Our regular frisk of the fixtures sees us assess the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) clubs and players with – in theory – the strongest run of league matches.
We typically take a routine look at the next six fixtures in this article but after the announcement of the confirmed schedule for FPL Double Gameweeks 36 and 37, we’ve again tweaked the format slightly.
This should hopefully help you plan ahead, whatever your chip strategy is.
Our colour-coded Season Ticker is the primary source for this piece; using this tool as a Premium Member, you can sort by difficulty, rank by attacking and defensive potential or find budget rotation pairings. You can even set your own difficulty ratings, should you disagree with our own.
SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW
The teams above are sorted by fixture difficulty between now and the end of 2021/22, with those with the most remaining fixtures likelier to be higher up the table.
A new date for Wolves v Man City is still to be announced (see more below) and doesn’t appear on the above ticker.
Leicester City not only have more fixtures than any other team, they also have more meetings against sides in the bottom half (seven) – plus another against ninth-placed Crystal Palace.
Burnley and Palace have six matches against those teams in the bottom half and the joint-fewest encounters with the ‘big six’ (one each, in Gameweek 37 and 38 respectively).
Tottenham Hotspur avoid any side competing for a European place outside of Double Gameweek 36, meanwhile.
By contrast, seven of Everton‘s nine remaining fixtures are against teams in the top half.
Brighton and Hove Albion also only meet two teams at the wrong end of the table, and even one of those is a comfortable-in-12th Southampton.
MOST FIXTURES/DOUBLE GAMEWEEKS REMAINING FROM GAMEWEEK 32 ONWARDS
| Team | Fixtures remaining | Double Gameweeks remaining | When their Double Gameweeks are | Any Blank Gameweeks? |
| Leicester | 10 | 3 | GW33/36/37 | 0 |
| Arsenal | 9 | 2 | GW33/36 | 0 |
| Burnley | 9 | 2 | GW33/37 | 0 |
| Chelsea | 9 | 2 | GW36/37** | 0 |
| Everton | 9 | 2 | GW36/37 | 0 |
| Aston Villa | 8 | 2 | GW36/37** | 1 (GW33) |
| Brighton | 8 | 1 | GW33 | 0 |
| C Palace | 8 | 1 | GW37** | 0 |
| Liverpool | 8 | 1 | GW36 | 0 |
| Man City | 8 | 1 | GW36 or 37* | 0 |
| Man Utd | 8 | 1 | GW33** | 0 |
| Newcastle | 8 | 1 | GW33 | 0 |
| Norwich | 8 | 1 | GW36 | 0 |
| Spurs | 8 | 1 | GW36 | 0 |
| Watford | 8 | 1 | GW36 | 0 |
| Leeds | 7 | 1 | GW36 | 1 (GW33) |
| Wolves | 7 | 1 | GW36 or 37* | 1 (GW33) |
| Brentford | 7 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| West Ham | 7 | 0* | n/a* | 0* |
*Man City and West Ham’s progress in the FA Cup and Europa League respectively will determine whether the Hammers get a Double Gameweek 36 + Blank Gameweek 37 or two ‘single’ Gameweeks. It will also dictate whether the only remaining outstanding Premier League fixture, Wolves v Man City, falls in Gameweek 36 or 37.
**There are suggestions that Everton v Crystal Palace or Man Utd v Chelsea could be moved out of Double Gameweek 37 (to Gameweek 34/35) depending on whether Palace or Chelsea reach the FA Cup final. We’re likely to hear more on that after April 17.
ROTATION RISKS: WHEN THE EUROPEAN CLUB COMPETITION/FA CUP TIES ARE
Thanks to moderator Legomane‘s image above, we can see when teams with other commitments – be it the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League or FA Cup – are in action around the Gameweeks.
Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Leicester could be in action twice a week, every week, from now until Gameweek 38.
Brentford, by contrast, have a week’s gap between every one of their remaining league fixtures.
FREE HIT – BEST FIXTURES IN THE DOUBLE GAMEWEEKS
Here we’ve looked at the three remaining Double Gameweeks in isolation, particularly for those FPL managers who are on a Free Hit in any of them.
Each Gameweek is again sorted by fixture difficulty on our Season Ticker.
GAMEWEEK 33
Newcastle United come out top for ease of fixture in Double Gameweek 33, with two home matches against Leicester and Crystal Palace. The Foxes will have been in European action less than 72 hours before the two sides meet on Tyneside, while Palace will also have had an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley three days before they head north to St James’ Park.
Leicester themselves face two bottom-half teams in Newcastle and Everton, both of whom have admittedly been better on their own soil of late. The Foxes have also struggled defensively on the road, keeping just one clean sheet all season, but now do have a number of key personnel at the back returning from injury.
Five other teams double, although all of them have at least one fixture against a top-six side. Brighton look like ones to avoid, with two away matches at Spurs and Man City – and it’s those two sides who are the pick of the ‘single Gameweekers’, given that Albion are winless in their last seven.
Three teams, Leeds, Villa and Wolves, all blank.
GAMEWEEK 36
Leicester‘s Gameweek 36 double looks more appealing and the hope from an FPL perspective, and with apologies to Foxes fans, is that they’re out of Europe by that point and able to focus on the league, whatever little is left to play for. Opponents Everton and Norwich have the division’s two worst away records at the time of writing, conceding a combined 62 goals in 29 matches and scoring on just 19 occasions.
It’s the Toffees’ woeful form on the road that remains a bit of a deterrent to their assets in this week, even though the fixtures appear favourable on the graph above. Watford also get to play Frank Lampard’s side at home after a trickier-than-‘blue’ trip to Palace.
The other seven clubs who ‘double’ all play a top-eight side at least once, something that will also be true if Manchester City and Wolves get added to the list of teams playing twice.
The second legs of the Champions League semi-finals and the FA Cup final book-end Gameweek 36, which could be a factor with Chelsea, Liverpool and City.
GAMEWEEK 37
Aston Villa‘s double-header ranks top of our Season Ticker, with the proviso that the home fixture against Palace could be moved. The good news is that they’re not playing a club in the runaway top eight, who they have really struggled against all season:
| Aston Villa in 2021/22 | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Clean sheets |
| v top eight | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 28 | 1 |
| v bottom 12 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 14 | 8 |
Everton are also on home soil twice, which is beneficial for them given their travel sickness. The Toffees have conceded on just three occasions at Goodison Park in the six home league and cup matches that Frank Lampard has overseen, with four goals scored against Brentford alone – and they meet the Bees again in Gameweek 37.
Leicester, Chelsea and Burnley all face at least one ‘big six’ outfit on the road as part of their scheduled ‘doubles’.
