We’ve all got five free Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfers in our back pockets now – so who should we buy?!
In ‘Frisking the Fixtures’, we pinpoint the FPL teams and players with the most appealing medium-term runs of matches.
We usually concentrate on a six-game outlook (in this case, Gameweeks 16-21) but will glance beyond that if fixture swings call for it.
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
- Good old Scout red/blue
- Colour-blind-friendly combo
- Option to set your own colours – if you fancy pink and purple, you absolutely can!
FIXTURE TICKER OVERVIEW: NEXT SIX GAMEWEEKS
BRENTFORD
The Bees buzz right to the top of our Fixture Ticker when we filter by match difficulty between Gameweeks 16 and 21, aided by their double-header against Leeds (H) and Wolves (A) at the start of said run.
After that, it’s Bournemouth and Tottenham. Those two clubs had been struggling to keep goals out of late, with clean sheet droughts stretching back to October only brought to an end on Saturday. Crucially, those two fixtures both come at the Gtech, where Brentford have been in fine form this season. They’ve won five of seven matches on home soil, losing only against Manchester City.
Sunderland must come to west London as well in Gameweek 21. The Black Cats – for all their successes – have struggled to score goals on the road since their return to the top flight.
That should all be good news for Igor Thiago (£6.9m), who is second to you-know-who in the Golden Boot race. The same goes for Kevin Schade (£7.0m), who will be expected to pick up any slack in attack with Dango Ouattara (£6.0m) jetting off to the Africa Cup of Nations following the Leeds game. Schade is on ice for now: he will miss the next match through suspension but return thereafter.
Playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.8m) may venture further forward to pull the strings against lower-quality opposition, while defenders like Nathan Collins (£4.9m), Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) – both very capable of DefCon returns – and long-throw specialist Michael Kayode (£4.5m) could also stand to benefit from this stretch of four home games in six. Be warned, though, that Collins is currently on four yellow cards; one more would see him suspended for a game.
MANCHESTER UNITED
They’ve had a bit of an up and down season so far, Manchester United, earning some big wins against in-form opposition but also enduring their share of disappointing results.
This upcoming six-match run offers the chance to climb the Premier League table at a time when many of the teams around them are having to compete on multiple fronts. Ruben Amorim and co, of course, have only the league to focus on.
Bournemouth’s form has nose-dived recently, though the Red Devils should remember that this opponent has beaten them 3-0 in back-to-back Old Trafford encounters over the past two seasons.
A trickier test awaits in Gameweek 17. Aston Villa have won nine of their last 10 in the league, and are a force to be reckoned with on their own turf.
After that, however, comes a Newcastle side that has travelled poorly in 2025/26, followed by three successive games against teams in a relegation battle: Wolves (H), Leeds (A) and Burnley (A).
Amorim’s men will have to cope without Bryan Mbeumo (£8.4m) and Amad Diallo (£6.3m), due to AFCON, but skipper Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) should be ever-present over winter. The Mbeumo-to-Bruno move will be popular, while Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) could end up being a solid differential in Mbeumo’s absence.
FULHAM
Marco Silva’s men will fancy their chances of taking a few points off the sides around them, having picked up recent wins against Tottenham and Sunderland before running Manchester City and Crystal close.
The second trio of matches in this Gameweek 16-21 run isn’t quite as appealing as the first, but Liverpool’s defence is far from airtight. Fulham will also have home advantage on their side in that match and against Chelsea.
Like a few other clubs on this list, they’ll be waving goodbye to a couple of stars that are heading to AFCON, in this case Nigeria internationals Calvin Bassey (£4.5m), Alex Iwobi (£6.4m) and Samuel Chukwueze (£5.3m). The latter has made a big impact for Silva’s side recently, while Bassey and Iwobi are both regular first-teamers. Their absences could give others – like Kevin (£5.8m) and Jorge Cuenca (£4.3m) – a chance to shine.
Really, though, the standouts are DefCon-gobbling centre-back Joachim Andersen (£4.5m), in-form winger Harry Wilson (£5.2m), and Raul Jimenez (£6.2m), who is deprived of serious competition up top with Rodrigo Muniz (£5.4m) out.
