In Frisking the Fixtures, we pinpoint the teams and players with the strongest runs of matches over the next six Gameweeks and beyond.
While Gameweek 21 is still ongoing, we’re already looking ahead to Gameweek 22 given the quick turnaround.
This ‘frisk’ also takes in the double for Everton and Liverpool in Gameweek 24, which was confirmed on Monday.
SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW
Our colour-coded Season Ticker is the primary source for this piece.
Using this tool as a Premium Member, you can sort by difficulty, rank by attacking and defensive potential or find budget rotation pairings. You can even set your own difficulty ratings, should you disagree with ours.
You can see a tutorial on the Season Ticker here.
The above colours reflect the ‘overall’ ratings of each side. There are options within the ticker to separate attack and defence.
Chelsea’s attack, for example, is rated more highly than their defence.
BEST FIXTURES: GAMEWEEKS 22-27
CRYSTAL PALACE
Crystal Palace have an inviting run of fixtures across the next six Gameweeks at a time when they are coming to the boil nicely themselves. Oliver Glasner’s men visit a West Ham side who shipped 11 goals in Gameweeks 19-21 and have lost Jarrod Bowen (£7.3m) and Niclas Füllkrug (£6.2m) to injury. Graham Potter got a tune out of his new troops on Tuesday but the Hammers still conceded 21 shots.
Palace then host a Brentford side who have won once away from home all season and, after a visit to a Jekyll-and-Hyde Manchester United, host Everton.
The Toffees may improve under David Moyes, but his sides are not known for free-scoring football. The trip to Fulham will be a test, as will the visit of Aston Villa, but both teams concede chances – those two clubs are in the bottom seven for clean sheets in 2024/25 – and so there will be opportunities aplenty for the Eagles’ attacking assets.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.3m) is one such player. He has had a slow start to the season but his Gameweek 21 goal had been in the post; in two of the previous three Gameweeks, in which he blanked, he recorded an xG of 0.31 and 0.66. Mateta stands to benefit from Palace’s increasingly attacking approach and the return to form of Eberechi Eze (£6.6m), who is a midfielder to strongly consider for this run. Eze scored in Gameweek 20, assisted in Gameweek 21 and is a threat on free-kicks and corners.
Also not to be overlooked is Daniel Muñoz (£4.8m). The defender plays as an attacking winger and gets into numerous advanced areas. From Gameweeks 18-20, among defenders, he has had the second-highest expected goal involvement (xGI), of 1.04, the second-highest expected goals (xG) of 0.63 and has created the joint-most chances (seven). Indeed this season no defender has had more big chances than Muñoz’s eight.
ARSENAL
Arsenal have a favourable run of fixtures coming up, albeit their next two home matches will test their mettle. Aston Villa beat Arsenal at the Emirates last season in a match that effectively dashed their title hopes, while Man City are slowly showing signs of getting their act together. That said, the champions are still conceding goals for fun and only Leicester have kept fewer shut-outs than Villa, so Arsenal will expect to score in spite of their mounting injury woes.
The Gunners’ other visitors in this six-match stretch are West Ham, who have the fourth-worst defensive record. Meanwhile, Arsenal travel to Wolves, Leicester and Forest, and while the trip to Forest will be arduous, Wolves and Leicester are very winnable matches against two teams in the bottom three for goals conceded.
Mikel Arteta’s side have had a rotten run of luck in recent matches but they are not playing too badly. Cup defeats at home to Newcastle and Manchester United occurred despite the hosts dominating possession and creating more chances with an xG of over 3.00 on both occasions. The finishing touch, as widely discussed, has been lacking.
The attacking assets are a hard sell as a result but Gabriel Martinelli (£6.8m) is a fairly reliable starter who scored in Gameweeks 17 and 19. Martin Odegaard (£8.3m) is also on penalties in the absence of Bukayo Saka (£10.2m). Although he had a penalty saved in the FA Cup defeat by United, the Norwegian did score in the shoot-out.
Clean sheets have been hard to come by of late (one in four matches) but Arsenal still give up very few goalscoring chances. Between Gameweeks 17 and 20, only Liverpool conceded fewer than their 34 shots. Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.4m) is a reliable defensive option. The Brazilian scored again against Man Utd, is a constant aerial threat on set-pieces, has had the joint-second-highest number of big chances among all defenders this season (seven). He is the second-highest-ranking defender in Fantasy.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Spurs will be confident of moving up the table after their next six fixtures and Fantasy managers can cash in too. The trip to Goodison Park won’t be easy and we can expect Moyes’ boys to be just as resolute as they were under Sean Dyche, but Spurs’ attack should have a field day at home to leaky Leicester, who have conceded the second-most goals, and the second-most shots in the Premier League since Ruud van Nistelrooy took charge.
The Gtech stadium should play host to an absolute goalfest in Gameweek 24, while Man Utd, Ipswich and Man City (unless their defence by then has been revolutionised by new signings) will all offer up scoring chances.
There’s merit to getting aboard the Ange train from Gameweek 23, then. Managers seeking a replacement for injured forwards could do worse than bring in Dominic Solanke (£7.5m), who between Gameweeks 15-20 blanked only twice, returning 33 points. In midfield, Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m) did likewise, for 31 points.
It’s also worth keeping a close eye on Spurs’ defence, which should improve when Cristian Romero (£4.9m) and Micky van der Ven (£4.5m) return, possibly in Gameweek 23/24. New signing Antonín Kinsky (£4.5m) impressed in goal on debut against Liverpool, and a restructured rearguard could then make Pedro Porro (£5.4m) a viable option. Porro remains a threat on set-pieces and continues to get into advanced positions, but wait until the band is back together before taking the plunge on this Spurs defence.
