Having assessed the sides with the strongest upcoming schedules yesterday, our lunchtime focus turns to the teams who face a tougher task over the next six Gameweeks. Tottenham face a potentially perilous upcoming period, while lowly Newcastle brace themselves for back-to-back clashes with Chelsea and City.
TOTTENHAM
Back-to-back 1-0 league victories have certainly raised the confidence levels at White Hart Lane, but with City, Swansea, Liverpool and Arsenal in the next six, the prospects for their Fantasy assets don’t look particularly bright for the next few weeks.
Spurs have managed to keep three consecutive clean sheets, but keeping out the City and Arsenal attacks in particular could prove a difficult task. Bournemouth having also scored in each of their last four matches, while Aston Villa are a dangerous counter-attacking threat on their travels, having scored in each of their three away matches so far this season. The likes of Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld and Kyle Walker (all 5.0) in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) could struggle to maintain their strong form then.
Given Tottenham have only scored five goals, their attackers clearly have form and fixtures against them. Swansea and Arsenal have both kept two clean sheets at home this season, while City have managed five shut-outs so far. Harry Kane (9.3) is still searching for his first goal of the season, with Heung-Min Son (8.0), following his winner against Crystal Palace, looking the slightly better bet, although any investment is unlikely given the fixtures. None of the Spurs midfielders have an ownership of more than 7% in FPL, and that isn’t likely to change in light of the upcoming schedule.
EVERTON
Arguably, the Toffees have one kind looking fixture in the next six, when Sunderland roll up to Goodison in Gameweek 11. Monday’s trip to the Hawthorns is hardly straightforward, given the home side have four clean sheets in five now. With Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal and West Ham also on the agenda, Roberto Martinez’ men have a tough time of it before the schedule turns in their favour.
Everton have registered three clean sheets, all away from Goodison Park, and whilst they may fancy their chances of another against the Baggies, the following three look less promising. Having conceded in every home match so far, clean sheets against Liverpool and Man United appear unlikely, with only the visit of Sunderland perhaps offering potential defensive returns to the likes of Phil Jagielka (5.4) and Seamus Coleman (6.0), assuming the latter recovers from his hamstring injury. The thigh injury suffered by John Stones against Reading is also a concern for the prospects of the Toffees backline, should he face any time on the sidelines.
Ross Barkley (6.9) has managed to garner attacking points in wins against Southampton and Chelsea, highlighting his fixture-proof appeal, and given his reasonable price tag, may well continue to offer great value. Romelu Lukaku (8.2), on the other hand, has no attacking returns from his last four outings, and probably looks to expensive to carry, particularly over the next four Gameweeks.
MAN UNITED
After the wins against Liverpool and Southampton, things are looking pretty rosy for Louis van Gaal’s men right now. While favourable matches against Sunderland, and, to a lesser extent, West Brom offer hope of further victories, the fixtures against Arsenal, Everton and City should perhaps throw some caution as to how we view United’s Fantasy assets over the coming period.
Anthony Martial (8.3) is clearly the talk of the town at the moment, having scored three goals in his first two league appearances, seeing over 450,000 FPL managers draft in the France international so far this week. Certainly, his current 75% goal conversion rate (three goals from four shots) is clearly unattainable and it remains to be seen whether he’ll manager to maintain momentum against Arsenal, City and West Brom’s backlines. Juan Mata (8.6) has proved far more consistent than Memphis Depay (8.3) and Wayne Rooney (10.3), though the Spaniard may struggle to earn new owners over that stretch.
In terms of the defence, clean sheets look possible against Sunderland and West Brom, but it’s debatable whether those returns will be able to justify sticking with the likes of Chris Smalling (6.2) and Matteo Darmian (5.8). The Italy international was replaced at half-time at St Mary’s on Sunday, and although he is expected to start against the Black Cats, is also a slight concern for his 20% ownership, while the backline in general will be weakened by the absence of the injured Luke Shaw, as illustrated against the Saints.
NEWCASTLE
With only three goals scored so far, and just 50 goal attempts in total, the lowest out of any side in the Premier League, it’s very unlikely that any Fantasy managers will be backing any of the Magpies attacking assets on form alone.
