Frisking the Fixtures – Gameweek 8 – The Weak

After taking stock of those sides with the strongest upcoming schedules yesterday, we now turn our attention to those teams who may struggle over the next six Gameweeks.

Budget options from Middlesbrough, West Brom and Burnley may not be much use over the coming weeks, while we should perhaps think twice about backing Chelsea players for success.

Chelsea

(LEI, MUN, sot, EVE, mid, TOT)

While the Blues do face four of their next six matches at Stamford Bridge, the fact only the Gameweek 12 trip to Middlesbrough looks favourable means we should perhaps be wary of Chelsea assets.

Everton, Man United, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City all rank in the bottom eight for the fewest number of shots conceded inside the box over the last six Gameweeks, with Spurs having only let in three goals in total this season.

Additionally, Southampton have kept three consecutive clean sheets, so it’s difficult to be too optimistic over the prospects of Chelsea attackers over the coming period, facing off as they do against so many strong defences.

Diego Costa’s form may persuade some to keep faith in the Spanish international, but outside of the burly striker, it may be best to ignore all other members of the Blues’ attack.

The fixtures are also tricky from a defensive point of view, with the Tottenham clash in particular unlikely to yield a clean sheet given Spurs rank fourth for both goals scored and shots inside the box over the last four Gameweeks.

The matches against Leicester, United, Southampton and Everton also appear less than favourable, so there looks to be little appeal in owning one of Chelsea’s premium options at the back during this tough part of their schedule.

Middlesbrough

(WAT, ars, BOU, mci, CHE, lei)

‘Boro players appear unlikely to provide many Fantasy points over the coming period, with their away fixtures in particular looking very tough.

Man City and Arsenal are the first and third highest scorers over the last six Gameweeks, while Leicester and Chelsea also have to be fancied to find the back of the net against Aitor Karanka’s side.

Home matches against Watford and Bournemouth in the short-term will mean Fantasy managers who currently own a ‘Boro defender will probably be happy to hold for now, but beyond those matches, there looks to be little appeal in owning a member of Karanka’s backline.

From an attacking perspective, it’s a similar story, with Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Leicester all ranked in the bottom eight for big chances conceded over the last six Gameweeks. City and, in particular, Leicester are also very strong defensively at home, so it’s hard to see ‘Boro scoring many goals across those four matches.

Alvaro Negredo’s ownership should continue to plummet over the coming weeks, then, particularly as he was dropped to the bench last time out against West Ham.

West Brom

(TOT, liv, MCI, lei, BUR, hul)

It’s in the short-term where the outlook appears bleak for the Baggies, where they take on three of the current top four, along with champions Leicester.

West Brom’s major appeal from a Fantasy perspective is always their defence under the stewardship of Tony Pulis, but they’ll be facing off against the two highest scoring teams (City and Liverpool), along with Tottenham, who also rank among the leading attacking units.

A trip to the King Power is also a testing match-up, so the chances of defensive returns over the next four Gameweeks look slim. Some Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bosses may be happy to hold, though, given the two favourable clashes at the end of the coming period, along with the fact that West Brom defenders do offer a strong goal threat from set-pieces.

The Baggies attack has looked far more dangerous this season following the addition of Nacer Chadli, but now may not be the time to invest in the Belgian or forward Salomon Rondon.

As already touched upon, Tottenham and Leicester (in home matches) offer tough match-ups for the West Brom attack, while it’s likely the Baggies could toil for goals at Anfield or at home to City.

It looks best to search elsewhere for cheaper options in midfield and attack for the time being then, with Messrs Chadli and Rondon set to return to our radars from Gameweek 12 onwards.

Burnley

(sot, EVE, mun, CPL, wba, MCI)

Sean Dyche’s side face a tricky looking run of fixtures over the next six Gameweeks, with Burnley players appearing unlikely to find much joy over the next month or so.

Goals look set to be hard to come by, with Southampton the in-form side defensively, while Everton have only conceded four goals in their last six matches.

Clashes against United, City and West Brom also look tough for the Clarets attack, while Crystal Palace have been improved at the back of late, so it’s unlikely we’ll be turning to Turf Moor for our budget options over the coming period.

Clean sheets also seem set to be in short supply, with trips to St Mary’s and Old Trafford looking tough for a Burnley backline that has shipped six goals in their two away matches thus far.

While Sean Dyche’s side have been resolute in front of their owns fans, only conceding three times in five matches, they’ll be facing off against City and Everton, two sides that sit in the top four for big chances created over the last six Gameweeks, while Palace have scored in each of their last three away fixtures.

Tom Heaton’s owners may need to make sure their other goalkeeper has some kinder fixtures over the next few weeks then, with no other members of the Burnley backline looking to hold much appeal at this juncture.

Also be wary of…

Man United
It’s in the short-term in particular where United assets could fail to live up to their price tags, with testing trips to Anfield and Stamford Bridge over the next two Gameweeks.

There’s also the difficult home encounter against Arsenal in Gameweek 12 to bear in mind, so while the other three fixtures on the current slate (BUR, swa, WHM) are pretty favourable, it’s open to debate whether defensively, in particular, the likes of Antonio Valencia and David de Gea are going to provide enough points to justify their premium price tags.

While Liverpool and Chelsea have shown some defensive frailties this season, they will be tricky match-ups for the United attack on the road, so Zlatan Ibrahimovic may be subject to further sales if he fails to deliver at Anfield.

Everton
The Toffees face four of their next six (mci, bur, WHM, che, SWA, sot) on the road, so we perhaps have to be wary over the potential of the likes of Seamus Coleman, Yannick Bolasie and Romelu Lukaku.

Only the Burnley and Swansea clashes look reasonably favourable from a defensive standpoint, with shut-outs very unlikely against City, Chelsea and Southampton.

There look to be several stronger premium options available to us at the back other than Coleman, then, while although the fixtures are slightly more appealing from an attacking sense, goals could still be hard to come by in the matches against City, Burnley and Southampton in particular, perhaps limiting the appeal of Lukaku, should he shrug off a minor injury.

Tottenham Hotspur
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are another side who face four of their next six matches (wba, bou, LEI, ars, WHM, che) on the road, including two big London derbies.

Favourable match-ups against West Ham, and to a slightly lesser extent Bournemouth, may enable the likes of Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli to maintain their form. But it’s probably fair to say the rival midfielders on show at Arsenal and Liverpool appear likely to outscore the duo over the coming period due to their kinder schedules.

The Spurs backline is undoubtedly one of the strongest in the Premier League, although those trips to Arsenal and Chelsea are a slight concern. Given the added attacking potential of the likes of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham defenders could still prove to be solid picks for the next month or so.