While Gameweek 18 concludes tonight with Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Southampton, we’re already looking ahead to assess those teams that face the most favourable fixtures across the next four-to-six Gameweeks.
Arsenal remain in the midst of a very soft section of their schedule, while Southampton and Everton assets could also provide some interesting differential options given their favourable upcoming schedules.
Arsenal
(CPL, bou, swa, BUR, WAT, che)
Arsene Wenger’s side began this kind run of fixtures with a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, and the outlook remains very bright over the next five Gameweeks.
That was Arsenal’s first clean sheet since Gameweek 9, and with Crystal Palace, Burnley and Watford all among the six teams registering the fewest shots inside the box over the last four matches, those three match-ups in particular offer hope of further defensive returns.
The Bournemouth and Swansea City fixtures may be slightly trickier, but they still represent decent possibilities for shut-outs, so the likes of Hector Bellerin and Laurent Koscielny may be worth consideration in the premium price bracket, with Gabriel a cheap short-term option in the absence of the injured Shkodran Mustafi.
The prospects also look incredibly positive at the other end of the pitch, given that Swansea and Bournemouth have conceded 10 and nine goals respectively over the last four matches.
Burnley, meanwhile, have shipped nine goals in their last four away matches, and Watford have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight.
Sunday’s match, albeit against a Palace side managed by Sam Allardyce, is also pretty favourable, so there will be big expectations surrounding Alexis Sanchez’ returns, with Theo Walcott surely another who could potentially profit should he recover from a minor calf problem.
Southampton
(WBA, eve, bur, LEI, swa, WHM)
Saints avoid all of the current top six over the coming period, so Claude Puel’s side should at last open up as a source of Fantasy talent.
There may be no obvious plum fixture in the next six, but from an attacking perspective, the match away to Swansea should see Saints get amongst the goals given that the Welsh side have shipped 10 in their last four, while Leicester City have conceded exactly twice in seven of the previous eight.
West Ham have also struggled on the road, letting in nine in their previous five away fixtures, while the West Brom, Everton and Burnley clashes could see Southampton among the goals.
Jay Rodriguez, listed as a midfielder in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), may provide an interesting out of position option playing as a central striker, then.
It’s perhaps at the back where investment is more likely, though, given that Saints have kept clean sheets in four of their last six.
The West Brom match-up looks the most favourable: the Baggies have failed to score in three of their last four, and, given how strong Puel’s side are at the back on home turf, the Leicester and West Ham fixtures may also produce defensive returns.
The three away trips (eve, bur, swa) are also fairly favourable, so Cedric Soares and Virgil van Dijk could prove to be canny signings for our five-man backlines over the next few weeks.
The one concern, as always, with the Saints assets is Puel’s tendency to rotate.
It should be noted that Southampton face a two-leg EFL cup semi-final with Liverpool around prior to Gameweeks 21 (bur) and immediately after Gameweek 22 (LEI), which would seem likely to affect Puel’s approach.
Everton
(hul, SOT, MCI, cpl, sto, BOU)
The Toffees face very appealing match-ups against Hull City and Bournemouth in the next six, with only the Manchester City clash in Gameweek 21 providing an obvious pitfall.
Hull have conceded 10 times in their last four matches, while the Cherries have leaked exactly three goals in each of their last trio of away trips.
In addition, no side have allowed more shots from inside the box than Stoke City (43) over the last four matches, while the Palace encounter should also be reasonably favourable.
City have tightened things up at the back of late, though, while Southampton may also prove to be stubborn opposition, making those two fixtures a slight deterrent to investment in an Everton attacker.
However, in general, Romelu Lukaku is back on the radar, although there’s not a consistent option from the Toffees midfield who appears to warrant serious consideration.
It’s those two fixtures, against Hull and Bournemouth, along with the Stoke clash, that should offer strong possibilities for defensive returns.
Hull have only scored three goals in their last four matches, while Bournemouth have scored just twice in three.
Stoke are ranked in the bottom six for both shots inside the box and big chances created over the last four matches, so that may also present a decent opportunity for a shut-out.
The Southampton fixture is also reasonably kind, given that the Saints have failed to score in three of their last six, so members of Everton’s backline may come into our thinking over the coming weeks.
This may be made all the pertinent by Ronald Koeman’s recent shift to a 3-4-2-1 system which has brought budget option Mason Holgate (4.0) back into the mix.
In addition, both Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines are deployed as wing-backs, adding to their appeal given the schedule ahead.
