In ‘Frisking the Fixtures’, we pick out the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) teams and players with strong matches from Gameweek 32 onwards.
Now that we know the line-up for Double Gameweek 33 and Blank Gameweek 34, our Fixture Ticker is up to date. We’ve also tweaked some of the difficulty ratings over the break.
Of course, what constitutes a good fixture run will depend on your chip strategy.
So here, in this busy moment of future planning, we’ll look at four different scenarios.
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 may even set your own difficulty ratings, should you disagree with ours. Plus, the colours can be customised, including a colour-blind-friendly version.
ROUTE 1 – GAMEWEEK 32 WILDCARD, GAMEWEEK 34 FREE HIT
- GOOD: The six ‘doublers’ (especially Leeds + Brighton), Newcastle
- BAD: Fulham, Liverpool
Managers taking this path are probably intending to Bench Boost in Gameweek 33, when six teams play twice: Bournemouth, Brighton and Hove Albion, Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds United and Manchester City.
Of these, only Brighton have a nice-looking fixture beforehand. In fact, Bournemouth’s schedule is deemed the league’s worst based on average difficulty, while Chelsea and Man City are also low down. It’s always hard to argue against quantity over quality, of course.
What makes Leeds assets particularly handy for a Bench Boost is the cheapness of Karl Darlow (£3.9m), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m), Joe Rodon (£3.9m) and Anton Stach (£4.8m). However, the latter two limped out of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final, so a firm injury update is needed.
Back to Brighton, the Seagulls are on four wins from five, about to visit Burnley in advance of their double.
Danny Welbeck (£6.2m) deserves attention, but Fabian Hurzeler doesn’t usually start him in both parts of a quick turnaround. In-form midfield differentials Jack Hinshelwood (£5.1m) and Pascal Gross (£5.5m) may end up playing more minutes.
Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m), Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) and Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) are part of a solid backline that hasn’t conceded more than once in any of their last eight matches. Expect a clean sheet or two.
Elsewhere, it looks promising for Newcastle United, who avoid any top-eight team when Gameweek 34 is removed from the equation. Still time for Anthony Gordon (£7.4m), Malick Thiaw (£5.1m) and Lewis Hall (£5.4m) to come good, now that the Magpies are out of every cup?
ROUTE 2 – GAMEWEEK 33 FREE HIT
- GOOD: Arsenal, Sunderland, Man United, Everton
- BAD: The six doublers (especially Bournemouth, Burnley + Chelsea)
This direction is for those who’ve either already Wildcarded or prefer their one-week break to be in Gameweek 33. Players from the six aforementioned doubling teams need to be kept to a minimum, as they won’t feature in Gameweek 34.
In better news, Arsenal top the ticker, allowing triple-ups to remain in place as they aim to clinch their first league title since 2004.
Sunderland have a steady run, though FPL interest probably doesn’t go beyond their defence and low-priced midfielder Enzo Le Fee (£4.9m).
Everton’s only off-putting fixture comes in Gameweek 35.
ROUTE 3 – GAMEWEEK 33 FREE HIT, GAMEWEEK 35 WILDCARD
- GOOD: West Ham, Man United, Sunderland, Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal
- BAD: The six doublers, Newcastle
Next up, a strategy that’s gaining some traction in the FPL community. It puts off a Wildcard activation until late on, but allows managers to keep their good Gameweek 32 fixtures, while still stacking up on doublers for the party.
Therefore, only two Gameweeks need to be considered here. It recommends having the likes of Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m), Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m), Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) and Bruno Fernandes (£10.3m).
Fighting for survival, West Ham United’s talisman ticks along with attacking returns and should remain on penalties despite missing in the FA Cup shootout. Beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday, and suddenly they’ll push Tottenham Hotspur into the relegation zone.
Trips to Sunderland and Wolves are neither great nor terrible for Spurs but, simply put, we don’t yet know who is liked by new boss Roberto De Zerbi.
In this scenario, avoid buying from Newcastle and the six non-participants.
ROUTE 4 – NO FREE HIT TO USE
- GOOD: Arsenal, Nott’m Forest, Brighton + Leeds (except Gameweek 34 for the latter two)
- BAD: Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham
Let’s end with a standard overview of good and bad fixtures from Gameweek 32.
You may have noticed that Wolves are high on a few of these graphics, but they’re last-placed and about to get relegated. No team has fewer goals (24), big chances (40) or clean sheets (four). None of their individuals is on more than 92 points.
Behind them, Leeds, Brighton and Arsenal are Nottingham Forest, who don’t double but instead host Burnley in Gameweek 33 and visit Sunderland in Gameweek 34. We’ve asked whether Elliot Anderson (£5.5m) or Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.4m) is the better pick.
MAN CITY + CRYSTAL PALACE
Surprisingly, Man City rank low on all four options, but remember that their outstanding Crystal Palace clash still needs rearranging. Once added, that’ll further boost the arguably fixture-proof Erling Haaland (£14.4m), Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m) and Nico O’Reilly (£5.0m)
As for Palace, the assumed Double Gameweek 36 will make Ismaila Sarr (£6.3m), Daniel Munoz (£5.8m) and Chris Richards (£4.4m) more appealing in route one, whereas route three allows a love-in on Gameweek 35’s Wildcard.
