The UEFA Champions League and Europa League group stages get underway on the other side of the international break.
The first ties take place in between Gameweeks 5 and 6, with the final group matches scheduled for mid-December.
The seven Premier League sides involved in European competition will also enter the Carabao Cup at the third round stage and, if these clubs progress to the quarter-final of that competition, they will play twice a week, every week, from now until the turn of 2020 – with the exception of the international breaks.
Four of the “big six” sit in the top seven of our Season Ticker over the next six Gameweeks (we’ll be Frisking the Fixtures over the international break) and players from these teams may be dominating Fantasy managers’ thoughts when it comes to transfers and Wildcards.
With that in mind, we thought it was worth a look at the fixture schedule for Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the next two months, given that all of these teams are still involved in European competition.
We have stopped at the end of October as the TV fixtures for November and beyond have yet to be announced, so there is a lot of rejigging to the Premier League calendar still to factor in.
Jurgen Klopp said of his squad ahead of Gameweek 4:
We need them all, we need them all 100%. It is the very first part of the season, the first four Premier League games, and we had a busier schedule than other teams but still not that busy during the week.
That will all come afterwards, so no reason for resting players at the moment. It is about finding rhythm, finding the mood again, that we do the right things in the right moment. It is not the moment for a lot of changes.
After this international break, that will change completely. In the moment, the defensive set-up or whatever, as always, it is about who is in the best shape.
We have had a full week to train and when the boys won the last game and showed me then that they are still in their best possible shape, then we will only think about a couple of really small changes.
Pep Guardiola, when asked about Joao Cancelo (£5.4m), also said last week:
When we come back from the international break, we have Norwich, after three days, we have to travel to Ukraine, after three days we have a game here, then Carabao Cup. Start the real season in terms of a lot of games.
Joao, we’re delighted what we have seen but arrived late so was not in pre-season. Joao started to understand what to do. And now, maybe tomorrow, maybe after the international break, he start to play. He has to be ready.
Wolves, one of the most settled sides of 2018/19, have already been in midweek European action this season and some Fantasy managers have already suffered the consequences of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Europa League-influence rotation: Diogo Jota (£6.4m), Jonny (£5.5m), Leander Dendoncker (£4.5m) and Joao Moutinho (£5.5m) have all been benched once in the league already.
Below is a club-by-club itinerary for September and October, with the fixtures in italics Champions League/Europa League/Carabao Cup ties.
We will look at how the respective clubs’ managers approached team selection around the group stage last season in a follow-up article tomorrow.
Manchester City
Saturday 14 September: Gameweek 5 – Norwich City (a)
Wednesday 18 September: Shakhtar Donetsk (a)
Saturday 21 September: Gameweek 6 – Watford (h)
Tuesday 24 September: Preston North End (a)
Saturday 28 September: Gameweek 7 – Everton (a)
Tuesday 1 October: Dinamo Zagreb (h)
Sunday 6 October: Gameweek 8 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)
Saturday 19 October: Gameweek 9 – Crystal Palace (a)
Tuesday 22 October: Atalanta (h)
Saturday 26 October: Gameweek 10 – Aston Villa (h)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
Liverpool
Saturday 14 September: Gameweek 5 – Newcastle United (h)
Tuesday 17 September: Napoli (a)
Sunday 22 September: Gameweek 6 – Chelsea (a)
Wednesday 25 September: MK Dons (a)
Saturday 28 September: Gameweek 7 – Sheffield United (a)
Wednesday 2 October: Red Bull Salzburg (h)
Saturday 5 October: Gameweek 8 – Leicester City (h)
Sunday 20 October: Gameweek 9 – Manchester United (a)
Wednesday 23 October: Genk (a)
Sunday 27 October: Gameweek 10 – Tottenham Hotspur (h)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
Chelsea
Saturday 14 September: Gameweek 5 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
Tuesday 17 September: Valencia (h)
Sunday 22 September: Gameweek 6 – Liverpool (h)
Wednesday 25 September: Grimsby Town/Macclesfield Town (h)
Saturday 28 September: Gameweek 7 – Brighton and Hove Albion (h)
Wednesday 2 October: Lille (a)
Sunday 6 October: Gameweek 8 – Southampton (a)
Saturday 19 October: Gameweek 9 – Newcastle United (h)
Wednesday 23 October: Ajax (a)
Saturday 26 October: Gameweek 10 – Burnley (a)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday 14 September: Gameweek 5 – Crystal Palace (h)
Wednesday 18 September: Olympiakos (a)
Saturday 21 September: Gameweek 6 – Leicester City (a)
Tuesday 24 September: Colchester United (a)
Saturday 28 September: Gameweek 7 – Southampton (h)
Tuesday 1 October: Bayern Munich (h)
Saturday 5 October: Gameweek 8 – Brighton and Hove Albion (a)
Saturday 19 October: Gameweek 9 – Watford (h)
Tuesday 22 October: Red Star Belgrade (h)
Sunday 27 October: Gameweek 10 – Liverpool (a)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
Arsenal
Sunday 15 September: Gameweek 5 – Watford (a)
Thursday 19 September: Eintracht Frankfurt (a)
Sunday 22 September: Gameweek 6 – Aston Villa (h)
Tuesday 24 September: Nottingham Forest (h)
Monday 30 September: Gameweek 7 – Manchester United (a)
Thursday 3 October: Standard Liege (h)
Sunday 6 October: Gameweek 8 – Bournemouth (h)
Monday 21 October: Gameweek 9 – Sheffield United (a)
Thursday 24 October: Vitoria Guimaraes (h)
Sunday 27 October: Gameweek 10 – Crystal Palace (h)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
Manchester United
Saturday 14 September: Gameweek 5 – Leicester City (h)
Thursday 19 September: FC Astana (h)
Sunday 22 September: Gameweek 6 – West Ham United (a)
Wednesday 25 September: Rochdale (h)
Monday 30 September: Gameweek 7 – Arsenal (h)
Thursday 3 October: AZ Alkmaar (a)
Sunday 6 October: Gameweek 8 – Newcastle United (a)
Sunday 20 October: Gameweek 9 – Liverpool (h)
Thursday 24 October: Partizan Belgrade (a)
Sunday 27 October: Gameweek 10 – Norwich City (a)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Saturday 14 September: Gameweek 5 – Chelsea (h)
Thursday 19 September: Sporting Braga (h)
Sunday 22 September: Gameweek 6 – Crystal Palace (a)
Wednesday 25 September: Reading (h)
Saturday 28 September: Gameweek 7 – Watford (h)
Thursday 3 October: Besiktas (a)
Sunday 6 October: Gameweek 8 – Manchester City (a)
Saturday 19 October: Gameweek 9 – Southampton (h)
Thursday 24 October: Slovan Bratislava (a)
Sunday 27 October: Gameweek 10 – Newcastle United (a)
Tues/Weds 29/30 October: Carabao Cup fourth round