It’s the next four in particular that clinches Newcastle’s place in our “Weak” selection. With Chelsea and City up next, in addition to a derby clash with Sunderland, Steve McClaren’s men are up against it. The likes of Georginio Wijnaldum (6.8), Moussa Sissoko (5.8) and Aleksandar Mitrovic (6.2), now available after serving his three-match suspension, seem best avoided given the Magpies have scored once in the last five. The matches against Norwich, Stoke and Bournemouth offer some hope for attacking points, but there are clearly many better options available in the mid-price bracket right now.
The prospects for the Newcastle rearguard do not look any brighter, having conceded nine goals so far. The Magpies defenders only set us back 5.0 or less, so expectations clearly aren’t very high, but only Daryl Janmaat (4.9) looks worthy of consideration due to his high involvement in the Magpies attacking play. The Dutchman is doubtful for this weekend, though after being forced off in last night’s cup loss to Sheffield Wednesday. Shut-outs over the next two Gameweeks appear very unlikely, while Norwich have scored in five of their six matches, and Bournemouth have shown they have plenty of attacking intent over the opening six Gameweeks.
BE WARY OF…
Aston Villa
While the 1-0 win against Birmingham in the Capital One Cup may have lifted some of the pressure building at Villa Park, there’s no doubt Tim Sherwood’s men face a testing time of it over the coming period (liv, STO, che, SWA, tot, MCI). Villa have failed to score in two of their three home clashes so far, so goals against Swansea and City could be hard to come by. With trips to Anfield, Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane also on the agenda, owning any Villa attacker appears unlikely to reap many rewards over the next month or so.
Micah Richards (4.6) and Brad Guzan (4.5) have ownerships of 9% and 7% respectively in FPL, but adding to the solitary clean sheet they managed in Gameweek 1 against Bournemouth looks pretty unlikely, given the attacks they’ll be facing over the next six Gameweeks. The clashes against Stoke and Swansea look the best opportunities for potential shut-outs, but even those chances look somewhat slim.
Liverpool
The prospects for the Reds backline look particularly bleak over the next six Gameweeks (AVL, eve, tot, SOT, che, CPL), having conceded seven goals in their last three matches, while they’ll come up against strong attacking sides such as Chelsea and Crystal Palace over the coming weeks.
It looks tricky to pinpoint any potential clean sheet with a degree of confidence, with this weekend’s home encounter against Villa probably offering the best opportunity. Martin Skrtel (5.5) and Simon Mignolet (5.1) look unlikely to provide value for money over the coming period then, while Joe Gomez (4.8) may now face a spell out of the starting XI after being dropped against Norwich, with Brendan Rodgers switching to a 3-4-1-2 formation.
Further forward, the prospects of the Reds’ attackers looks slightly brighter, with the Villa and Palace backlines looking vulnerable, and to a slightly lesser extent Southampton and Chelsea. A further blank from Philippe Coutinho (8.1) could trigger something of a fire sale, while Christian Benteke’s hamstring problem has already seen nearly 240,000 FPL bosses part company with the Belgian this week.
Southampton
The Saints face tricky trips to Chelsea and Liverpool over the next four Gameweeks, and with free-scoring Leicester also visiting St Mary’s over the same period, clean sheets for Jose Fonte (5.4), who has a 14.9% ownership in FPL, may be hard to come by. Matt Targett (4.1) has an ownership of 10.1%, but will soon lose his place at left-back, with Ryan Bertrand (5.3) closing in on a first-team return after appearing off the bench in last night’s cup win over MK Dons.
In terms of possible attacking returns, they might be slightly easier to pick up, with the Foxes, Bournemouth and Sunderland pretty shaky at the back, while the Chelsea and Liverpool defences have also been pretty vulnerable at times this season. The likes of Sadio Mane (7.8) and Graziano Pelle (7.9), who have been ticking over quite likely, may be worth keeping hold of then, should the Italian shake off a foot problem, although there are undoubtedly more attractive options with similar price tags over the coming period.
Leicester
Claudio Ranieri’s men appear in this section with the prospects of registering their first shut-out of the season looking fairly slim over the next month or so, given the fixture list (ARS, nor, sot, CPL, wba, WAT). The best opportunity for the likes of Kasper Schmeichel (4.5) and Wes Morgan (4.4) may come in the final matches of the current slate against West Brom and Watford, with both sides struggling for goals.
Considering the form that both Riyad Mahrez (6.4) and Jamie Vardy (6.2) are in, you’d back the pair against pretty much any backline right now. Nonetheless, they will come up against two of the stronger rearguards in the form of Arsenal and West Brom, suggesting their momentum may be slightly curtailed.
