We take our regular “frisk” of the Premier League fixture list ahead of Gameweek 11.
In this feature, we assess the top-flight clubs with the strongest and weakest runs of league matches over the coming weeks.
Although our primary focus will be on a six-Gameweek lookahead, we will scrutinise the long-term fixtures beyond that point where relevant.
We’ll be using our Season Ticker to help – Members using this tool can sort by difficulty and teams that rotate well, filter home and away fixtures, and separate attack and defence.
The Strong
Leicester City
Next six: cry | ARS | bha | EVE | WAT | avl
The Foxes’ favourable fixture run started in Gameweek 9 and they have plundered 11 goals since last we wrote about them in this piece – nine of those strikes, of course, arriving in a remarkable match at St. Mary’s last Friday.
Arguably their toughest test between now and Gameweek 18 is this Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace, who have kept three clean sheets and conceded only three goals on home soil this season.
Between Gameweeks 11 and 17, the Foxes meet only one of the ‘big six’ – and that is a home fixture against an Arsenal side who have kept just one clean sheet and registered only one win in their five away matches this season.
As well as the six matches listed above, Leicester will also encounter a porous Norwich City defence at the King Power Stadium in Gameweek 17.
Jamie Vardy (£9.3m) has yet to blank against a side that finished outside of the top seven last season, registering 11 attacking returns in five appearances against these “also-rans”.
The Foxes’ four opponents in Gameweeks 14-17 – Everton, Watford, Villa and Norwich – all lie in the bottom six for league goals conceded in 2019/20, even if the Hornets have been showing a bit more defensive fortitude of late.
Brighton and Arsenal are hardly watertight, either, having shipped 28 goals between them this season.
Leicester’s defence has been one of the stand-out performers from an underlying stats perspective and in their next seven matches, they face five teams who are in the bottom half of the table for goals scored.
Five of their next seven opponents are in the bottom half for big chances created, too.
Norwich City
Next six: bha | WAT | eve | ARS | sou | SHU
The classic case of fixtures versus form.
The Canaries have picked up only one point from their last five league matches, conceding 12 goals during that period.
Teemu Pukki (£6.9m) and Todd Cantwell (£4.8m), who are haemorrhaging owners in FPL, have blanked in all five of those games.
Between now and Boxing Day, Norwich face only one ‘big six’ team – although there is a daunting trip to Leicester to contend with in Gameweek 17.
Pukki’s owners may take some hope from the fact that Southampton, Watford, Everton and Villa are to come in the next nine Gameweeks: four clubs who, along with Norwich themselves, are in the bottom six for goals conceded this season.
Brighton and Arsenal, meanwhile, are in the bottom six for shots on target conceded.
Arsenal
Next six: WOL | lei | SOU | nor | BHA | whu
Unai Emery’s side face two in-form teams in the next two Gameweeks, with Wolves – unbeaten in five league games – the visitors to the Emirates on Saturday before the Gunners head to third-place Leicester in their final match before the international break.
Nevertheless, Emery’s troops are the only Premier League side not to face one of last season’s top half-dozen teams in the next six Gameweeks.
Arsenal’s defence still leaves a lot to be desired but there is some encouragement for Gameweeks 13-16, with their four opponents over this period in the bottom half for goals scored in 2019/20.
From an attacking perspective, a trip to the King Power Stadium won’t be easy, with Leicester having the third-best expected goals conceded (xGC) total of 2019/20 so far.
Wolves have only shipped three goals in the last five Gameweeks, meanwhile.
Gameweeks 13-16 look more enticing from an attacking point of view, with all four of their opponents in the bottom half for big chances conceded and shots on target faced.
Southampton and Norwich are the two worst defences in the top flight this season based on goals conceded (49 between them).
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Next six: ars | AVL | bou | SHU | WHU| bha
Wolves don’t just have form on their side but fixtures too.
Arsenal are the only ‘big six’ club that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side face between now and mid-December, with the West Midlands side having taken four points off the Gunners last season.
