Frisking the Fixtures – Gameweek 6 – The Weak

Following our review of the teams with the softest upcoming schedules yesterday, we now take a look at which sides we should be wary of backing over the next six Gameweeks.

It’s Chelsea assets we should perhaps be most concerned by, while the outlook for West Brom and Leicester players also doesn’t appear to promising.

Chelsea

(ars, hul, LEI, MUN, sot, EVE)

Only the Gameweek 7 trip to Hull looks favourable for the Blues over the coming period, so Chelsea’s main men could be set for a downturn in production over the next few weeks.

Everton, Leicester, Arsenal, Man United and Southampton all feature among the bottom eight clubs for shots conceded in the box, while they’ve all allowed either five or six big chances, ranking them among the tightest defences.

Those matches look pretty tough for the Chelsea attack then, so it’s no surprise that Diego Costa, and, in particular, Eden Hazard, are attracting plenty of sales this week.

Defensively, the outlook isn’t much brighter, with Arsenal and Everton having scored 12 and 10 goals respectively so far, while Arsenal and Man United are ranked joint-fourth for big chances created with 11.

The Southampton fixture may also see the Chelsea rearguard fail to keep a clean sheet given Saints have registered 83 total goal attempts so far, the fifth highest total among all 20 clubs.

With uncertainty also surrounding the exact make up of Antonio Conte’s defence, they definitely look best avoided for the time being, particularly with investment in our five-man backlines not a huge priority at the moment given the paucity of clean sheets.

West Brom

(sto, sun, TOT, liv, MCI, lei)

The Baggies only face two home matches in the next six, and with the visitors for those clashes at the Hawthorns being Tottenham and Man City, the appeal of West Brom’s assets looks set to diminish over the next month or so.

It’s defenders from the Midlands club that have proved to be popular acquisitions so far, but shut-outs appear unlikely against Man City and Tottenham, with the former the highest scorers with 15 goals, while Spurs lead the way for total goal attempts with 95.

Liverpool and Leicester also feature prominently in many of the attacking categories, leaving only the next two fixtures as reasonable match-ups for the West Brom backline.

After those two matches, then, the likes of Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans look dispensable, although McAuley in particular will always offer a goal threat from set-pieces.

It’s a similar story when assessing the prospects of the Baggies attack over the coming period, with the fixtures against Tottenham and Man City unlikely to yield many goals, while the clashes at Anfield and the King Power Stadium are also pretty unfavourable.

Stoke and Sunderland do feature in the top three for goals conceded though, so Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli could still thrive over the next two Gameweeks, with the pair then looking set to struggle in more testing match-ups.

Leicester City

(mun, SOT, che, CPL, tot, WBA)

It’s in the short-term in particular where Foxes players could find the going tough, with trips to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge on the agenda, while Claudio Ranieri’s men also have to travel to Tottenham in the upcoming slate of matches.

Chelsea have allowed the fewest number of shots inside the box so far with 21, while Tottenham have shipped the least goals with just two. Having conceded five times in their last two encounters, the match-up against United perhaps doesn’t look so unfavourable, but with Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Brom all fairly solid at the back, the general outlook doesn’t appear too positive for Leicester attackers.

With so many premium options in-form and with strong fixtures, it’s hard to see Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani finding their way into many of our 15-man squads, then.

Defensive returns may also be in fairly short supply over the coming period, with Chelsea and Tottenham ranked first and third for shots inside the box, while United have netted in both their home fixtures thus far.

The home clashes against Southampton, Palace and West Brom could potentially yield a clean sheet or two, but all three teams do have decent goal threats, particularly from set-pieces.

It’s unlikely that Leicester defenders will earn much consideration from Fantasy managers at this point in time, then, although those decent home fixtures may persuade some to hold should there be more pressing matters to deal with.

Also be wary of…

Middlesbrough
Following back-to-back defeats, ‘Boro now face three testing fixtures (TOT, ars, mci) in the next six, while defensive returns also appear unlikely at West Ham in Gameweek 7.

It’s also difficult to see Aitor Karanka’s side scoring many goals in those three unfavourable match-ups, while facing off against three of the strongest attacks in the league, they also look set to ship a few goals.

They do face favourable home clashes against Watford and Bournemouth in the coming period, though, but those two match-ups are perhaps not enough to help convince us to keep faith in the likes of Alvaro Negredo and George Friend, whose popularity has waned in recent weeks.

Southampton
Saints face four tough matches in their next five (whm, lei, mci, CHE), and with three of those coming on the road, their mid-priced assets don’t look to hold much appeal at this stage of the season.

Defensive returns are expected to be in short supply in those four matches, and with Saints defensive starters setting us back at least 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), they appear best left alone during this stretch.

With West Ham looking so vulnerable at the back, the next six fixtures aren’t quite so unfavourable from an attacking perspective, with matches against Burnley and Hull also giving hope that Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic can remain viable options.

But with those three difficult match-ups to also consider, it’s unlikely many FPL bosses will keep faith in Southampton attackers when there are superior options available elsewhere.

Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino’s men only play two of the next six in front of their own fans, and with the two visitors to White Hart Lane being Man City and Leicester, we should perhaps be slightly wary of Tottenham assets.

Clean sheets will be hard to come by in those two match-ups, although across the four away fixtures (mid, wba, bou, ars), there is the potential for a shut-out or two. But given the price tags of Spurs defenders, it’s only the in-form Kyle Walker that will probably be on the radar of Fantasy managers.

As already mentioned, Spurs do lead the way for total goal attempts, so they could still get some joy even up against tough opponents such as City, Leicester and Arsenal.

The mid-price Vincent Janssen could be worth considering in the absence of the injured Harry Kane, but with rotation also a concern in the midfield, it’s likely that Tottenham assets will remain on the periphery of our thoughts.

Man United
It’s in the short-term where there are legitimate concerns over United assets, with three tough fixtures (LEI, liv, che) in the next four.

Having looked vulnerable at the back against Watford, it’s hard to forecast defensive returns with any confidence in those fixtures, although the other three match-ups (STO, BUR, swa) may be enough for those holding onto United backline assets.

With so many in-form forwards to choose from, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s place in our three-man frontlines does appear under threat given that goals may be hard to come by in three of the next four Gameweeks.

But should he be able to tick over in those clashes, there could be plenty of points to be picked up against Stoke, Burnley and Swansea, who are all in the top five for shots conceded inside the box.