Since our last ‘Frisking the Fixtures’ piece two weeks ago, several previously-postponed games have been added to the schedule, so we thought it was worth another look ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
This article sees us assess the clubs and players with, in theory, the strongest and weakest runs of matches over the next five Gameweeks, taking us up to Blank Gameweek 28 and the March international break.
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.
SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW
GW24-28: DOUBLE AND BLANK GAMEWEEK BREAKDOWN
| One definite double/no blanks | Arsenal, Everton, Crystal Palace |
| One definite double/one possible blank | Liverpool, Southampton, Wolves |
| One definite double/one definite blank/one possible blank | Brighton, Brentford |
| No doubles/no blanks | Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest |
| No doubles/one possible blank | Man City, Spurs, Fulham, Leicester, Leeds, West Ham |
| No doubles/one definite blank | Newcastle |
| No doubles/one definite blank/one possible blank | Man Utd |
The graphic above shows how things currently stand, with Blank Gameweek 28 to be confirmed once the FA Cup fifth round has taken place. This will be known by the Gameweek 26 deadline.
BEST FIXTURES
ARSENAL
Top of the league, Arsenal also have the best fixture run until Gameweek 28 – a round where they’re one of only eight teams currently guaranteed to participate.
Once it was announced that an added home clash with Everton would create a Double Gameweek 25, the question for FPL managers immediately became not how many Arsenal assets but which three.
Expected goals stats (GW17 onwards) from the Members Area
It’s a shame there can only be a trio, as they possess the second-best defence for goals conceded and clean sheets, alongside three of the game’s top seven midfielders in Martin Odegaard (£7.0m), Bukayo Saka (£8.3m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£6.6m).
The latter has an asterisk by his name because new signing Leandro Trossard (£6.7m) not only eats into his minutes but came on to score past Brentford in Gameweek 23. Furthermore, there is a risk regarding the very affordable forward Eddie Nketiah (£6.8m), now that Gabriel Jesus (£7.9m) is back on the grass.
LIVERPOOL
Up to ninth after a big Merseyside derby win over Everton, Liverpool have a chance to fix their season with a nice fixture run that includes a Double Gameweek 25. Whether they get to host Fulham in Blank Gameweek 28 depends on how the Cottagers fare against Leeds United in the FA Cup.
Monday night saw Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) score to end a streak of five blanks but just as interesting was an actual, real attacking return from Darwin Nunez (£8.7m), whose inability to convert chances has pushed many FPL managers to the brink of insanity.
Over every player’s last six league matches, no individual has had more goal attempts (27) or shots on target (10) than Nunez. He is second for big chances, yet hasn’t scored in this time. No player has underachieved more in terms of expected goal involvement (xGI) than his -3.27.
The returns of Diogo Jota (£8.8m), Roberto Firmino (£8.0m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) should boost Liverpool but threaten Nunez’s game time, especially with a Champions League tie with Real Madrid on the horizon.
EVERTON
Despite losing to Liverpool, fans of Everton will still be hopeful that the arrival of Sean Dyche can bring more wins like the one over Arsenal in Gameweek 22.
They are one of three sides to be guaranteed both a double and a playable Gameweek 28 fixture, although the latter is away to Chelsea. Before then, they have home matches against Leeds, Aston Villa and Brentford, with a trip to Nottingham Forest thrown in.
At the back, the price, nailedness and goal threat of James Tarkowski (£4.2m) are all hard to ignore, with owners of injured Nathan Patterson (£3.9m) curious to see if he recovers to take Seamus Coleman‘s (£4.4m) right-back spot.
Midfield is tough to call, as those still with Miguel Almiron (£5.7m) will be looking to get rid and Everton’s immediate matches offer an opportunity – but who for? The returning Demarai Gray (£5.3m) is their leading goal scorer yet we don’t know if he takes a wide starting spot from Dwight McNeil (£5.1m) or Alex Iwobi (£5.4m).
ASTON VILLA
The good start under Unai Emery has dwindled slightly, after consecutive losses to Leicester City and Manchester City.
At least the Spaniard has a chance to get revenge on former club Arsenal in Gameweek 24, before a solid fixture run that may only sit halfway up the Season Ticker but includes a definite Gameweek 28 match at home to Bournemouth.
Leon Bailey (£4.4m) is a bargain midfielder offering out-of-position potential up front, having started every league game since the World Cup. Their leading defensive candidate, Tyrone Mings (£4.3m), sat out the last game with a knock, whilst overlooked forward Ollie Watkins (£7.1m) is only one point behind Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) this season.
ALSO CONSIDER
Each team from fourth to ninth on our Season Ticker can potentially have a Blank Gameweek 28 on FA Cup quarter-final weekend.
Three of that round’s matches have both sides still in the cup – Southampton v Tottenham, Man City v West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion v Manchester United – so those likely postponements slightly dampen the appeal of names like Harry Kane (£11.8m), Riyad Mahrez (£7.8m) and Kaoru Mitoma (£5.3m).
In fact, Brighton have a frustrating situation. On the verge of having two blanks in Gameweeks 25 and 28, in-between is an attractive Double Gameweek 27, with two further games in hand to rearrange that could increase to four.
For Wolverhampton Wanderers, it depends on whether Leeds overcome Fulham in the fifth round. Meanwhile, covering Chelsea’s nice run with Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.6m) seems straightforward. Settling on an attacker? Less so.
WORST FIXTURES
MANCHESTER UNITED
Erik ten Hag’s side have forced themselves into a genuine three-way title race thanks to some fantastic form, particularly from Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) and Luke Shaw (£5.3m).
However, should either they or Brighton win in the FA Cup fifth round, it’ll just be two matches in four Gameweeks for the well-owned pair. Do FPL managers hold onto Rashford but sell Shaw? Or risk losing both?
Also to be considered is their two-legged Europa League clash with Barcelona.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Almiron did find the net at Bournemouth – his first attacking return since Gameweek 17 – but it’s unlikely to stop his huge ownership drop. Over a million have sold him since Gameweek 20 and the streak of Liverpool (h), blank, Man City (a) is horrific.
Unlike Man Utd, at least we know the Magpies will play in Gameweek 28 and they have no European commitments to add tiredness or rotation into the mix. They can solely focus on finishing inside the top four.
The long clean sheet streak has ended for the league’s best defence, conceding in their last two outings. They’re still number one for clean sheets and goals conceded but it might be time to end any defensive double-up and just proceed with Kieran Trippier (£6.1m).
BOURNEMOUTH
The Cherries have actually drawn both of this season’s meetings with Newcastle, although they’re still on a run of one win in 12 games that has them stuck in 19th place.
This is reflected in their FPL ownerships, where only Dominic Solanke (£5.5m) is in over 1% of squads and his recent three-game absence suggests that those teams are low-ranked and inactive.
One potential maverick move could be to punt on January signing Dango Ouattara (£5.0m). Since his Gameweek 21 debut, only five players have bettered his two big chances created and just two have exceeded his nine shots inside the box. A pair of assists are already in his name.
