In ‘Frisking the Fixtures’, we pinpoint the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) teams and players with the best runs of matches from Gameweek 12 onwards.
We begin with a six-Gameweek look ahead in these articles but we’ll peer beyond that where necessary.
As always, our colour-coded Fixture Ticker is the primary source for this piece.
ABOUT THE FIXTURE TICKER
Using this tool as a Chief 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.
And new, as of this season, is the ability to customise the colours!
There’s the:
- Premier League green/red colour scheme
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- Option to set your own colours – if you fancy pink and purple, you absolutely can!
SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW: NEXT SIX GAMEWEEKS
LIVERPOOL
Despite a dismal domestic run in which they have lost five Premier League matches out of six, Liverpool did show signs of recovery against Aston Villa and Real Madrid the previous week.
And now that their daunting trip to Manchester City is out of the way, they can look forward to free-wheeling their way down an attractive schedule slope. The Reds sit top of the Fixture Ticker, which not only gives them a pretty easy ride for the next six matches, but also smiles kindly on them until the end of December.
Sean Dyche’s more pragmatic Nottingham Forest side and an impressive Sunderland will probably park the bus at Anfield in Gameweeks 12 and 14 but Liverpool’s subsequent three home matches are strong: Brighton, Wolves and Leeds only have one clean sheet on the road between them.
The Reds, meanwhile, go to West Ham, Leeds (again), Spurs and Fulham. That’s three of the bottom six, plus a Spurs side with the second-worst home record in the league.
The question is, which players to go for? Mohamed Salah (£14.2m) has improved recently, but is pricey. Alexander Isak (£10.4m) is plagued by niggles. Hugo Ekitiké (£8.6m) has looked good but is battling for minutes. Even Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) is having to warm the bench at present.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) at least offers a greater surety of starts and a lower price. An excellent set-piece taker and someone who has picked up eight defensive contribution (DefCon) points already this term (mostly when deployed deeper, admittedly), he is getting forward a bit more in the ’10’ role. That hasn’t translated into any shots in the box in the last four Gameweeks, which is a worry.
Beware also that he’s on four bookings.
Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) is the pick of the backline, with his guaranteed minutes, set-piece threat and DefCon potential. If the Dutchman is too steep, Ibrahima Konaté (£5.4m) is a decent alternative. Konate has actually outshot his centre-half partner this season (five v four).
The full-backs are probably an avoid, even Conor Bradley (£5.0m), despite the injury to Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m). Slot could easily play Szoboszlai at right-back in the busy period ahead, while Bradley is another Red on four bookings. He also offers near-zero DefCon potential and is not much threat at the other end (two chances created all season).
BOURNEMOUTH
Bournemouth have been one of the surprise packages of the season, although two defeats have checked their progress.
Still, their only losses this season have come away at last year’s top six, so they’re generally good bets for points when the fixtures are favourable:
Home matches against West Ham, Everton and Burnley are a dream, therefore, even accounting for the Hammers’ recent upturn in form. A 3-2 win over the Clarets on Saturday certainly wasn’t convincing from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. Brentford away may not be as a straightforward, with the Bees strong on home soil, but Keith Andrews’ side do tend to concede – they’ve kept just one clean sheet in west London.
There are some trickier tests littering this run, however. Sunderland would have been viewed as an enticing match-up before the start of 2025/26; not now. Chelsea and Manchester United have looked better in recent weeks, too.
Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m)’s flying start to the season has slowed somewhat but the (partly) inviting fixtures could restore the goal touch of one of the game’s most prolific shot takers. He also seems to get more space when Evanilson (£7.0m) is occupying defenders, so the Brazilian’s return should help his cause.
Talking of defences, Marcos Senesi (£5.0m) will hope to start picking up the points again, given the reduced quality of the opponents (especially at home) he now faces. He remains the defender with the most DefCons, and is a live threat on set-pieces. Adrien Truffert (£4.5m) is a cheaper alternative and, having averaged eight points a match in his last three home appearances, is an attractive differential who has been flying under the radar.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Whisper it quietly but Manchester United assets are beginning to appeal again, as Ruben Amorim’s side slowly cobble some form together ahead of more enticing fixtures. While Crystal Palace away in Gameweek 13 will test their mettle, ther are plenty of other matches to provide ample opportunity for FPL hauls.
That, on current form, even includes home games against Bournemouth and Newcastle: they’ve won just one game between them on the road in 2025/26.
