The Swans fly high in this week’s fixture refresh as Michael Laudrup’s men prepare for a run which looks prosperous at both ends of the pitch. Their Welsh neighbours Cardiff have less reason for optimism, while, having steady the ship, Alan Pardews looks set for a testing time in the weeks to come.
THE STRONG
Swansea
Despite defeat at Southampton last time out, interest in the Swans is surely set to pick up ahead of a delicious run of fixtures that look bountiful for Fantasy managers. The next four hold particular appeal, with three home games against Sunderland, West Ham and Stoke – teams who have, bar the odd anomaly, traveled badly this season – plus a trip to compatriots Cardiff, sandwiched in between the latter two fixtures.
At the back, doubts over Ashley Williams and Ben Davies make Chico look the most secure option, though Michel Vorm offers extra save point potential for those who feel the possible injury lay-offs may dent the Swans’ resilience. Certainly, Michu is the obvious attacking outlet, though Pablo Hernandez is edging towards a return from injury – along with Wilfried Bony, he looks a real differential, though question marks still remain over the Ivorian’s security of starts as Laudrup juggles his squad with one eye on European commitments.
Chelsea
Beaten only by Everton so far, Jose Mourinho’s side have nevertheless failed to set the Fantasy world alight in the manner we might have expected. That could all change as they embark upon a prolonged spell of prosperous looking fixtures, with a home clash against City the only thorn on the rose. In the next six Gameweeks they host matches against Cardiff, West Brom and Southampton and travel to Newcastle and West Ham.
The trouble, as ever with this season’s Chelsea, is picking players with game time guaranteed. Fernando Torres’ injury leaves Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba to duke it out for the striker spot and both will be hoping to open their accounts for the season. Owners of the Blues’ top scoring forward, Oscar, are sweating over a small injury sustained on international duty. As highlighted by Part 2 of our Breaking the Template article, Andre Schürrle could be an intriguing differential having emerged as a regular for Mourinho, while Ramires, despite failing to produce any returns, has very strong underlying stats worth considering. A Chelsea defender looks near-essential for this period and thankfully rotation has been much less problematic here. Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry have both played 90 minutes of every Premier League game though for a more extreme differential, David Luiz has only missed one game since returning to fitness.
Man United
Rescued from a third straight defeat by young Adnan Januzaj on his first league start at Sunderland last time out, United still have the fixtures to climb out of their mid-table ignominy. Next up is back-to-back home games against Southampton and Stoke, followed by a trip to misfiring Fulham to prepare them for the sterner tests of Tottenham and Arsenal. With these fixtures, Fantasy managers will be hopeful of points at the back and up front and, for the first time since the 2011/12 season, perhaps even in midfield, if David Moyes keeps faith in the young Belgian.
Rio Ferdinand’s injury makes Nemanja Vidic the most attractive of United’s centre backs, though Patrice Evra has been more than justifying the extra outlay. Januzaj is yet another budget midfielder worth a punt while Robin van Persie’s diminishing number of owners will have been overjoyed with Friday’s hat-trick for the Netherlands; that could be just provide the jump-start for his faltering season and see him prove his value over Wayne Rooney in the weeks to come.
Everton
Despite losing their unbeaten record at City, the Toffees are still in fine form. Roberto Martinez’ men have the fixtures to return to winning ways, with a home clash against Hull and trips to Villa and Palace in the next four, while the visit of Stoke also lessens the blows of showdowns with Spurs and Liverpool over the upcoming six.
Flavour of the month, Romelu Lukaku, is positively incandescent right now; six goals in five games for club and country is simply impossible to overlook, with the bandwagon showing no signs of slowing over the international break. In the middle of the park, Ross Barkley has defied his doubters to finally deliver his long-promised breakthrough season; with their fixtures, he is likely to be promoted from fifth midfielder by many a manager, though Kevin Mirallas’ underlying stats indicate he’s a decent differential. At the back, Seamus Coleman’s goal in Gameweek 1 earned him a legion of early owners but since then he has been matched or outscored by every one of his defensive teammates Leighton Baines, Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka, with Baines now nine points clear of his fellow full-back.
ALSO CONSIDER
Arsenal – the league leaders have four strong games in the upcoming six to bolster their position at the top of the table. Home fixtures with Norwich and Southampton, allied with trips to promoted pair Palace and Cardiff help offset back-to-back showdowns with Liverpool and United over Gameweeks 10 and 11. Defensive investment looks impossible to justify given the Gunners have one clean sheet in seven, though further up the pitch, Aaron Ramey, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud could soon be joined by Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla as the treatment room is evacuated at pace to give Arsene Wenger selection headaches.
