Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are in unfamiliar mid-season territory, as each and every one of us only has to think of the short term.
Unlimited transfers are handed to FPL bosses over the World Cup break, effectively creating a ‘third’ Wildcard for 2022/23.
So we’re only looking at Gameweeks 15 and 16 when it comes to transfer targets ahead of this Saturday’s deadline.
Above: How our Season Ticker looks when clubs are sorted by fixture difficulty over the next two Gameweeks
We’ll be looking at a few teams with the better-looking fixture couplets over the coming days, then, starting with Brighton and Hove Albion.
READ MORE: What Lateriser said about Man Utd assets ahead of Gameweek 14
BRIGHTON UNDER DE ZERBI
Roberto De Zerbi came to the helm at the Amex before Gameweek 9, so we’ve got a nice six-match sample to draw from when we look at Albion under new management.
Here we study the Seagulls’ underlying attacking and defensive numbers to see how they fare compared to other Premier League clubs over their last half-dozen fixtures.
| Total | Rank v other clubs | |
| Shots | 87 | 7th |
| Shots on target | 33 | =5th |
| Shots in the box | 62 | 4th |
| Big chances | 16 | =3rd |
| Expected goals (xG) | 8.62 | 9th |
Under De Zerbi, Brighton have encouragingly been top-half material for all the key attacking metrics listed above.
It’s a continuation of the sorts of figures they were churning out under Graham Potter but when we look at who the Seagulls have faced since the September international break, the above ranks are all the more impressive:
Brighton were bottom of our Season Ticker for fixture difficulty over this period, facing all of last season’s top four as well as a Brentford side who have lost only once on home soil this season.
In all six matches did Albion register at least one ‘big chance’, with nine of them arriving across the Liverpool and Chelsea games.
Actual goal output has veered wildly from the typically profligate (54 shots were registered without success in Gameweeks 10-12) to the prolific (three goals from six attempts against Liverpool), with Chelsea giving their hosts a helping hand last weekend with two own-goals.
| Total | Rank v other clubs | |
| Shots conceded | 58 | 4th |
| Shots on target conceded | 23 | 6th |
| Shots in the box conceded | 43 | 4th |
| Big chances conceded | 13 | =13th |
| Expected goals conceded (xGC) | 6.84 | 6th |
It’s been equally impressive at the other end of the pitch, despite just one clean sheet being registered under De Zerbi.
To be sixth for xGC having faced the four sides in the Champions League is excellent, with Manchester City’s modest 1.63 xG in Gameweek 13 the most that the Seagulls have allowed under De Zerbi.
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