With just three rounds of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) action between now and the World Cup break of mid-November, we thought it was worth another frisk of the fixture list ahead of Gameweek 14.
This article sees us assess the clubs and players with, in theory, the strongest and weakest runs of matches over the next three Gameweeks.
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.
You can see a tutorial on the Season Ticker here.
OVERVIEW
BEST FIXTURES
EVERTON
Saturday’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace was the ideal way for Everton to bounce back from three successive defeats. A goal from Anthony Gordon (£5.4m) re-establishes him as a good cheap midfield option, whilst Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) netted for the first time this season to cement his return from injury.
The ticker believes Fulham (a), Leicester City (h) and Bournemouth (a) is the best fixture run until the break, offering strong differential potential for those who soon want to offload Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.8m) or James Maddison (£8.2m).
Also, what about Alex Iwobi (£5.5m)? The reinvented midfielder has one goal and five assists from the Toffees’ last eight matches, proving to be a key player for Frank Lampard.
Everton’s defence has done well to let in 12 goals, which only four teams have bettered. However, their 19.22 expected goals conceded (xGC) is the fourth-worst, with no side overachieving by more.
MANCHESTER CITY
Recommending Manchester City players to FPL managers feels unimaginative, with many already using the maximum three slots allowed. The champions rank first when sorting fixtures by relative difficulty.
Almost 700,000 had bought Phil Foden (£8.4m) ahead of Gameweek 13, having noticed he’d started every previous league encounter and had a full week off. Yet, incredibly, Saturday was when Pep Guardiola decided to resume his roulette and bench the 22-year-old.
Foden was FPL’s top-scoring midfielder until that, with the much more expensive Kevin De Bruyne (£12.3m) one of three to subsequently overtake him.
Of those with at least 10 goal attempts so far, only superstar Erling Haaland (£12.2m) has a better goal conversion rate than Foden. The Norwegian has 17 goals from 11 league games – already just six behind the Golden Boot totals of the last three seasons.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Six wins from nine matches has seen Erik ten Hag steady the ship and FPL managers could be tempted by their upcoming three fixtures. Especially if midfielder Marcus Rashford (£6.6m) continues to play up front in the assumed absences of Cristiano Ronaldo (£10.2m) and Anthony Martial (£6.7m).
Rashford began the season with a huge £3m drop from his 2021/22 starting price and could make a mockery of that over the next few weeks. Big-money signing Antony (£7.6m) is a more secure starter but hasn’t scored since netting in each of his first three league games.
Meanwhile, the appeal of right-back Diogo Dalot (£4.6m) is hindered by his four yellow cards – one away from suspension. He ranks third amongst defenders for penalty area touches.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Heavily owned during the past few weeks, the temptation to ditch a frustrating Wilfried Zaha (£7.6m) ends as soon as you see Crystal Palace’s fixtures. He has just one goal from six recent outings but will soon face two of the leakiest defences.
On one fewer point than Zaha is midfield colleague Eberechi Eze (£5.7m), having produced a goal and 10 FPL points in both of their last two home games. Yet Zaha has over three times the penalty area touches of Eze, with a 4.70 to 2.68 victory for expected goal involvement (xGI).
Up front, Odsonne Edouard (£5.4m) continues to start over Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.2m) but is without a goal from the last three.
Marc Guehi (£4.4m), Vicente Guaita (£4.5m) and Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) are popular but the Eagles’ underlying defensive stats are down from last season.
ALSO CONSIDER
When sorting by relative difficulty, Liverpool and Arsenal sit in second and third place. Jurgen Klopp’s men have just suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest – does that bring a warning to those wanting to stock up on Arsenal assets for this weekend?
A big debate for Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) owners is whether they should keep the faith, whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) is an expensive defender being eased back into the side post-injury. Perhaps Darwin Nunez (£8.8m) and Joe Gomez (£4.6m) are cheaper, more effective ways to get Liverpool coverage versus Leeds United.
As for the Gunners, Ben White (£4.5m) increased his popularity by assisting from right-back in Gameweek 13. Bukayo Saka (£7.9m) is a big transfer target for many, although Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) being close to a suspension dents the Brazilian’s appeal.
Fourth-placed Newcastle United have only lost once so far, with Kieran Trippier (£5.8m) essential and owned by over 60 per cent. The win at Spurs ended his streak of six successive FPL returns. Cheap midfielder Almiron has five goals from five matches, with Callum Wilson (£7.3m) a good forward option for these fixtures.
Tottenham’s Harry Kane (£11.5m) has blanked just once in 11 league games and is about to face Bournemouth and Leeds, whilst Gianluca Scamacca (£6.8m) could be a useful Mitrovic replacement from Gameweek 15.
WORST FIXTURES
LEEDS UNITED
Head coach Jesse Marsch is under pressure after a run of two points from eight games. They’ve entered the relegation zone and have trips to Liverpool and Spurs over the next few Gameweeks.
In truth, their players don’t hold much FPL appeal as only Rodrigo (£6.3m) and non-playing enabler Sam Greenwood (£4.3m) have over three per cent ownership. Over 3.2 million managers had Rodrigo earlier on – a fantastic start brought 35 points by Gameweek 3 but this purple patch is over.
SOUTHAMPTON
Even rarer in FPL circles is Southampton assets. It took them until Gameweek 12 to finally grab a clean sheet and the forward options on offer are unconvincing.
Set-piece maestro James Ward-Prowse (£6.3m) may have provided the second-highest number of crosses so far (94) but the only assist arrived in Gameweek 3, alongside being without a goal since the opening day.
LEICESTER CITY
Not all heroes wear capes. Goalkeeper Danny Ward (£4.1m) has quickly gone from being an FPL punchline to a man with four clean sheets and 32 points from five matches. For those who started Ward, he’s been a saviour, although he frustratingly remained stuck on far more benches.
The same five-game period has brought three Barnes goals and five successive shut-outs for flying full-back Timothy Castagne (£4.5m), having been substituted before Leicester’s late collapse at Bournemouth.
As for Maddison, over 600,000 managers grabbed him in time for the 18-point haul against Nottingham Forest but a one-match suspension saw many sell the midfielder, only to then watch in misery as he netted on Sunday at Wolves.
Just don’t expect the clean sheets to continue when Man City come to town.