Liverpool – Brendan Rodgers’ side entertain West Brom and Fulham and travel to Newcastle and Hull over the next six as the schedule continues to smile kindly on Liverpool. Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge will be looking to maintain the form that has harvested five goals between them in the last two matches, while Fantasy managers will be hoping Rodgers continues with the recent 3-5-2 formation, affording Jose Enrique more game time as an out of position prospect on the left of midfield. The Spaniard will be hoping to retain his place ahead of fit-again Aly Cissokho, while Glen Johnson is closing in on a comeback and is now down to 5.8 as a prospect on the opposite flank.
Tottenham – Andre Villas-Boas’ side have three favourable fixtures in the next four to fall back on after the previous Gameweek’s home defeat at the hands of West Ham. A trip to Villa is followed by visits from Hull and Newcastle to the Lane, with Jan Vertonghen looking a tempting option if Spurs can find their form again. Faith in the likes of Christian Eriksen and Gylfi Sigurdsson has taken a dent, while Roberto Soldado owners will be desperate for a first-team return after he made way for Jermain Defoe last time around. Be warned, however, thinks stiffen up dramatically by Gameweek 12 with both Manchester clubs lined up at the end of November.
THE WEAK
Cardiff
If the off-field goings on aren’t enough of a distraction, Malky Mackay’s men are faced with a tough run of fixtures ahead as they look to recover from a home defeat to Newcastle. The Bluebirds have just one match in front of their own fans in the next four, though, with neighbours Swansea paying visit in Gameweek 10 (che, nor, SWA, avl).
With back-to-back visits from United and Arsenal following on from their Villa Park encounter, Cardiff have it far from easy – David Marshall’s save points look more crucial than ever, while Peter Whittingham may struggle to replicate the consistency which has harvested a goal or assist in three of the opening seven.
Newcastle
Alan Pardew’s side must steel themselves ahead of a tough run of four fixtures. The Magpies play three of the current top six over that period – Liverpool and Chelsea pay visit before a trip to Tottenham – while a Gameweek 9 clash against neighbours Sunderland, in Gus Poyet’s first home match in charge, looks far from straightforward.
Loic Remy faces a tough task to maintain the form which has harvested five goals in the last three, while faith in Hatem Ben Arfa is in rapid decline after he was dropped to the bench for the trip to Cardiff last time out.
West Brom
The Baggies short-term fixtures remain unfavourable, though with four points from games against United and Arsenal, Steve Clarke’s side are flying right now. Nevertheless, with a trip to neighbours Stoke and visits to Liverpool and Chelsea in the next four, many will be temporarily deterred from investing in the midlands outfit, in spite of an eye-catching home clash against Palace.
One clean sheet in five since Ben Foster’s lay-off highlights a lack of resilience and suggests the Baggies may need to attack to pick up anything over this schedule. Luckily, Stephane Sessegnon and Morgan Amalfitano have offered enough in recent matches to suggest they are capable of producing the points.
BE WARY OF
Hull– Steve Bruce’s side face a real task as they look to defend a four-match unbeaten run. Hull roll up to three of the top seven in the next four Gameweeks (eve, tot, SUN, sot) and with Robbie Brady still nursing a hernia problem, they are likely to toil for goals, given thee midfielder has scored or assisted four of their six strikes. Allan McGregor’s save points between the sticks look likely to come in handy here as he continues to emerge as a sound budget keeper option.
Fulham – a trip to Palace next Monday bodes well for Martin Jol’s men but after that, the schedule turns evil. Fulham then square up to Southampton, United, Liverpool and Swansea in back-to-back matches before making their way to West Ham – returns at both ends of the park look hard to come by, though Jol’s decision to bench Darren Bent may be good news for Dimitar Berbatov, with the Bulgarian seemingly set to lead the line once again. Given the fixture list, Jol will do well to remain at the Cottage by the end of November.
West Ham– Sam Allardyce’s side will be buoyed by the win at Spurs but have a tough run ahead of them in the next five Gameweeks. City and Chelsea both pay visit and with a trip to Swansea also on their agenda, clean sheets may be hard to come by – given that Christian Benteke is likely to be back for the Gameweek 10 showdown with Villa, the likes of Winston Reid and Jussi Jaaskelainen may struggle to continue their climb up the Fantasy rankings, while Ravel Morrison faces a tough task to carry on the form which has harvested two goals in the previous three Gameweeks.
Southampton– In the short-term, the Saints’ schedule is not too bleak once they get past the weekend trip to Old Trafford. The clash with United is, however, the first of three daunting to fixtures to come in the next six Gameweeks which threaten to test the resilience of their defence to the full. Clean sheets in St Mary’s clashes with Fulham and Hull could be vital with trips to Stamford Bridge and the Emirates looming.
