In Frisking the Fixtures, we’re pinpointing the teams and players with the best fixtures from Gameweek 25 onwards.
Currently halfway through 2024/25’s first Double Gameweek, it will be immediately followed by a second, which we now know features Aston Villa and Liverpool twice.
The only teams without six matches in this specific period are Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, as their Gameweek 29 meeting will move to an as-yet-unannounced time.
As ever, 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 see 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 options within the ticker to separate attack and defence.
BEST FIXTURES: GAMEWEEKS 25-30
BOURNEMOUTH
Liverpool may have ended Bournemouth’s 11-match unbeaten run but Justin Kluivert (£5.9m) is still the most-bought player since the last deadline. Just like he was for Gameweek 23, following his second hat-trick of the season.
This time, the popularity is because Andoni Iraola’s side is about to visit last-placed Southampton and FPL managers aren’t forgetting what they recently did to Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.
In fact, starting from Gameweek 8’s win over Arsenal, their attack ranks second in the league for shots on target (102) and third for big chances (55), while the defence has been joint-third best at preventing opponents from the latter (33).
Four clean sheets in eight matches, for a backline that has let in the fewest home goals (nine) overall. Milos Kerkez (£4.9m) and Dean Huijsen (£4.4m) owners certainly won’t be in a rush to get rid.
Those wanting to go cherry-picking before Gameweek 25 have several tasty midfield options. Kluivert takes penalties and has the best expected goal involvement (xGI, 10.68). Meanwhile, the lack of January purchases means Dango Ouattara (£5.0m) will keep playing up front in Evanilson‘s (£5.6m) absence.
As for Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m), he just loves to shoot – only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (£14.7m) has had more.
BRENTFORD
Their opponents in Blank Gameweek 29 are Brentford. For a while, the Bees were being noticed for their contrasting fortunes at home and away. Naturally, as home fixtures have toughened, they’re suddenly on a run of one point from five hostings and, similarly, their terrible away record now has consecutive wins at Southampton and Crystal Palace.
Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) has netted 14 times thanks to having multiple routes to points. A penalty-taker on set pieces, he’s on the third-most midfield points so far.
Indeed, he could even be a maverick captaincy choice for Gameweek 26, facing Leicester City when Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) and Cole Palmer (£11.2m) travel to Man City and Aston Villa. The Cameroon international’s last five outings accumulated 18 attempts and 10 on target. He combines well with Yoane Wissa (£6.3m), a forward that ranks joint-seventh for big chances (21).
In defence, goalkeeper Mark Flekken (£4.4m) missed last weekend with a muscle strain but nothing major. And cheap defender Sepp van den Berg (£4.1m) has started all but two matches since Gameweek 4.
LIVERPOOL
What could hold back these league leaders is the sheer congestion of upcoming encounters. The Merseyside derby that completes Double Gameweek 24 is their first of five league matches in 14 days.
Considering Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) requested to come off at Bournemouth with a slight issue, you could easily see Conor Bradley (£4.7m) start over him at least once in this run. That’ll disappoint 3.8 million owners, making Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) a safer defensive pick.
Still fighting on all fronts, it’s therefore hard to put faith in the game time of any non-Salah attacker. Though the Egyptian King is on track to break FPL’s all-time points record – currently held by himself – and is the leading captaincy contender for Gameweeks 25, 28 and 30.
No team has scored more (56), shot more often (411), conceded fewer (21) or kept more clean sheets (10). It’s just a question of how managers navigate their blank in Gameweek 29.
WEST HAM
Early days under Graham Potter have been a mixed bag, taking four points from four matches. Dwindling around 15th place hasn’t exactly been inspiring FPL managers into investment – their sole player with over 5% ownership is cheap goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (£4.1m) and he’s seemingly lost his place to Alphonse Areola (£4.2m).
Of course, you could get around this problem by having both for a very low £8.3m. But it’s a defence that is fourth-worst when it comes to allowing shots (400) and big chances (77), pulling off just one successful shut-out in 12.
At least they can now call on Jarrod Bowen (£7.3m), scorer in his first game back from a foot injury. It puts him on six goals and six assists from 20 starts, with last season’s 16-goal talisman soon getting a go at three of the worst backlines – Brentford, Leicester and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Another name of interest could be loanee Evan Ferguson (£5.5m). Still only 20, injuries and the impact of Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) mean he’s barely played at Brighton and Hove Albion. The Irishman needs minutes and, with Michail Antonio (£5.3m) and Niclas Fullkrug (£6.7m) hurt, he should get them.
OTHERS TO CONSIDER
Elsewhere, a few other teams are worthy of attention. Managers with double Arsenal defence might want to hang onto both for slightly longer and we’ve identified Kai Havertz (£7.8m) as one of the biggest winners from January’s transfer window, as no other striker was bought. The injured Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) isn’t expected back until March.
Manchester United are on five home defeats from six, as they keep struggling to adapt to Ruben Amorim’s favoured system. When adding shots to chances created, playmaker Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) is behind only Palmer, Salah, Semenyo and Haaland, with 113. But Amad Diallo (£5.6m) is significantly cheaper and on more points.
Both they and Wolves have standout fixtures in Blank Gameweek 29. Whether managers are aiming to Free Hit or take short-term punts, these teams get to face Leicester and Southampton respectively.
Matheus Cunha (£6.8m) is vital to Wolves’ survival chances and he’s fifth overall for shots (71), although an incredibly low four have been labelled as a big chance. Still, he’s just scored past Aston Villa in the same match where a rare clean sheet was kept. While their backline has improved under new boss Vitor Pereira, it’s not enough to suddenly start recommending Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m).
Finally, unpredictable Tottenham Hotspur. They could be anything. Plagued by injuries, their makeshift defence can’t be relied upon, though – typically for Spurs – Gameweek 24 brought a surprise 2-0 win at Brentford.
Any joy from ending a run of five points from 11 outings quickly ended with a heavy EFL Cup semi-final elimination at Anfield. But new forward Mathys Tel (£6.0m) could be an interesting differential, as he’s been listed as a midfielder.
