The fixtures table for the next five games has been updated and I’ve given the the monthly rankings a first pass following these changes and the first weekend’s performances.
I’ve also updated the season ticker to allow you to track spells of difficult and easy fixtures over the season. You can find that here.
Looking at the fixtures the likes of Arsenal, Everton and West Ham remain the teams with favourable runs. Neither of that trio put in stand out performances this weekend but all look good sources of fantasy signings based on the fixtures to come.
Blackburn and Newcastle had outstanding results away from home and their fixtures look a little kinder over the next five with week one out of the way. Newcastle in particular, have three home games with Bolton, Hull and Blackburn coming to St James’ Park.
West Brom present an outside bet for cheap players with a run of mid table opposition and three home games over the next five. Sunderland also look to have a decent run of games, as do Wigan once they get the home game with Chelsea out of the way.
United miss gameweek three of course, with their clash with Fulham postponed due to the Super Cup fixture. That’s likely to see all the big money go the way of Chelsea who looked outstanding against Portsmouth and also have a decent set of games – aside from the home fixture with United in gameweek five.
In terms of the monthly rankings – little changed in the goalkeeping category aside form a slight climb from James now that the trip to Chelsea is out of the way. In defence Figueroa and Wheater are new entries. Figueroa taking the place of Scharner who is still struggling with an ankle injury. N’Zogbia also came in with improved fixtures.
The Midfield sees a string of new entries and not surprisingly Deco and Nasri are amongst them after superb performances at the weekend. Gutierrez and Pedersen are also new entries as Newcastle and Blackburn fixtures become more favourable. Arteta is a climber after showing strong form against Blackburn.
Up front Yakubu is a climber while Van Persie drops after his injury kept him benched against West Brom. Clearly there are still doubts over his fitness despite the fact that he is likely to start at Fulham. Santa Cruz is the new entry with form and improved fixtures. Agbonlahor enters the ten with form after his hat-trick. Ashton drops a little with the injury sustained against Wigan as does Bent after his blank at Boro.
No doubt I’ll be tweaking these with team news over the week – I’ll keep you posted on any significant changes.