There are just six Gameweeks remaining of 2019/20 so, with this week providing a little bit of respite ahead of a frenetic fortnight, we are taking another look at which Premier League clubs have the most and least favourable remaining fixtures.
This will be our final ‘frisk’ of the calendar this season as we prepare for five Fantasy Premier League deadlines in the space of two weeks.
Previously we had looked at the outstanding fixtures as a block and then highlighted the good and bad from Gameweeks 30+ to 34+.
Now we focus exclusively on Gameweeks 33+ to 38+, with a number of clubs experiencing fixture swings in different directions.
The upcoming matches look as follows on our Season Ticker:
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The Good
Manchester City
Next six: sou | NEW | bha | BOU | wat | NOR
Even Manchester United arguably don’t have an appealing a fixture run as their ‘noisy neighbours’ in the final six Gameweeks of 2019/20.
The Citizens’ remaining half-dozen games are all against sides currently in the bottom eight of the table, with Pep Guardiola’s troops the only club in the division avoiding a top-half team in the run-in.
While the “having something to play for” argument could be made in the case of the Premier League strugglers, let’s remind ourselves that Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich City haven’t won a single game between them since the Premier League resumed in June.
Those three teams are also without a clean sheet in the last three Gameweeks, having conceded 20 goals in a combined nine post-restart matches.
Before that is a meeting with a Southampton side who have the poorest home record in the division and then a clash with Newcastle United, who the Citizens comprehensively outplayed in last weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final.
As ever, the problem with City is who to buy.
Guardiola has made multiple changes in league and cup since the resumption, with no player having started all five of their competitive games.
The rewards will likely be as high as the risks for FPL managers, however, given how attractive those fixtures look and how on-song they’ve been over the last fortnight.
Manchester United
Next six: BOU | avl | SOU | cry | WHU | lei
Manchester United will likely have a more settled side than their cross-city rivals in the run-in, at least so long as UEFA Champions League qualification is on the line.
The Red Devils are locked in a four-way tussle (at least) for two or three Champions League spots, which should ensure those involved in the neck-and-neck scrap continue to name strong starting XIs.
Eight members of Solskjaer’s first team are ever-presents in the last three Gameweeks.
The next two matches are perhaps the best in the division as a pair.
Bournemouth and Aston Villa have kept only one clean sheet between them this calendar year and they, along with United’s Gameweek 37+ opponents West Ham United, have the worst defensive records in 2020 in terms of both clean sheets and goals conceded.
The Cherries, in particular, looked woeful against Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Being ‘on the beach’ could work one of two ways for Southampton and Crystal Palace but few FPL managers will fear those tests based on United’s performances since the restart and even a Gameweek 38+ clash at Leicester City mightn’t be as tough as first feared, given that the stuttering Foxes have won just one of their last eight Premier League fixtures.
West Ham United
Next six: new | BUR | nor | WAT | mun | AVL
West Ham United’s final six fixtures are very decent indeed, with five of the games against teams currently ranked tenth or below.
Three of the four clubs beneath them in the table are to come for the Hammers, who geared up for the fixture swing with an excellent win over Chelsea in midweek.
The impressive Jarrod Bowen (£6.4m) and Michail Antonio (£6.9m) will likely start more matches than not so long as their Premier League status is on the line but, given how good the fixtures are, it’s feasible that David Moyes’ side could have their Premier League safety sewn up in advance of Gameweek 38+.
Newcastle and Burnley might make things trickier for the Hammers’ attacking assets, with the Magpies boasting one of the best home defensive records in the division and the Clarets having kept clean sheets in six of their last nine Premier League matches.
A trip to Old Trafford in Gameweek 37+ looks like one to swerve, too.
The three matches against Norwich City, Watford and Aston Villa, all of whom are winless since the Premier League resumed, are the real stand-out fixtures, however.
Also Consider
Few other teams can match the three sides above for favourable schedules.
Liverpool (AVL | bha | BUR | ars | CHE | new) assets have long been considered fixture-proof, of course, with the Reds having beaten every team in the division at least once this season.
The issue with Jurgen Klopp’s side is less about the opposition and more about the uncertainty of what an early title win brings, be it questions over motivation or the increased risk of rotation.
Klopp indeed said recently that he will have to make “a lot of changes” with the games coming so thick and fast.
Thursday’s pasting at Manchester City was also perhaps a sign of a drop-off from their usual sky-high levels.
A home fixture against Aston Villa this weekend will see Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) and co enter the captaincy equation, even if the Villans have tightened up slightly since the restart.
Burnley’s record against the big guns (two clean sheets and 33 goals conceded in 14 matches against the top eight) should also provide encouragement ahead of Gameweek 35+.
Everton (tot | SOU | wol | AVL | shu | BOU) and Norwich City (BHA | wat | WHU | che | BUR | mci) both have Jekyll-and-Hyde runs, with some appealing home fixtures punctuated by trickier trips away.
Given the Canaries’ plight (only one goal scored in their last eight league matches and none since the restart), it’ll likely only be the Toffees’ Fantasy assets who seriously trouble the FPL radar.
Everton’s defence has impressed since the June resumption, conceding just one goal in matches against Liverpool, Norwich and Leicester, so the likes of Mason Holgate (£4.3m) could potentially be wheeled out for the visits of Southampton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth and benched for the trips to Spurs and Wolves.
The Toffees’ last three opponents have scored on just six occasions from 11 combined post-restart matches, indeed.
The reverse is perhaps true of Tottenham Hotspur (EVE | bou | ARS | new| LEI | cry), who arguably have trickier fixtures at home than they do on their travels.