Much has been made of the wearying effect of a Thursday-Sunday turnaround and we have taken a closer look at that in a Members article earlier today.
Rotation is another worry, with Conor Coady (£5.0m) and Raul Jimenez (£7.1m) their only outfielders who are ever-presents in the league.
Purely from a fixture perspective, there are some attractive matches for Wolves’ attack ahead.
In Gameweeks 12-15, Santo’s side face five of the nine teams who have conceded the most big chances in 2019/20 – although a stubborn Sheffield United side, keeper of four clean sheets, are among this group.
With Willy Boly (£5.0m) out injured, however, there may be concern at the other end of the pitch.
Wolves’ two fixtures before the international break, against Arsenal and Aston Villa, will be tough tests: those two clubs are in the top half for attempts on goal, shots in the box and plain old goals scored this season.
Liverpool
Next six: avl | MCI | cry | BHA | EVE | bou
Liverpool were languishing towards the bottom end of our Season Ticker from Gameweeks 8-12 but they have taken seven points from matches against Leicester, Manchester United and Spurs and remain comfortably clear at the top of the Premier League.
After the visit of Manchester City, the Reds avoid any of their fellow ‘big six’ clubs until 2020 – although a return trip to Leicester on Boxing Day will pose a challenge.
We should also raise Liverpool’s Gameweek 18 blank at this juncture – the Reds are in action in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar in the run-up to Christmas and their match against West Ham has already been postponed.
The fixtures before then are mostly appealing, though.
Even the visit of City shouldn’t hold too much fear the likes of Mohamed Salah (£12.4m) and Sadio Mane (£11.9m): while Pep Guardiola’s side have kept five clean sheets, they have also already allowed more than half the number of big chances that they conceded in 2018/19.
Palace’s home record (see above) will provide a test but Villa, Everton and Watford (who they face in Gameweek 17) are among the six worst clubs for goals conceded in this campaign.
Salah scored nine goals and banked two assists against Liverpool’s Gameweek 13-17 opponents last season, with Mane delivering seven attacking returns.
The Reds remarkably kept nine clean sheets in ten meetings with Palace, Brighton, Everton, Bournemouth and Watford last season – although they only have two shut-outs to their name in 2019/20.
Also Consider
Burnley (shu | WHU| wat | CRY | MCI | tot) and Manchester United (bou | BHA | shu | AVL | TOT | mci) ride high in our Season Ticker over the next month, before they both face Spurs and Manchester City at the beginning of December.
The Clarets look particularly appealing from a defensive perspective until Gameweek 15, with Sheffield United, Watford and Palace in the bottom six for goals scored this season.
Sean Dyche’s side have allowed fewer big chances than any other Premier League club this season.
As for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s hitherto underwhelming troops, they showed a lot of attacking promise against an admittedly limited Norwich side in Gameweek 10.
Trips to Bournemouth and Sheffield United will be tougher tests, with Eddie Howe’s side having conceded only one goal in the last three Gameweeks and the Blades having kept more clean sheets than all teams bar Manchester City this season.
Aston Villa have been conceding shots for fun, however, while Spurs and City’s backlines have been far from watertight; a United side built for counter-attacking football may well get joy from those two fixtures in Gameweeks 15 and 16.
Tottenham Hotspur (eve | SHU | whu | BOU | mun | BUR ) are towards the top of our Season Ticker for home fixtures in the next six Gameweeks, with a mixed bag of matches to come on the road.
No club has conceded fewer goals than Sheffield United this season, however, while Manchester United and Burnley are in the top two for fewest big chances allowed.
Watford (CHE | nor | BUR | sou | lei | CRY) have shown improvement in recent weeks – at least at the back.
Daryl Janmaat (£4.3m) has averaged nine points per match over the last three Gameweeks, with his role as a wing-back and Watford’s two clean sheets aiding his cause.
Matches against free-scoring Chelsea and Leicester are obviously off-putting but the likes of Southampton and Palace offer possible clean sheet opportunities in the next six weeks.
