match over the last five Gameweeks, and the trip to Norwich in Gameweek 26 should offer a good opportunity to continue that impressive form, given the Canaries have conceded 11 goals in their last four matches and made a league-high five errors over the same period. Home clashes against lowly Aston Villa and Sunderland should also prove profitable, although both sides have only allowed a fairly respectable four big chances in their last four matches. Given that the Black Cats have shipped 16 goals in their last five away matches, the likes of Dimitri Payet (8.1) and Michail Antonio (5.3) have to be backed, whilst Enner Valencia (5.8) could continue to prove a viable option up top. A trip to Goodison Park will also hold no fear given the struggles at the back for Roberto Martinez’ men, who have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five home matches, leaving only two tougher match-ups against Southampton and Tottenham.

Both Aston Villa and Norwich feature among the bottom five clubs for big chances created over the last four Gameweeks, with four and one respectively, so those two matches should offer reasonably strong opportunities to register shut-outs. Sunderland have scored nine goals in their last four matches, so that could prove to be a fairly tricky defensive assignment, while although Southampton, Tottenham and Everton all find themselves in the middle of the pack for big chances created over recent weeks, clean sheets could be hard to come by in those matches. Spurs, in particular, will be hard to keep out given they lead the way for total goal attempts over the last four Gameweeks with 90. Aaron Cresswell (5.6) worth holding on to should you own him, but otherwise investment in the West Ham backline is perhaps unlikely to pay dividends.

Crystal Palace

Alan Pardew’s side have kept a reasonable six clean sheets so far this term, and given their next five opponents all feature among the bottom eight sides for shots from inside the box over the last four Gameweeks, the prospects for adding to that number look fairly bright over the coming period. West Brom and Watford have only managed four and three goals respectively in their last four matches, and should offer decent possibilities for defensive returns. Bournemouth and Swansea have found some form in front of goal of late, though, while as already mentioned, Sunderland have been pretty prolific in recent outings. In all likelihood, Scott Dann (5.8) should be a great option, given he also possesses a genuine goal threat, while Wayne Hennessey (4.2) should amass a decent amount of points providing he keeps his place in goal for the Eagles.

With just one goal in their last six matches, it’s hard to push the claims of any Palace attacker however favourable their upcoming fixtures are. Swansea and Bournemouth have conceded seven big chances apiece over the last four Gameweeks, and should offer reasonable match-ups, but the Welsh side have managed three clean sheets in their last four matches, so a trip to the Liberty Stadium may still prove tough. West Brom and Watford have both conceded six goals in their last four matches, with both match-ups offering a reasonable chance for the Eagles attack. Sunderland and Liverpool are also among the weaker defensive teams at the moment, so all six fixtures should afford Palace the opportunity to find their scoring boots. Much will depend on whether new signing Emmanuel Adebayor (5.8) can find his fitness and hit the ground running, and how soon Yannick Bolasie (6.1) will be back in first-team action.

Stoke

The trip to Old Trafford will be a difficult match-up for the Potters’ attackers, while a visit to Chelsea in Gameweek 29 has to be classed as unfavourable in light of the Blues’ improvement. Stoke’s other four fixtures on the upcoming slate (EVE, bou, AVL, NEW) should offer the likes of Marko Arnautovic (6.5) and Bojan (5.0) the perfect platform to put themselves firmly on the radar of Fantasy managers.

From a defensive perspective, the back injury suffered by Ryan Shawcross – which will keep the defender out for around four weeks -undoubtedly dents our confidence in the Potters’ backline. The United clash may perhaps not be too unfavourable given the problems Louis van Gaal’s men are having in terms of breaking down sides at home, but the matches against Everton and Chelsea also appear unlikely to yield clean sheets. That leaves three decent match-ups (bou, AVL, NEW), although as already mentioned, Bournemouth and Newcastle do have reasonably strong attacking potential.

ALSO CONSIDER…

Everton
Although the Toffees are without a fixture in Gameweek 27, the upcoming schedule remains very favourable (NEW, sto, WBA, (blank), avl, WHM) for their prospects ahead. Upcoming visitors Newcastle have conceded 12 big chances over the last four Gameweeks, three more than any other side, whilst a Shawcross-less Stoke will also boost the potential of Romelu Lukaku (9.2) and Ross Barkley (7.3). West Brom have hardly been their best at the back of late and basement-dwellers Villa also look a likely source of attacking returns.

Confidence in the Toffees backline is pretty low right now, having managed just three shut-outs in their last 17 matches. The good news is the clashes against West Brom and Aston Villa should represent strong opportunities to improve that dismal record, with those two teams, along with Swansea, the lowest scorers in the top flight this season. The clash against Stoke could also be a decent chance to register a clean sheet, with the Potters having failed to score in their last two matches. Given the price tags of the majority of the Everton starters at the back, significant investment is unlikely then, with the prospects of Leighton Baines (6.2) reliant on what he can produce at the other end of the pitch.

Bournemouth
Eddie Howe’s side have a kind slate of fixtures in the next six (cpl, ARS, STO, wat, SOT, new), with only the visit of Arsenal marked as particularly tricky by our ticker. The Cherries have tasted defeat just twice in the last 11 – against Arsenal and West Ham – and have earned four shut-outs over that period. At the back, spot-kick taker Charlie Daniels (4.6) looks the man to target for returns at both ends of the pitch.

Further up the pitch, lone striker Benik Afobe (6.1) has made an instant impact upon his arrival, bagging two goals and three bonus points in the last couple of Gameweeks. With concerns over Junior Stanislas’ fitness, pinpointing the best route into the Cherries midfield is a little trickier. The fit-again Josh King is back in contention but looks very unlikely to replace Afobe up top, leaving him to battle it out for a spot on the flank along with the likes of Matt Ritchie, Juan Iturbe and Marc Pugh.

Chelsea
On the back of a clean sheet at the Emirates, all of Chelsea’s next six matches (wat, MUN, NEW, sot, nor, STO) look reasonable possibilities for further clean sheet points. The clashes against Newcastle and Southampton probably offer the toughest match-ups, but those owning the likes of Branislav Ivanovic (6.5), Kurt Zouma (5.4) and Thibaut Courtois (5.2) look set to be well rewarded over the next month or so.

The fixtures probably aren’t quite as strong from an attacking sense, with only the home clash against Newcastle in Gameweek 26 looking really favourable. That being said, the likes of Diego Costa (10.6) and Willian (7.1) should be able to make an impact against Watford and Norwich in particular, so we perhaps shouldn’t write off Chelsea attackers as Guus Hiddink looks to be building some momentum at Stamford Bridge.