Bournemouth, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are in the bottom six for goals scored this season, although the Magpies have shone in an attacking sense of late.
Everton and Arsenal have only kept a combined three clean sheets on the road since Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta were appointed in December, meanwhile.
Don’t discount Burnley‘s (SHU | whu | liv | WOL | nor | BHA) run-in, either, with Nick Pope (£5.0m) having kept 11 clean sheets in 18 meetings against the sides currently ranked 10th or below – four of whom the Clarets play between Gameweeks 33+ and 38+.
Wolves have frequently struggled to break down the ‘also-rans’, too, so a clash with Nuno Espirito Santo’s troops might not be as bad as it looks.
Owners of Ismaila Sarr (£6.2m) may well be clinging on to the hope that Watford (che | NOR | NEW | whu | MCI | ars) can raise their game in Gameweeks 34+ to 36+, with the out-of-sorts Hornets facing three winnable matches against bottom-half teams.
Following their struggles against Burnley and Southampton, however, it’s very much a case of fixtures over form for Nigel Pearson’s troops.
Watford’s first opponents in the last six Gameweeks are Chelsea (WAT | cry | shu | NOR | liv | WOL), whose next four matches are very tempting indeed – providing Sheffield United don’t rediscover their pre-lockdown form, which is very possible based on Thursday’s evidence.
Home fixtures against the relegation-threatened Hornets and Norwich are obviously the pick of the bunch – those two clubs have scored just one goal between them in their last eight away fixtures combined.
The Bad
Bournemouth
Next six: mun | TOT | LEI | mci | SOU | eve
Bournemouth have perhaps the worst run-in in the division with four top ten sides to come between Gameweeks 33+ and 36+.
Even if the Cherries were a team in form, those fixtures would be a tough sell.
As it happens, they are in dreadful nick.
Favourable matches against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United have come and gone without Eddie Howe’s side having scored, with only a Gameweek 37+ home fixture against Southampton (who let’s not forget have been excellent travellers this season) offering much hope of a result.
If there is any cause for optimism, it’s that Bournemouth have not been too awful against the ‘bigger’ teams this season, having taken points from Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.
But they’ll be a team we’re targeting for the wrong reasons between now and Gameweek 38+.
Crystal Palace
Next six: lei | CHE | avl | MUN | wol | TOT
No Premier League side has fewer remaining meetings (one) with sides in the bottom half than Crystal Palace, with three of the Eagles’ outstanding games against ‘big six’ sides and the other two against Champions League-chasing Leicester and Wolves.
The Eagles have been solid at the back under Roy Hodgson but all ten of the shut-outs in 2019/20 have come against clubs ranked tenth or below.
Goals have been hard to come by at the other end, meanwhile – only Norwich City have scored fewer this season.
The likes of Jordan Ayew (£5.2m) and Gary Cahill (£4.4m are in emergency substitute territory for the run-in, then, with the exception perhaps of the Gameweek 35+ clash with Aston Villa.
Aston Villa
Next six: liv | MUN | CRY | eve | ARS | whu
That clash between Aston Villa and Palace also perhaps represents the best chance for Dean Smith’s side to pick up points in their fight against the drop.
Either side of that game are meetings with both Merseyside clubs, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Not only are the fixtures bad, but the form is too: Villa are winless in their four post-restart games, having scored just twice in the meanwhile.
Jack Grealish (£6.2m) is the only Villa asset with a noteworthy FPL ownership figure but he is haemorrhaging owners by the week, with his blanks in Double Gameweek 30+ followed by two more fruitless showings.
A security of starts is about the only thing in Grealish’s corner at present, with the Villa talisman having failed to deliver in eight of his nine last starts.
Also Consider
Arsenal (wol | LEI | tot | LIV | avl | WAT) and Southampton‘s (MCI | eve | mun | BHA | bou | SHU) seasons end on a high note, fixture-wise, but there are some tricky tests to come before then.
Two clubs tussling for a Champions League place are up next for the Gunners, with the north London derby and the visit of Liverpool rounding off a tough foursome of fixtures.
Do the fixtures matter to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m), though? The Gabonese forward is tied with Jamie Vardy (£9.7m) in the race for the Golden Boot and has banked attacking returns against five of Arsenal’s next six opponents already this season.
Danny Ings (£7.3m) is himself only one goal behind Aubameyang, and those three final games for Southampton look attractive.
The two in-form Manchester clubs lie in wait before then, however, as well as an Everton side who have conceded only one goal (and a freak one, at that) since the mid-June restart.
The Toffees, City and United have indeed kept a combined seven clean sheets in ten matches from Gameweek 30+ onwards.
Leicester City (CRY | ars | bou | SHU | tot | MUN) and Newcastle United (WHU | mci | wat | TOT | bha | LIV) have decent home fixtures in Gameweek 33+ before things take a bit of a turn.
The out-of-sorts Foxes have been struggling since the restart, picking up only two points from three matches against teams in the bottom half.
Their run-in isn’t a complete write-off, with a wretched Bournemouth side who have kept fewer clean sheets than any club in 2019/20 to come in Gameweek 35+.
Whether Tottenham Hotspur are formidable opposition based on Thursday’s evidence is also up for debate.
Two of the most improved defences in Arsenal and Manchester United lie in wait, however, along with a dogged Sheffield United backline that looked a lot more like their old selves in Gameweek 32+.
The Magpies face the free-scoring top two in the run-in but the budget-friendly Jamaal Lascelles (£4.3m) and Federico Fernandez (£4.6m) are at least available at ‘benchable’ prices and decent options in three other fixtures against clubs in the bottom five.
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