Frisking the Fixtures – Gameweek 4 – The Strong

As an exciting transfer window closes and the first international break begins, we take a look ahead and try to gauge the impact of the upcoming schedule on our Fantasy thinking. First up, as always, are the teams with favourable fixtures to come over the next four to six Gameweeks – we see a couple of title hopefuls and a spread of lesser ranked teams are offered platforms for short-term success.

Stoke City

A shock 1-0 win at the Etihad was just the tonic that Mark Hughes’ team needed after a sluggish start to the season. Buoyed by that result, the Potters enter a period of excellent fixtures with home encounters against Leicester, Newcastle and Swansea and trips to QPR, Sunderland and Southampton. After getting their act together at arguably the toughest ground in the top-flight, these fixtures suggest that there could be Fantasy points aplenty on offer at both ends of the pitch.

Asmir Begovic is firmly ensconced in goal and provides good value in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game at 5.0, while at the back, managers can choose between the budget delights of Marc Wilson, the added assist threat of Erik Pieters or the full luxury of goals and bonus points from Ryan Shawcross. In midfield, one-time Fantasy darling Victor Moses will be hoping to reboot his Premier League career while Liverpool alumnus Oussama Assaidi was signed on deadline day after a fairly successful loan last season.

Marko Arnautovic, widely expected to kick on after settling in during the latter half of last season, was unexpectedly benched last time out and has a fight on his hands to regain his place, though the potentially season-ending injury to Peter Odemwingie won’t harm his cause. Up front, there’s a parallel story as Bojan Krkic was left out of the squad against City and any investment in that area would surely be in the direction of weekend goalscorer Mame Biram Diouf.

Man United

Louis van Gaal’s winless start to the Premier League rolls on, with a lacklustre draw against Burnley the latest in a series of unconvincing displays. However, a huge transfer window culminated in the loan of Radamel Falcao, whose legendary goal-scoring pedigree is thought by many to signal the start of an upturn. Certainly, on paper, the new-look squad of world-class talent ought to make light work of their upcoming five fixtures, with home games against QPR, West Ham and Everton and trips to Leicester and West Brom.

For those with faith in the Reds defence, David De Gea provides a well priced route in, while Jonny Evans is expected to keep his place and comes in at 5.4 in the FPL game. The arrival of both Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao has caused some to doubt the security of Juan Mata’s place in the first team – the former arrives at Old Trafford with an outstanding history of playmaking on the continent but question marks over formation may mean that it may be better to wait and see how things shake out before investing in the Argentine. Falcao, on the other hand, has no such question marks. Priced at 11.0 in the FPL game, the Colombian is an elite option whose arrival could trigger a raft of wildcards as Fantasy managers scramble to accommodate such an expensive option alongside other pricey performers. Quite how Van Gaal shapes his side to also accommodate Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie remains to be seen.

Sunderland

Two draws and a loss from their opening three tells a fair tale of the Black Cats’ stuttering start to the season. Gus Poyet will be desperate to improve and the next four fixtures offer some assistance – after the tricky visit of Tottenham, the Wearsiders have a trip to Burnley followed by two home fixtures against Swansea and Stoke, which offer hope of points at both ends of the pitch.

In goal, last year’s budget hero Vito Mannone appears to have seen off the challenge of Costel Pantilimon and offers excellent value. The loan of Sebastien Coates could threaten Wes Brown’s place or even that of John O’Shea, but luckily the most appealing option here is Patrick van Aanholt, who already has an assist to his name.

The midfield offers a wide selection of budget gambles. Seb Larsson opened his account in Gameweek 1 and followed up with an assist the following week to remind us of his well priced potential. Jack Rodwell is looking for a fresh start on Wearside and has already scored, whilst, sadly, hopes for Will Buckley seem to be curtailed for now by irregular game time. Connor Wickham has been utilised on the flank so far but the arrival of Buckley and Ricardo Alvarez may see the youngster challenge Steven Fletcher for the lone forward role.

