Christmas is approaching and the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadlines are bunching together – but we have you covered when it comes to who has the best upcoming fixtures.
That’s right, it’s time for another instalment of ‘Frisking the Fixtures’. In this series, we pinpoint the teams and players with the most appealing medium-term runs of matches.
We usually have a six-game outlook – in this case, Gameweeks 18-23 – but will glance beyond that at times, if fixture swings call for it.
As always, our colour-coded Season Ticker is the primary source for this piece.
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SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW: NEXT SIX GAMEWEEKS
WEST HAM UNITED
West Ham begin a fine run of fixtures in Gameweek 18 by hosting Fulham, who they’ve beaten – often by a couple of goals – in all but one iteration of this fixture since 2010.
The Hammers’ two most recent victories this season have been earned at the London Stadium and they made life difficult for in-form Aston Villa there in Gameweek 16. So, Nuno Espirito Santo will be pleased that four of his side’s six upcoming games are on home soil. After the Cottagers, their other three opponents in those matches – Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland – have all played comparatively worse on the road this season.
Even when West Ham must venture further afield in this run, it’s only to face Wolves and Tottenham, who have two of the worst home records in the division.
Wins have been few and relatively far between for the Hammers, so FPL managers likely won’t be going big on West Ham representation. Talismanic skipper Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m), however, is someone who has prospered in Fantasy over the years, regardless of the quality of teammates around him.
The defence is still an issue, and Nuno will be missing first-choice full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.2m) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.1m) for as long as the pair are at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). They’ve yet to keep a clean sheet since their current manager took over, indeed. That’s a 12-match shut-out drought. Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.2m) is assured of stars while AFCON is playing out, for those after a bench fodder option – but really, there’s little incentive to move for a Hammers defender.
There’s little to appeal in midfield, too. Neither Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m) nor Mateus Fernandes (£5.5m) has reached 1.0 xG since Nuno took over! Freddie Potts (£4.4m), who has started seven of the last eight games, is at least a cheap fifth midfielder option for those FPL managers moving to a 3-4-3 to accommodate Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m).
EVERTON
Another team enjoying a fixture swing at the moment is Everton, who begin this six-match run with a trip to Burnley.
It’s Forest after that, who the Toffees beat 3-0 a fortnight ago, followed by three home matches in four. Those are against Brentford, Wolves and Leeds, three teams with just three away wins between them all season.
The Gameweek 22 trip to Villa Park is a tricky task, but overall this stretch should provide ample opportunity for David Moyes and co to solidify their status in the top half of the table by the end of January.
They’ll, of course, have to embark on the majority of this run without influential Senegal pair Iliman Ndiaye (£6.3m) and Idrissa Gueye (£5.4m), while summer signing Thierno Barry (£5.7m) is yet to really get going up top and Beto (£5.0m) isn’t any better. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.0m) is also currently injured. Might we see some reinforcements arrive on the blue half of Merseyside during the winter transfer window?
So, then, it may be a case of defence-first football for the time being unless replacements Tyler Dibling (£5.3m) or Dwight McNeil (£5.5m) can pick up the slack. It’s far too early to be punting on those two, leaving Jack Grealish (£6.5m) as the sole viable attacking option for now. Even then, there are probably better options out there in FPL land.
At least defensive contribution (DefCon) earners Michael Keane (£4.7m) and James Tarkowski (£5.5m) haven’t gone anywhere, with Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) still raking in returns at a fairly reliable rate behind them. Those three are averaging a very respectable 5.1, 4.5 and 4.1 points per match in 2025/26, and are the stand-out targets from the Toffees.
Be aware that Tarkowski is on four bookings, so is one away from a ban.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Newcastle’s home record (P9, W5, D2, L2) stands in pretty stark contrast to their away record (P8, W1, D3, L4). It’s in large part due to their lack of firepower – the Magpies have conceded 10 goals both home and away, but scored just seven on the road compared to 14 at St James’ Park.
Thankfully, Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) is finally available to help Nick Woltemade (£7.3m) with the burden. The ex-Brentford striker has already scored on his first start for the Magpies.
The upcoming double-header at Old Trafford and Turf Moor is followed by three home games plus a visit to bottom side Wolves. They plus Leeds have well-documented defensive deficiencies, while Crystal Palace are haemorrhaging goals at present and Man Utd have kept just one clean sheet all season!
Newcastle are unbeaten in four home Premier League encounters (W3, D1) with Palace, winning the last two by a combined score of 9-0. They are unbeaten in a staggering 17 home league games against Aston Villa, too, last losing to the West Midlanders at St James’ Park way back in 2005. 11 of those results have been wins, the last three by a combined score of 12-1!
History suggests the Magpies should be confident even ahead of those trickier-looking games, then.