With just one clean sheet all season, United defenders will remain a no-go area for many Fantasy managers. Should you be of the ‘fixtures breed form’ school, Matthijs de Ligt (£5.0m) is the only Red Devil to play all 990 minutes this season. He offers a bit of set-piece threat and is also a decent bet for DefCon points, having made 10 contributions in five of his 11 starts (one, annoyingly, not rewarded by FPL as he was marked up to 10 clearances, tackles etc after the Gameweek had closed!).
Further forward, Bryan Mbeumo (£8.5m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.9m) obviously stand out. Bruno has frustrated many a manager with his two penalty misses and penchant for hitting the woodwork (some say he’s the unluckiest finisher in the league…), yet he remains a consistent source of points. His total of 29 chances created is five more than the next closest midfielder, while only four players in his position have attempted more than his 24 shots.
Mbeumo has a near-identical shot output as the Portuguese but plays further forward. Four goals and an assist in the last five Gameweeks have propelled him to joint-third place in the midfield scoring charts.
He will be off to AFCON around the Gameweek 16 mark, of course.
MANCHESTER CITY
Having thrashed Liverpool, the coast starts to clear for Man City on the fixtures front, especially once they have got their visit to St James’ Park out of the way. It’s just one win in the last four trips to Tyneside, although City did score three goals in two of those encounters!
Thereafter, clashes with Leeds, an out-of-sorts Fulham, West Ham and Nottingham Forest should entail four wins.
Palace away and a stubborn Sunderland at home may present tougher assignments before the New Year.
With the exception of Erling Haaland (£14.9m), City assets have been hard to choose this season, with injuries affecting selection, Pep Roulette proving as problematic as ever, and everyone bar Haaland struggling for goals (G, below):
However, Phil Foden (£8.0m) looks to be back to his best and is on an eight-match starting run in the league. While his form hasn’t translated into FPL returns, a brace againt Dortmund last week underscored his potential.
Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) is City’s most creative player this season and he scored in an excellent showing against Liverpool on Sunday. Like most other City attackers, however, he’s as likely to go a run of two or three substitute appearances than an unbroken stretch in the starting XI. Enter at your own risk.
The same could be said for Nico O’Reilly (£4.9m), with Rayan Aït-Nouri (£5.8m) lurking and Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m) able to play at left-back. O’Reilly is playing well enough right now and is fairly cheap; he’s also had a defender-best eight shots in the last four Gameweeks.
If you’re going near anyone bar Haaland and perhaps Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7m), who has only one save point all season, have a strong bench ready…
CRYSTAL PALACE
FPL managers low on Crystal Palace assets will feel like they have been missing out. That FOMO will only intensify over the next few weeks if they continue to stay away from the high-flying Eagles.
Apart from facing Man City in Gameweek 16, Palace’s fixtures look very decent, even if four of them are on the road. Those trips take them to Wolves, Burnley, Fulham and Leeds, while they will also fancy their chances of at least scoring against the two Manchester clubs at home.
The only potential snag is the relentlessness of their schedule. Palace do not have the largest squad and neither are they used to battling it out on both the European and domestic fronts (they also have a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal to negotiate on 23 December).
Fatigue notwithstanding, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£8.0m) is the second-best forward in the game, while one of Daniel Muñoz (£5.7m), Marc Guéhi (£5.1m), Maxence Lecroix (£5.0m) or Chris Richards (£4.5m) are screaming for inclusion. All bar Richards are among nine top-scoring defenders in Fantasy, while the three centre-backs have all hit double figures for DefCon points.
FPL managers looking for better value in midfield could do worse than Ismaila Sarr (£6.7m), who is second among midfielders for non-penalty xG. Patience will be required: he’s a streaky player who delivered four returns in as many matches before blanking in the next four Gameweeks! Successive midweek braces in the cups shows the haul potential.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
One loss in seven league matches and a more benign schedule make Brighton a club worth targeting for FPL points.
The Seagulls host Brentford, Aston Villa and West Ham in the next four Gameweeks, with a clean-sheet-less Forest in between. Even a trip to Anfield isn’t a daunting proposition for attackers – only two clubs have allowed more big chances that Liverpool this season!
With six goals in six matches, Danny Welbeck (£6.5m) is in the form of his life. Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) also has five assists and a goal in his last eight outings.
At the back, Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.4m) has banked DefCon points in five of his last eight starts. Successive clean sheets is a good sign that the defence is tightening up, too.
