Yesterday our regular browse of the upcoming fixtures looked at the teams with Strong games on the horizon. Our thoughts now turn to those sides with less favourable fixtures over the next four-to-six Gameweeks, with three of the top five facing some testing matches:
Fulham
It’s been one step forwards, two steps back for Rene Meulensteen in his bid to rescue Fulham’s season. A handful of recent wins have been interspersed with a humiliating hiding at Hull and a home thrashing at the hands of Sunderland. Clearly, the Cottagers are a work in progress. Unfortunately for Meulensteen, the upcoming fixtures look primed to disrupt that progress. The next six contain visits to Arsenal and Man United as well as home games against Liverpool and Southampton.
Conceding four or more goals in four of their eight games under Meulensteen, Fulham’s defence has been pushed even further down Fantasy watchlists and the likes of Sascha Riether and Martin Stekelenburg will have to prove themselves over these fixtures if they are to earn investment. Similarly, while Steve Sidwell scored against Sunderland and again last night in the cup, fans of his budget appeal may want to wait until the fixtures clear before investing.
Everton
Roberto Martinez’s men are playing well enough to keep winning and they’ve been a lucrative source of Fantasy points this season but Everton’s upcoming fixtures are a mixed bag. In the next six, their home games are plum enough but there are just two of them (Aston Villa and Crystal Palace) and the four away games include Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, fixtures that could well stem the tide of Toffee-sourced Fantasy points.
Clean sheets look in short order from the Toffees over these fixtures and, while no-one is going to be selling top-scoring defender Seamus Coleman, or even Leighton Baines, wildcard teams are unlikely to feature Tim Howard or any other defenders purely on clean sheet merit. In midfield, Kevin Mirallas looks unlikely to pick up any new owners, despite his fourth goal of the season against Norwich and Ross Barkley has suffered a fractured toe to keep him out for up to six weeks. Romelu Lukaku has been blowing hot and cold all season and his frustrated owners may decide that these fixtures are enough to call time on the Belgian.
Cardiff
A promising start to Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Bluebirds career in the form of a cup win over Newcastle was immediately undermined by a home loss to lamentably out-of-form West Ham. In light of that, the short-term future looks bleak with back-to-back trips to the two Manchester clubs. Once that storm has been weathered, though, the fixtures look much better for Cardiff’s Fantasy assets.
The good news is that Fantasy managers can use these two difficult games to assess the Norwegian’s preferred XI before investing. Of particular interest is the centre-back situation – club captain Mark Hudson has started Solskjær’s first two games in charge, with Ben Turner dropping out last weekend. If that continues, priced at just 3.9, Hudson would present a bargain for our five-man backlines. It will also be interesting to see what role, if any, Peter Whittingham has when new recruit Magnus Wolff Eikrem starts games. Also of interest is precocious teenage talent Mats Møller Dæhli. He may be young but regular gametime is not out of the question, given his talent and history with Solskjær.
BE WARY OF
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho’s side are finding their stride now and the Blues’ title bid is very much on. To continue their momentum, though, Chelsea will need to beat Man United at home and, more dauntingly, Man City at the Etihad. Four clean sheets in the last five tell a tale of a defence more in line with our expectations under Mourinho, but the two Manchester games will test it to the limit and owners of John Terry and soon-to-be-under-threat Cesar Azpilicueta may have to rely on attacking returns for those games. A goal or assist (or more) from eight of the last 11 games means Eden Hazard’s season is in full throttle after a slow start but anyone hoping to take a gamble on Willian or even Fernando Torres may want to wait until the fixtures take a turn for the better. Once the Man City challenge is dispensed with, the fixtures do look good for Chelsea.
Liverpool
In full goalscoring form, especially now their first-choice strike partnership is back together, Brendan Rodgers can be rightly pleased with his team’s progress and league position. But their porous defence is a worry and at least two of their next four opponents are good enough to exploit that: Everton and Arsenal. Both are home games but are still enough to counsel some caution. Obviously, Luis Suarez will not be leaving any teams and, to be fair, Daniel Sturridge has shown that he can score against anyone, whilst Steven Gerrard’s consistency is also key, with returns in 10 of his last 11 starts now. Anyone thinking of investing in the likes of Philippe Coutinho or even the defence, may wish to wait a few weeks until the fixture list brightens.
Aston Villa
Terrible in the first half against Arsenal, Paul Lambert’s embattled team put up a spirited fight after the break and could almost have taken a point from the game. The big story was that Belgian talisman Christian Benteke finally broke his duck since returning from injury so many weeks ago. He and Lambert will both be hoping that he can use the confidence from that goal to launch into a barnstorming second half of the season, just as he did last term. Unfortunately for him, the next three fixtures contain visits to both Liverpool and Everton to put the mockers on that comeback bid. Following those games, though, Villa have a good spell of fixtures that could even bring their defence into consideration – Ron Vlaar’s return from injury makes him the consideration there.