Liverpool

After struggling to dominate Southampton or make an impression against Man City, Brendan Rodgers’ side rediscovered their form with a highly convincing destruction of previously unbeaten Tottenham at the Lane. That 3-0 triumph set Liverpool up perfectly for a very encouraging schedule – Aston Villa, West Brom, Everton and Hull City all roll up to Anfield in the next six Gameweeks, while trips to West Ham and QPR will hold little fear.

A back-line that struggled to keep clean sheets last season seemed to have been sounding the same chord this term but shutting out a Pochettino side at home is no mean feat and Simon Mignolet could be a decent goalkeeping option in light of these fixtures. A goal from new recruit Alberto Moreno makes him an enticing alternative to the hugely owned Dejan Lovren, though if the cheaper youngster Javier Manquillo can nail down a berth ahead of Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan, he could be a bargain. In midfield, it’s hard to look past Raheem Sterling whose two goals and assist have taken him to third in the overall midfielder standings in FPL. But those who thought that the departure of Luis Suarez would rob Steven Gerrard of the oxygen of penalties may be thinking twice after Rodgers’ high-intensity methods earned his skipper another spot-kick at the weekend, meaning the veteran may still be an option. With two assists in three appearances, Jordan Henderson is also ticking over nicely, and at just 6.0, offers an alternative in the mid-price bracket.

Up front, Mario Balotelli was lively without product but still looked like a potentially explosive goal-scorer – if Rodgers retains the midfield diamond, the Italian international looks a valid option as part of the front two. Meanwhile Daniel Sturridge’s second consecutive blank is a little disconcerting for his owners but few would predict that the drought will abide for long and the only real deterrent is his eye-watering price-tag – all the more so with Balotelli 1.5 cheaper.

Also Consider

Crystal Palace
The loss of Tony Pulis is still being felt by Fantasy managers but Neil Warnock is a canny old campaigner and a shift from budget-priced defence to budget-priced attack could be on the cards after the Eagles put three past Newcastle.

With home matches against Burnley and Leicester plus trips to Hull and West Brom in the next six Gameweeks, Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha look like enticing options, whilst Dwight Gayle is expected to recover from the ankle knock that forced him off last weekend – the striker has scored four goals in his last two matches in all competitions and, at 4.5 in the FPL game, could be an excellent budget enabler in a 3-5-2 formation. For those still holding out hope of clean sheets, Joel Ward still appears to be the best option, though with Zaki Fryers arriving yesterday, in addition to the competition offered by Martin Kelly and Adrian Mariappa on the right, the Eagles first-choice backline under Warnock is yet to be decided.

Burnley
Sean Dyche will gladly chalk up a no-score draw with Man United as a victory and he’ll be hoping to prise his plucky team from the bottom of the table using the lever of favourable fixtures. Sunderland, West Ham and Everton all roll up to Turf Moor, while trips to Crystal Palace, West Brom and Leicester present a landscape of points potential for their key Fantasy assets. Michael Duff looks a bargain at 4.0 if he can hold onto his place, whilst Dean Marney is the budget fifth midfielder of choice for many on the site, though George Boyd (4.4) could prove an alternative if he can nail down the left flank role. Lukas Jutkiewicz excelled in pre-season but Danny Ings, with 27 goals last season, has better underlying stats and could easily break his drought with those fixtures.

Southampton
A first win of the season at West Ham was no more than the Saints deserved after impressing under Ronald Koeman, given the exodus of talent over the summer. The next six fixtures offer hope of more to come as Koeman gets to grips with the Premier League: the visits of Newcastle, QPR, Sunderland and Stoke all look primed for Fantasy points, though trips to in-form Swansea and Tottenham under their former manager may be more problematic.

Fraser Forster has done well for save points so far, though for a similar price one can obtain the attack-minded services of Nathaniel Clyne, who with a goal, assist and clean sheet so far sits in fourth place for defenders overall. Morgan Schneiderlin’s brace makes him an intriguing lower mid-price option whilst James Ward-Prowse also got off the mark with an assist. Dusan Tadic has thus far failed to justify his price-tag, but a mooted shift to a role in the hole could be hugely beneficial to him and his owners. Graziano Pelle has similarly got off to a fairly slow start but his goal against West Ham could be just what his confidence needs to begin repaying his managers’ faith. New winger Sadio Mane arrives with an excellent scoring record and is another to monitor.