LIVERPOOL
As the best team in the Premier League at the moment, Liverpool’s fixtures are generally favourable regardless of the opposition. But in any case, three of their next six are against bottom-five clubs, plus there is the first Double Gameweek of the season to cash in on in Gameweek 4.
In Gameweek 22 the Reds can also look forward to a trip to the Gtech, which they are visiting at just the right time. Brentford had been unbeaten at home until Gameweek 17, when they lost to Nottingham Forest. Since then they have been defeated on home soil by Arsenal and even lowly Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup (albeit with a heavily-rotated team), conceding twice to Manchester City on Tuesday. Regardless of the result, Liverpool can expect to score against the Bees, and at home to Ipswich.
Then comes Double Gameweek 24, which is not actually as easy at it may look on paper. Liverpool are strong but Bournemouth are unbeaten since Gameweek 12 and have scored 11 goals in their four away matches during that run. Everton have been drab, but who knows what Moyes may have been able to change by then? Whatever happens, they will defend for their lives at Anfield, so goals may be hard to come by for the Reds in that match.
Wolves at home should be straightforward enough before trickier tests against Man City and Newcastle abound – but as mentioned earlier Man City are far from watertight.
All of which means it’s worth loading up on Liverpool’s attacking assets. Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) is a given and Cody Gakpo (£7.4m) should come into the reckoning in the forward slots, too. From Gameweek 13-21 among forwards, only Alexander Isak (£9.3m) scored more goals than Gakpo’s five. The Dutchman has started each of the last nine league matches.
With Brentford a good bet to score against Liverpool, defensive options are best worth weighing up from Gameweek 23. Despite having best defence in the league, it’s worth bearing in mind the Reds have kept only one clean sheet in seven matches. Arne Slot’s side will be confident of shutting out Ipswich, Everton and Wolves, but defenders with an attacking upside are the way to go here.
Assuming he hasn’t hightailed it to Real Madrid yet, Trent-Alexander Arnold (£7.2m) is the obvious contender. Four attacking returns in four matches between Gameweeks 14-20, including a 15-point haul makes his high price-point worthwhile, particularly with that Double Gameweek 24 in mind.
EVERTON
Like Liverpool, Everton have a Double Gameweek to look forward to. Unlike Liverpool, their assets and forthcoming fixtures are not comparably appealing. The Blues have been brilliant defensively – before Gameweek 21 only two teams had kept more than their seven clean sheets and only six teams have conceded fewer than their 25 goals.
The problem is Spurs, Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Brentford are all teams with a front-footed approach so denying them goals will not be easy, especially if Moyes decides to take the handbrake off ever so slightly in order to crank his goal-shy attack into action.
For now, Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) is worth a go from Gameweek 23 as he is the second-highest-scoring goalkeeper in the game and could get something from the Brighton and Leicester matches. Who knows, the Blues may even frustrate Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
Other possibles are Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.3m), Ashley Young (£4.7m) and/or the fit-again Nathan Patterson (£4.4m) whom Moyes may ask to advance more in order to service his cross-starved frontline. It’s worth seeing which full-backs he prefers first.
The other player to look out for is Dwight McNeil (£5.1m), should he return from the knee injury he sustained in Gameweek 14. He has the type of qualities Moyes likes from his attacking midfielders and proved a decent differential earlier this season, when fit. It’ll also be interesting to see where Moyes deploys probably Everton’s most skilful player Iliman Ndiaye (£5.4m), who can play anywhere across the frontline, and has shown signs of sparking into life of late.
ALSO CONSIDER
ASTON VILLA
Aston Villa have a tough away match to negotiate at the Emirates Stadium in Gameweek 22 but subsequent matches against West Ham, Wolves and Ipswich should pose no problem for Unai Emery’s troops. Even the home match against Chelsea will provide plenty of goalscoring chances, so open are Enzo Maresca’s side at the back.
If Villa have not been at their best of late, the suspensions of Jhon Duran (£5.8m) and Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) have played their part. Both have the goalscoring potential to exploit the defensive weaknesses of their aforementioned opponents. It’s worth keeping an eye on the battle to lead the line between Duran and Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) but the suspicion is Watkins did not quite do enough to convince Emery of a starting place when he played during Duran’s ban. Should the explosive Colombian get the nod he would make for an amazing differential, having scored in each of his three matches before his controversial sending-off in Gameweek 18.
Rogers bounced back from his suspension with a goal in the FA Cup third round and is the second-best value midfielder in the game right now after Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m), returning 16 points per £1m spent. The one note of caution regarding Villa are the recent injuries to John McGinn and Ross Barkley (both £5.2m), which may affect the balance of their midfield.
CHELSEA
Unless the return from injury of Reece James (£4.8m) and Romeo Lavia (£4.5m) somehow transforms their side’s backline, Chelsea defenders remain bullets to dodge for the time being. Four clean sheets and 26 goals conceded not terrible but with very few attacking returns forthcoming the Blues’ rearguard it is Chelsea’s attacking assets that most appeal across the next six matches.
The fixtures are enticing, with Wolves, West Ham and Southampton a winning bingo card of home matches. City, Brighton and Aston Villa away are tougher contests but against teams who give up plenty of chances. This is why attacking assets appeal, and those managers just about clinging on to Nicolas Jackson (£8.1m) have some encouragement. The Senegal international has been missing chances, it’s true, but if you bang on the door persistently enough, it will eventually give way. Right? Anyone…?
You don’t need us to sell you the merits of Cole Palmer (£11.4m), the second-highest FPL points scorer this season and a must for this suite of benign fixtures.
