Once the six-week domestic break ends on Monday 26 December, matches come thick and fast for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Our regular frisk of the fixtures sees us assess the clubs and players with – in theory – the strongest and weakest runs over the coming half-dozen Gameweeks.
It’d be foolish to ignore everything beyond that point, of course, with a Double Gameweek 23 scheduled for Arsenal and Manchester City.
Here, Scout’s colour-coded Season Ticker is the primary source. 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.
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OVERVIEW
BEST FIXTURES
CHELSEA
It was announced over the World Cup break that three previously-postponed matches have been inserted into the FPL calendar. By adding Fulham v Chelsea to Gameweek 19, we get our first Double Gameweek of the season – one that makes the meeting with Manchester City less off-putting.
Four meetings with the three newly promoted clubs follow over the coming six Gameweeks, while even Liverpool away isn’t the formidable test it used to be as the Reds – like Chelsea themselves – have been shipping chances for fun of late.
In defence, Reece James (£5.8m) has been out for a while with a knee injury but may return in time for the league’s resumption. However, FPL managers may be hesitant at buying him again, such is his injury record, occasional moves to centre-back and the tendency of head coach Graham Potter to rotate.
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.5m) is a tempting cheaper option but there are also concerns about whether he’s going to be fit enough to feature come Gameweek 17.
No reliable attacking options stand out. There isn’t a nailed-on forward, whilst Mason Mount (£7.5m) is probably the pick of midfielders but has only returned in three matches so far.
MANCHESTER CITY
As if we needed more reasons to stack up on Man City options! With Arsenal to chase down and a fresh Erling Haaland (£12.2m) that wasn’t involved in the World Cup, they now have a (provisional) Double Gameweek 20 to tempt managers into a triple-up.
Despite the opponents looking tough, had this frisk been over eight Gameweeks instead of six, Pep Guardiola’s men would have ranked first because they also have a Double Gameweek 23 on the radar.
Joao Cancelo (£7.4m) is one of only four players whose ownership exceeds 50 per cent, although some believe he isn’t as essential as last season due to the higher price tag and having a lower rate of goal attempts. He is the leading defender for penalty area touches, though.
In midfield, FPL royalty Kevin De Bruyne (£12.6m) is more of an assist machine than a goalscorer this time. He is reliable and consistent but many will instead be tempted by Phil Foden (£8.3m).
Almost 800,000 bought the England star for Gameweek 13, only to then see him benched for the next three outings. You have been warned.
SOUTHAMPTON
At the other end of FPL popularity is Southampton, where only James Ward-Prowse (£6.2m) is in over one per cent of squads. The majority of his owners are likely inactive teams, having seen him score ten times last season yet only deliver one attacking return between Gameweeks 2 and 15 this time around.
Under new manager Nathan Jones, the Saints have a fixture run so good that it ranks above two sides that have a Double Gameweek.
There are no meetings with big-six sides or Newcastle United in the next seven Gameweeks, with a home match against goal-shy Wolves to follow in Gameweek 23.
They have the league’s joint-worst ‘best’ player, with Che Adams (£6.4m) only on 50 points. The forward may be their leading asset, with such good fixtures and a price tag that provides a differential option to Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.8m) and the possibly banned Ivan Toney (£7.4m).
The evidence so far suggests it’s probably best to avoid their defence but the arrival of a new manager brings with it fresh hope. Southampton have collected the fewest clean sheets in 2022/23 but left-back Romain Perraud (£4.4m) has already scored two goals and is the leading FPL defender for shots.
FULHAM
Speaking of Mitrovic, his World Cup involvement means that the Serbian has recovered from the foot injury that kept him out of the last two Premier League matches.
The addition of Double Gameweek 19 will secure the popularity of a player whose nine goals have only been bettered by Toney, Haaland and Harry Kane (£11.6m). Although it should be mentioned that Mitrovic has zero assists to his name and is one yellow card away from a suspension.
Backed from the start to be this season’s best £4.5m bench midfielder, Andreas Pereira (£4.6m) is doing so well that he may force his way into starting XIs over this fixture run.
Two goals and five assists have arrived – could he be rotated with another budget-friendly midfielder to enable a ‘threemium’ squad?
The ‘double’ obviously skews the ticker somewhat in favour of those sides with an extra fixture, and it should be said that their Gameweek 20-22 run is one of the worst in the division.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Whilst Spurs have a provisional Double Gameweek 20, it’s a tough pair versus the top two, with a second meeting with Man City soon after.
Still, the three fixtures leading up to that pencilled-in ‘double’ are appealing in their own right, while a defensively suspect Fulham follow in Gameweek 21.
Only a pair of late comeback wins have prevented it being five successive defeats for Antonio Conte, so the returns of Son Heung-min (£11.6m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£8.0m) will provide a much-needed boost.