Also Consider…
Crystal Palace
Once Sunday’s trip to the Emirates is out of the way, the fixture list (SWA, whm, EVE, bou, SUN) turns very kindly for Sam Allardyce.
The Eagles only conceded from the penalty spot against Watford, so the Swansea and Sunderland match-ups, in particular, may well yield some rare defensive returns.
With his proven goal threat, Scott Dann is equipped to deliver points at both end of the pitch, then, with the centre-back climbing in our Watchlist ahead of the Swansea fixture.
Those five matches also appear favourable in an attacking sense, so Christian Benteke could provide a decent option for our three-man frontlines, although if he were to lose spot-kick duties, his appeal would be dented.
In addition, there is still uncertainty surrounding Wilfried Zaha’s departure for the Africa Cup of Nations. Named in Ivory Coast’s provisional squad today, if he should depart in January, it would come as a major blow to Palace’s attacking prospects. Certainly this evening’s tweet from the club suggests that Zaha will depart after the Gameweek 20 meeting with Swansea City.
West Bromwich Albion
Trips to St Mary’s and White Hart Lane in the next three Gameweeks are a deterrent to any investment in Baggies assets, but Tony Pulis’ side also have four favourable fixtures (HUL, SUN, mid, STO) in the next six.
That quartet have all generally struggled for goals of late, so owning at least one West Brom defender seems a likely scenario for most FPL bosses, with the option to double-up also a viable one, too.
Middlesbrough are a strong defensive unit at the Riverside, but that fixture, along with the three home clashes against Hull, Sunderland and Stoke, should be enough to earn the likes of Matt Phillips and Salomon Rondon some consideration for our 15-man squads.
However, 1-0 defeats at Chelsea and Arsenal suggest that the Baggies could fail to find the back of the net against both Saints and Spurs.
We may be reliant on attacking points from the back, but, in Chris Brunt and Gareth McAuley, West Brom have to assets that can provide just that. Both should be targets over their forthcoming spell.
Manchester United
Jose Mourinho’s men do face Liverpool in Gameweek 21, but the rest of the upcoming schedule (MID, whm, sto, HUL, lei) suggests that their recent upturn in form can be maintained.
The Stoke and Hull fixtures appear the most promising from an attacking perspective, although in truth all of those five fixtures look pretty positive for the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and perhaps midfield duo Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The prospects at the other end of the pitch may not be quite so bright, with West Ham looking to have turned the corner in recent weeks, while Leicester City could provide a tricky match-up at home.
But given his 4.9 price tag in FPL, Phil Jones looks set to keep providing superb value as a cheaper route into the United rearguard.
With Eric Bailly departing for the Africa Cup of Nations and Chris Smalling seemingly out of favour, Jones’ role looks secure given the level of his recent performances.
Middlesbrough
Four of ‘Boro’s next six fixtures (mun, LEI, wat, WHM, WBA, tot) look reasonably favourable, with their solid home form something that has to be factored into our thinking.
Aitor Karanka’s men have kept clean sheets in three of their last five at the Riverside, and could be able to add to that tally over the coming period.
The away trip to Vicarage Road is also a decent match-up, so ‘Boro defenders could be viable options for our five-man backlines once Saturday’s trip to Old Trafford is out of the way.
We’re expecting George Friend to return to the starting XI following the suspension of Antonio Barragan so he could regain a regular role and offer an excellent option at the 4.4 price point.
The appeal of ‘Boro attackers is limited, given they’ve scored just 16 goals this season, but Alvaro Negredo, and perhaps Gaston Ramirez could provide solid value over the next month or so.
Bournemouth
With favourable trips to strugglers Swansea and Hull, plus home ties with Watford and Palace, there is real merit in considering an acquisition from the south coast club.
While generally bereft of stand out attacking options, Eddie Howe’s men have been almost peerless as a source of defensive talent that also offers a significant goal threat. Given their forthcoming spell, we should again go sniffing around the Vitality Stadium for potential.
Nathan Ake could well be the star turn on offer. Seemingly cemented in the Cherries back four, he’s scored three goals in six starts and has proved almost unstoppable at set-plays. Priced at 4.4, it’s difficult to build an argument to look beyond the Chelsea loanee.
The like of Charlie Daniels and Steve Cook offer more expensive alternatives, while Adam Smith remains the most popular Bournemouth defensive asset. He could remain of interest if he can maintain a midfield role, although with Junior Stanislas now fit, that could be in doubt.
Indeed, Stanislas himself could emerge as the one asset to consider in Howe’s attacking ranks. He had shown such promise and strong underlying numbers prior to injury.
