Frisking the Fixtures – Gameweek 13 – The Weak

After reviewing those sides with the most favourable upcoming schedules over the next four-to-six Gameweeks yesterday, our focus now turns to the teams who look to have the toughest fixtures over the coming period.

It’s once again players from Everton and West Ham United that raise concerns, while Man City’s premium assets may also struggle to deliver value over the next month or so.

Everton

(sot, MUN, wat, ARS, LIV, lei)

The Toffees look slightly low on confidence following the 5-0 thrashing by Chelsea and Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Swansea City, and face a hugely difficult run of fixtures over the next six Gameweeks.

Defensively, in particular, they could be set to struggle, given that they face free-scoring Liverpool, while clean sheets also appear unlikely against Arsenal and Man United.

The three away fixtures are slightly easier by comparison, but Leicester City have scored four goals in their last two home matches, while Watford have won three of their last four on home soil.

Given Everton’s defensive starters set us back at least 5.1 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), they look best avoided during this difficult part of their schedule.

It’s a similar story in attack, with chances set to be at a premium in the three home matches, given Liverpool, United and Arsenal all feature among the four sides conceding the fewest number of shots inside the box over the last four Gameweeks.

Southampton also displayed their defensive capabilities in their goalless draw against Liverpool last time out, and, although the Watford and Leicester match-ups are slightly friendlier, it’s unlikely the Toffees will be able to find too much joy in those fixtures.

Romelu Lukaku’s 34.7% ownership in FPL may begin to consider their options, then, although the Belgian has proved in the past that he can thrive against the odds and the top sides.

West Ham United

(mun, ARS, liv, BUR, HUL, swa)

The Hammers’ short-term outlook continues to look pretty bleak, with none of their assets looking likely to emerge from the next three matches with convincing returns.

As already mentioned, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool are among the strongest defences in the Premier League, so while Slaven Bilic’s side may be able to score the odd goal, the potential appears very limited.

The fixture list does ease considerably from Gameweek 16 onwards, though, so while Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio have limited prospects right now, they could soon be back in contention for consideration in our five-man midfields.

Those next three matches are certainly hugely testing from a defensive perspective, with Liverpool and United the top two teams for total goal attempts over the last four Gameweeks, while Arsenal have to be fancied to find the back of the net against the Hammers.

Swansea City have also scored in six of their last seven, so it’s only the home match-ups with Burnley and Hull City in the next six Gameweeks that could realistically provide defensive returns.

In truth, West Ham defenders have barely registered on our radars this season, and that should remain the case over the next few weeks.

Man City

(bur, CHE, lei, WAT, ARS, hul)

Home clashes against Chelsea and Arsenal in the next five Gameweeks raises a few alarms bells regarding City’s upcoming schedule.

Chelsea are clearly the strongest defensive unit at present following six successive clean sheets, while Arsenal have only conceded three goals in their last four matches.

Saturday’s trip to Burnley may also be tricky from an attacking point of view, given that Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal have only mustered two goals between them in matches at Turf Moor this season.

The other three fixtures (lei, WAT, hul) are more favourable, but there certainly looks to be little need to double up on the City attack through this spell. Sergio Aguero, in particular, may struggle to deliver value on his 13.2 price tag.

The City defence has been a source of much disappointment this season, both in terms of the lack of clean sheets and the amount of rotation carried out by Pep Guardiola.

With Burnley having scored five goals in their last two home matches, and given that Chelsea and Arsenal will be difficult to repel, defensive returns look likey to remain in short supply.

The trip to the King Power Stadium will also offer a stern test, so it’s likely that Fantasy managers will continue to ignore members of City’s backline.

Also be wary of…

Bournemouth
The Cherries face three of three current top four (ars, LIV, che) over the next six Gameweeks, while their other three fixtures (bur, LEI, SOT) are also far from straightforward.

While Eddie Howe’s side mustered their fourth clean sheet of the campaign at Stoke City last weekend, it’s hard to envisage shut-outs over the coming period, with the clashes at home to Leicester and Southampton appearing to offer the strongest prospects.

So although Bournemouth defenders do offer decent attacking potential, there appears to be better options available elsewhere over the next month or so.

Given that Burnley are strong defensively at Turf Moor, while Southampton also boast a solid defensive unit, it’s only the Leicester match-up that looks even the slightest bit favourable from an attacking point standpoint.

Sunderland
While the confidence levels have been boosted at the Stadium of Light following back-to-back wins, David Moyes’ side face a mixed upcoming schedule (liv, LEI, swa, CHE, WAT, mun).

Goals could be hard to come by against Liverpool, United and Chelsea, in particular, but with the other three fixtures pretty favourable, and given his current form, Jermain Defoe’s owners will no doubt be more than happy to hold firm.

Sunderland’s defenders, on the other hand, have barely featured in the thoughts of Fantasy managers this season, and while Patrick van Aanholt does offer some attacking potential, he’s unlikely to gain investment through his forthcoming run of fixtures.

Jordan Pickford’s owners will no doubt be hoping he can continue to rack up the save points, as clean sheets look likely to be in short supply over the next six Gameweeks.

West Bromwich Albion
While the prospects for the Baggies are bright in the short-term (hul, WAT), the fixture list is a lot trickier heading into the festive period, with clashes against Chelsea, United, Arsenal and Southampton all on the horizon.

But with a home encounter against Swansea City in Gameweek 16 to consider, there’s every reason to own at least one West Brom defender in the short to medium term.

Those who’ve jumped on the Matt Phillips bandwagon this week could be rewarded over the next four Gameweeks, but it’s likely you’ll want to rea-assess from Gameweek 17 given how the schedule turns.

Stoke City
It’s a similar story for the Potters, with strong short-term match-ups (wat, BUR) followed by a stiffening fixture list (ars, SOT, LEI, liv, che).

Clean sheets, in particular, appear unlikely from Gameweek 15 onwards, while Lee Grant may have also lost his starting spot to the returning Jack Butland by then, so the former’s owners should be assessing their options over the coming weeks.

Those who jumped on the Joe Allen bandwagon over the past month may also be on the lookout for alternatives, with the midfielder suspended for Sunday’s trip to Watford, and then unlikely to pick up too many points against some tough defences.

Stoke attackers appear dispensable once the Gameweek 14 home clash against Burnley is out of the way.