The Swede’s 27 Premier League appearances have produced six goals and 14 assists, making him a strong alternative for those who think a forward line with both Kane and Haaland is too top-heavy.
Surprisingly, only four teams are conceding more shots than the Lilywhites and they gave multiple goals to Bournemouth and Leeds United. Perhaps it’s best to avoid their defence, especially with rotation commonplace at wing-back and even occasionally at centre-half.
ALSO CONSIDER
Looking at teams without a confirmed Double Gameweek, the fixtures look great for well-owned Newcastle United trio Kieran Trippier (£5.9m), Nick Pope (£5.3m) and Miguel Almiron (£5.8m). With England out of the World Cup and Trippier and Callum Wilson (£7.4m) barely used, there should be no major concerns over fatigue or late arrivals back.
Darwin Nunez (£9.0m) looked great for Liverpool in Gameweek 16. He’d be a very popular way to avoid spending big on Mohamed Salah (£12.8m), while injured attackers Luis Diaz (£7.8m) and Diogo Jota (£8.8m) look like they won’t be ready to feature for a while yet. After beginning the season with ‘essential’ status, it’s hard to find a way back in for the expensive Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m).
Nottingham Forest’s fixtures are okay but only the ‘out of position’ Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.5m) is in any sort of form. Cheap wing-back Neco Williams (£4.0m) isn’t even guaranteed minutes anymore.
Manchester United has an outstanding first three fixtures for a short-term way to approach this window of unlimited free transfers. Marcus Rashford (£6.7m), Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m) and Diogo Dalot (£4.8m) are all now heading home from Qatar, while Anthony Martial (£6.7m) is fit – for now – and building up fitness in mid-season friendlies.
At Leicester City, Danny Ward‘s (£4.1m) place in FPL squads is probably secured regardless of opponents. James Maddison (£8.2m) has been with the England squad but not getting any minutes.
As mentioned earlier, Arsenal have a ‘double’ in Gameweek 23, so it’d be unwise to overlook the league leaders. However, some iffy fixtures surround it.
The Gunners are among the seven best teams for xGC this season; the other six sides they meet between Gameweeks 17-23. At the other end of the pitch, Brighton, Newcastle, Spurs, both Manchester club and Brentford are all top-half material for minutes per xG.
WORST FIXTURES
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
The first four games under Julen Lopetegui don’t look too bad until you remember that Wolves are bottom of the league and have scored just eight times from 15 matches.
Forwards Diego Costa (£5.5m) and Raul Jimenez (£6.8m) are out of form, whilst early-season template pick Pedro Neto (£4.9m) has an ankle injury.
There had been slight investment into their defence, having secured four clean sheets in their opening ten matches, until things fell apart in the final weeks of caretaker boss Steve Davis.
EVERTON
The poor attacks of Wolves and Southampton add potential to defensive names like James Tarkowski (£4.4m), Jordan Pickford (£4.5m) and Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.5m). Only 12 goals were conceded in their first 13 matches, yet having the second-highest total for expected goals conceded (xGC) suggests vast overachievement.
Super cheap full-back Nathan Patterson (£4.0m) might be worth having but forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) is injury-prone and neither Anthony Gordon (£5.3m) nor Demarai Gray (£5.3m) is matching their decent underlying numbers.
Alex Iwobi (£5.6m) leads the way with one goal, five assists and 58 points.
ASTON VILLA
The Villans are the other team with the worst ‘best’ player, as goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (£4.9m) joins Che Adams on 50 points.
Things have started well under new manager Unai Emery though, beating both Man United and Brighton and Hove Albion before this six-week break. Tyrone Mings (£4.3m) offers good defensive value once Gameweek 19 comes along, with attacking full-backs Matty Cash and Lucas Digne dropping to a brilliant £4.6m.
Every time that attacking midfielder Leon Bailey (£4.5m) seems to break into their starting XI, he then gets rotated. The Jamaican international scored in Emery’s first match, only to be benched the next week – although illness was thought to have played a part in that decision.
1 year, 5 months agoI don't feel SO dejacted by that loss last night because for once we went out and played decent football in a tournament against a top team (arguable played better too). Also we were never ahead. Maybe that makes a difference...
Not that that alone wins you anything, but it's been a good few years watching the National Squad. Lots of young talent in there for the next attempts too.
But again such fine fine margins... Not even mentioning the referee (who was absolute gash)...
1st France goal - should have been pulled back for a foul on Saka. It's the second sort of that 'tackle' where he's gone straight into his leg that is ridiculous.
2nd France goal - Giroud's header was going straight at Pickford if not for that flick onto Maguires head. Who knows if Pickford would have saved it but he had far more of a chance.
And just that 2nd Kane penalty... Wouldn't have bet on him of all people to miss. Having said that the pressure for both of those kicks was insane. Though he did really well on the first one given how long it took. Was more confident about the second yet...
Oh well back to FPL soon. Suffering from football fatigue, almost can't be bothered to set up my team again 😆