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola will be encouraged by the fact that more of his players have started chipping in to help Erling Haaland’s (£15.0m) goal-scoring efforts, particularly Phil Foden (£8.5m).
A trip to Crystal Palace, who won the last meeting between these two sides – the FA Cup final – and held City to a draw at Selhurst Park last season, is a tough start to the Gameweek 16-21 run, but West Ham (H) is expected to be an easier afternoon.
Two road games follow that, against an improving but far from perfect Forest and a Sunderland side that City have just beaten 3-0.
Brighton, meanwhile, are an open team that City have never failed to score against in the Premier League era. Nor have the Seagulls ever won at the Etihad.
We’d expect some degree of rotation from Guardiola over the next month, then, especially with Champions League football and a Carabao Cup quarter-final in the mix, but players like Haaland and Foden should start the majority of games. As, you’d expect, should Nico O’Reilly (£5.2m), given main positional rival Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) is among the AFCON crew.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Newcastle are ranked just below City in our Fixture Ticker despite facing all three of the newly-promoted clubs between Gameweeks 16 and 21.
And, if we extend the lookahead to just one Gameweek, Wolves are to come in Gameweek 22.
Perhaps investment can wait till Gameweek 18. The first of their upcoming games is the first Tyne-Wear derby in the top-flight since 2016, and it’s on Sunderland’s turf – so Eddie Howe and co won’t be expecting an easy afternoon against the high-flying Black Cats. Chelsea then follow.
But a Manchester United side that has kept only one clean sheet all season will hold no fear. The matches against Chelsea and Crystal Palace are at St James’ Park, too, where Newcastle’s record is notably better (P8, W5, D1, L2) than it is away (P7, W1, D3, L3).
Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) is emerging as a strong and relatively reliable defensive option at the back. In midfield, Bruno Guimaraes (£6.9m) – despite a recent rest – is probably more assured of minutes than any of Eddie Howe’s wide players. As for Nick Woltemade (£7.5m), he ought to remain ever-present in the Newcastle XI for now – but it should be noted that fellow summer signing Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) is now fit again. By the time the really good stuff comes around in Gameweek 19, Wissa may be ready to start.
LIVERPOOL
Tweaking the Fixture Ticker outlook slightly to take out Gameweek 21 – when Liverpool and Arsenal face off at the Emirates – produces the following as the top five clubs ranked by fixture difficulty (Gameweek 16-20):
Given the projected ease of the Reds’ immediate fixtures, their assets are a bit more appealing.
But do we trust them? Saturday’s nutty six-goal epic at Elland Road introduced more doubts, days after they nearly lost to Sunderland.
Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) is obviously off the menu now, while game-time will be divided up top between Arne Slot’s two forwards. At the back, how does two clean sheets in 11 league matches sound?
Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) at least guarantees you starts over Christmas, along with regular DefCon returns and some set-piece threat. The same goes for Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) in midfield – providing he doesn’t get booked in the next four Gameweeks. The Hungarian’s open-play goal threat is also questionable; Saturday saw him score his first such strike of 2025/26.
They’re about the best two of a sorry lot.
ALSO CONSIDER
Such is the disarray that Liverpool find themselves in that maybe we don’t need to take away Gameweek 21 to make Arsenal‘s run more palatable.
And Wolves at home next is about as juicy a fixture as you can get. In between, however, a mixed bag against three of the surprise packages currently in the top seven (Everton, Brighton, Aston Villa). Probably not enough to make you reduce the Arsenal representation in your squad, but maybe – after Wolves – sufficient to make you think twice about acquiring any Gunner anew.
We’ve relegated West Ham United and Everton to this section due to their next two fixtures. Come Gameweek 18, however, they’ll be at the forefront of our thoughts for Christmas and beyond.
Burnley are (too?) high in the ticker as things stand but, after five straight losses, realistically few people will be considering buying any Clarets. Home games against Fulham and Everton at least present a possible opportunity for managers to start/Bench Boost Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) and/or Maxime Esteve (£3.9m).
