In Frisking the Fixtures, we pinpoint the teams and players with the best fixture runs over the next six 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 ours.
You can watch a tutorial on the Season Ticker here.
SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW: NEXT SIX GAMEWEEKS
The above colours reflect the ‘overall’ ratings of each side. There are also options within the ticker to separate attack and defence.
For example, Chelsea’s attack is rated more highly (and therefore deemed a more difficult challenge on the ticker) than their defence.
As of the second international break – which followed Gameweek 7 – we have also reviewed and revised our club-by-club ratings.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
After an opening run of games in which they have faced five of the top six and only one team currently in the bottom half of the table, Gary O’Neil and crew at Molineux will be glad to hear that Wolves are top of the ticker over the next six weeks.
The West Midlands side have taken just two points from their first eight matches despite a few spirited performances. This upcoming stretch could see a few of their stars set to deliver on their underlying numbers as they aim to climb out of 19th place.
Between Gameweeks 10 and 15, Wolves will face just one side in the top half of the Premier League table. The run includes an imminent home double-header against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Southampton.
That alone warrants consideration of Matheus Cunha (£6.5m).
The Brazilian has been deployed most often as a support striker to Jørgen Strand Larsen (£5.5m), another solid option particularly for those FPL managers whose budgets are stretched slightly thinner.
Cunha has powered through his team’s tough start to the season and has come away with four goals already. He’s third among FPL forwards for shots, too.
Given he typically enjoys a more creative role than many of his fellow forwards across the top flight, Cunha also offers assist potential. He’s top amongst his peers for big (BCC) and overall chances created (CC).
That’s all in addition to his spot-kick duties – another reason to spend the £1.0m extra over Strand Larsen.
Attackers aside (sort of), Rayan Aït-Nouri (£4.6m) could also benefit from some easier-looking fixtures. That may allow him to add the occasional clean sheet – four of Wolves’ next six opponents rank in the bottom half of the league for xG – to his returns at the other end of the pitch.
The Algerian left-back has three goals and two assists already this season. That makes him the leading defender for the most goal involvements so far, with his advanced positioning and eight chances created suggesting we could see more of the same going forward.
Everton
Everton top the Season Ticker over the next five Gameweeks. A Merseyside derby in Gameweek 15 heralds a shocking run of fixtures, so enjoy the Toffees’ favourable stretch while you can.
The only three sides yet to keep a clean sheet in 2024/25, Southampton, Brentford and Wolves, are to come in Gameweeks 10-14.
West Ham United’s only shut-out arrived in Gameweek 2, meanwhile.
In fact, all of Everton’s next five opponents rank 14th or below for expected goals conceded (xGC) this campaign.
Lots of encouragement for Dwight McNeil (£5.8m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m), the latter of whom need all the help he can get.
At the other end of the field, two of the division’s three lowest scorers – Southampton and Man Utd – are to come by the start of December.
Brentford, Man Utd and, surprisingly, West Ham rank in the top seven for xG, however. So, perhaps not quite as good a run for the Everton backline.
Sean Dyche would likely have wanted to have faced a ten Hag-led United side, too, as a new manager will likely be at the helm come Gameweek 13 – and potentially bringing the fabled bounce with him.
Brentford
Fulham’s solid start to 2024/25 means that a trip to Craven Cottage is perhaps trickier than we’ve come to expect. Choose a stat and pick a narrative: the side with the fewest big chances conceded this season or a club with only one clean sheet to their name?
The trio of matches from Gameweeks 11-13 are altogether more favourable.
Bournemouth have been so poor on their travels this season, fortunate to get points in three of their away fixtures.
Everton and Leicester City meanwhile rank in the bottom four for xG in 2024/25; still time for the Bees to bag that first clean sheet of the campaign maybe…
The Bees do sit bottom of our Season Ticker from Gameweeks 14-22, however.
Ipswich Town
Another side still searching for their first league win of the 2024/25 campaign is Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys are slightly better off than Wolves after nine weeks of the season, placed 18th thanks to a string of four draws. They’ll be hoping that their long-awaited maiden victory back in the top flight comes soon.
A home tie against fellow promotion winners Leicester in Gameweek 10 could prove as good an opportunity as any to make that happen. Kieran McKenna’s side then faces what could be a tougher pair of fixtures away to Spurs and at home against flat-track bullies Manchester United.
The ticker lights up again with a trip to Nottingham Forest, who although are in a rich vein of form are nevertheless ranked 14th for xG.
The real good stuff follows. First, back-to-back home matches against goal-shy Crystal Palace and a Bournemouth group struggling to convert the chances they create. Then, a trip to Molineux in Gameweek 16, which is just outside of this six-Gameweek window.
Ipswich players are still a tougher sell. Injuries at the back are clearly having an impact. Further forward, there’s the week-to-week uncertainty over which combination of attackers McKenna will send out. He changed all four of his frontmen in Gameweek 9, even benching Liam Delap (£5.7m).
ALSO CONSIDER
As is the case with three of the four teams above, it’s the strugglers who enjoy the better of the fixtures.
Depending on your view of a trip to seventh-place Nottingham Forest and their mean defence, West Ham United assets – if you’re at all interested – can perhaps wait for Gameweek 14.
The jury remains out on Julen Lopetegui’s side; Sunday’s win over Manchester United wasn’t exactly convincing. Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m) continues to tick over, though, with six returns in nine outings.
In their next six matches, Leicester have five defences sitting 13th or below for xGC. One of those is Man Utd, mind, and who knows who will be at the helm by Gameweek 11.
The Foxes have scored in every match this season, with Jamie Vardy (£5.7m) netting in four of them.
The next big ‘swing’ to look out for is Gameweek 12, when we’ll be back with another Frisking the Fixtures.
Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea are among the sides embarking on theoretically agreeable runs from that point.