Newcastle United (whu | BOU | avl | MCI | shu | SOU) are arguably the least appealing club to Fantasy managers from an attacking perspective but their defence has shown similar promise to last season (bar hammerings at Leicester and Norwich), keeping three clean sheets along the way.
Gameweeks 15-18 look particularly appealing, with fixtures against four clubs in the bottom half for big chances created.
Games against free-scoring City and Villa, however, are a deterrent before that.
The Weak
Aston Villa
Next six: LIV | wol | NEW | mun | che | LEI
Speaking of the Villans, their goalscoring form (11 goals in Gameweeks 6-9) unfortunately preceded a fairly awful run of games and means our interest in the likes of Jack Grealish (£5.9m) is on ice for now.
Having just played Manchester City, Dean Smith’s side now face the other three teams in the top four over the next six Gameweeks.
An in-form Wolves (five league games unbeaten) and a Manchester United side showing signs of recovery also host the Villans between now and the beginning of December.
Leicester, Liverpool and Chelsea are in the top four for goals scored, too, so the likes of Frederic Guilbert (£4.4m) won’t expect to see too many clean sheets over the next six weeks.
Brighton and Hove Albion
Next six: NOR | mun | LEI | liv | ars | WOL
Brighton have perhaps the most favourable fixture of any club in Gameweek 11 but their schedule is a horror show beyond, with trips to Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal to come in the following four Gameweeks.
Third-place Leicester are the next visitors to the Amex, meanwhile, while an improving Wolves also head to the south coast in December.
Only four clubs have allowed more shots on target than Albion this season already, so Mathew Ryan (£4.7m) ought to rack up the save points – if not too many clean sheets – over the coming six weeks.
Bournemouth
Next six: MUN | new | WOL | tot | CRY | che
Bournemouth play five of the ‘big six’ between now and Boxing Day.
Still, the next five Gameweeks offer further clean sheet opportunities for the likes of Diego Rico (£4.2m).
Newcastle, Wolves and Palace, indeed, are in the bottom four for attempts on goal this season.
Spurs, along with Newcastle and Palace, are in the bottom four for big chances created, too.
At the other end of the pitch, however, four of the Cherries’ next eight opponents are among the six meanest defences in terms of big chances conceded.
Also Consider
Everton ( TOT | sou | NOR | lei | liv | CHE) actually have a decent trio of games coming up, with the two leakiest defences in the Premier League – Norwich and Southampton – offering hope to the owners of Richarlison (£8.0m) and co.
Even Spurs are not in great shape at the back, with the Lilywhites and Norwich having kept the fewest number of clean sheets in the top flight this season.
A brutal run against three of the top four and then Manchester United and Arsenal subsequently follows, however, and they will very much be appearing in this section again when we have our next frisk over the international break.
Crystal Palace‘s (LEI|| che | LIV | bur | BOU | wat ) next three games are perhaps the trickiest in the division but there are positive signs beyond that.
The Eagles shoot to the top of the Season Ticker from Gameweeks 14-21 and we’ll have more on their prospects in the next Frisking the Fixtures.
Until then, Roy Hodgson’s side face three of the four most-potent attacks in the Premier League based on goals scored.
We finish on Manchester City (SOU | liv | CHE | new | bur | MUN), whose appealing match against Southampton this Saturday precedes some trickier tests.
Liverpool and Chelsea, scorers of 46 goals between them in the top flight, will pose a stern examination of City’s unconvincing backline either side of the international break.
Matches against Arsenal and Leicester also follow in Gameweeks 17 and 18, with Pep Guardiola’s side third-bottom of our Season Ticker between now and Christmas.
Sergio Aguero (£12.1m) did register 13 attacking returns in as many starts against City’s Gameweek 12-18 opponents in 2018/19, although of course seems to be more of a rotation risk this season.
Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) banked four goals and five assists from 13 starts against the same opposition last season, meanwhile.
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