As for transfer targets, Howe will freshen up his squad over the holidays and most players will probably experience at least one benching. Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) will likely be one of the exceptions, although the 10-match clean sheet drought is not a great advert for the Magpies’ defence.
Further forward, Anthony Gordon (£7.3m), Woltemade and Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m) are the three names that leap off the page. None of them will be free of rotation risk over Christmas and New Year (and often subbed off early) but the Friday-Tuesday-Sunday-Wednesday turnaround is on the generous side, so we’d expect that trio to start at least three of those fixtures. Gordon looked particularly lively in Saturday’s draw with Chelsea and is on penalty-taking duties.
LIVERPOOL/MANCHESTER UNITED
Based on an initial glance at the main Fixture Ticker at the start of this article, you might wonder why we’re choosing to highlight Liverpool or Manchester United here. After all, neither rank particularly highly overall between Gameweeks 18 and 23. However, you’ll find that this has much to do with both teams facing Arsenal away from home.
Take out Gameweek 21, when Liverpool make that trip to the capital, and the Reds jump from ninth to first in the Fixture Ticker over the remaining five rounds. Do the same for United’s Gameweek 23 trip to the Emirates, and suddenly the Red Devils jump from fourth from bottom to fourth from top between Gameweeks 18 and 22.
The Gunners game aside, both clubs have at least four appealing fixtures.
For Liverpool, that run starts brilliantly with two home ties against leaky Wolves and Leeds. Gameweek 20 opponents Fulham have also conceded their fair share of goals recently, and after the Arsenal match, it’s back to Anfield to host struggling Burnley before a trip to Bournemouth, another porous backline that Arne Slot’s men already knocked four past this season.
For United, Gameweek 18 may not be as hard as it initially appears given Newcastle’s poor away form. After that, it’s Wolves at home, who Ruben Amorim’s men recently made light work of on the road, followed by promoted duo Leeds and Burnley.
Both clubs could be without their AFCON players for most of this period, which for Liverpool means no Mohamed Salah (£14.0m). However, Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m) is in strong form and Florian Wirtz (£8.0m) is playing an increasingly pivotal role. Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m), annoyingly for his owners, misses Gameweek 18 due to suspension.
Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) and Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) appear safe bets from the backline, capable of combining DefCons with some attacking threat – and maybe even the odd clean sheet, if their defensive numbers continue trending in the right direction.
United-wise, the loss of Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m) and Amad Diallo (£6.3m) to AFCON may be felt more keenly, while FPL all-rounder Bruno Fernandes (£9.4m) looks set for a spell out.
The absences could open the door for someone like Mason Mount (£5.9m) to excel alongside versatile attacker Matheus Cunha (£8.0m), who has had a league-best 22 shots in the last three Gameweeks. Diogo Dalot (£4.4m), who registered three attacking returns in as many games between Gameweeks 14 and 16, could be a decent differential, but we wouldn’t expect many shut-outs from this side on current evidence.
ALSO CONSIDER
Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, are ranked above Liverpool and United on the Ticker overall for Gameweeks 18-23. On second glance, however, some of their respective fixtures may not be as nice as they first appear.
The Bees do at least have four games at home, where they’ve been markedly better (P8, W5, D2, L1) than on away days (P9, W2, L7).
Gameweek 18 opponents Bournemouth haven’t been great on the road either, despite Gameweek 16’s trip to Old Trafford showing they certainly still have goals in them. Spurs, who come to the Gtech in Gameweek 19, have actually won more away games than home games so far this season. Sunderland and Forest, meanwhile, have both played better on their own turf than away from it but are both tough teams that will test Brentford’s resolve.
The other two matches in here for Keith Andrews to navigate are trips to top-half clubs Everton and Chelsea. With the trouble-making Dango Ouattara (£5.9m) off to AFCON, the west Londoners will need striker Igor Thiago (£7.1m) to stay fit and firing during this period, particularly given clean sheets haven’t really been the team’s forte so far this year. Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.8m) is at least playing ‘out of position’ on the right wing.
As for Spurs, four away days in six might be enticing for a team with a torrid home record. Still, London derbies on enemy soil versus Palace and Brentford – the latter out to avenge this month’s loss against their old gaffer – mightn’t be easy. Nor should the Gameweek 21 trip to Bournemouth, who’ve lost just once at home all season and beat the Lilywhites in the reverse tie.
The West Ham and Burnley matches are more appealing but are a little while away.
Another team we’ll mention here is Manchester City, who have a 3-3 split of home and away matches.
Dyche’s Forest will undoubtedly try to make things difficult for the Sky Blues. As will Sunderland, who are unbeaten at the Stadium of Light in 2025/26. We all know that anything can happen on a derby day, especially away from home (at United, Gameweek 22).
Mixed in with those road games are the visits of Chelsea, Brighton and Wolves.
