Before the start of 2025/26, we put together a ‘jump on, jump off’ modified Fixture Ticker for subscribers.
Most of those runs are now over or ongoing, so we thought we’d refresh this graphic ahead of a busy December.
As before, we’ve isolated the best fixture runs we can find for all 20 Premier League sides from Gameweek 12 onwards.
It usually pays to do some medium-term planning – especially at this time of the year when the deadlines are coming thick and fast and rotation may ramp up. The transfer top-up in Gameweek 16 is something worth thinking about, too, when considering longer-term plans.
HOW WE IDENTIFIED FAVOURABLE FIXTURE RUNS
The colour-coded Fixture Ticker is the inspiration for this piece. With the fixtures coloured by difficulty, we are able to see favourable runs at a glance.
The fixtures we’ve isolated belong to appealing stretches of games but sometimes there will be a less enticing fixture among an otherwise strong sequence.
We’ve set the minimum at four matches for each run. The instances where you see three matches (ie from Gameweek 28) is merely the start of a good fixture run that stretches beyond Gameweek 30.
Some players – Arsenal players, for instance – will, of course, be deemed fixture-proof by many of us.
But this overview will hopefully help Fantasy managers decide when they want to increase or decrease the number of assets they own from each club.
TICKER OVERVIEW: BEST FIXTURE RUNS
We’ve gone up as far as Gameweek 30 in our lookahead below. Beyond that point, we’re likely to get some Blank/Double Gameweeks – although not as many as in previous seasons.
There are a few things to note.
GAMEWEEK 12 ONWARDS
Starting with the teams that are embarking/in the middle of favourable runs from Gameweek 12, four of them – Aston Villa, Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea and Liverpool – face Arsenal during the sequences highlighted. This is obviously far from ideal but those clashes with the Gunners are blips on the radar compared to the medium-term outlook.
Villa, for instance, face Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United in this five-match run, so we felt it was worth picking out regardless.
Similarly, Chelsea face Burnley, Leeds and Everton from Gameweeks 12-16. Clashes with Arsenal and, to a lesser extent, Bournemouth, are obviously not optimal. A better run for the Blues is maybe Gameweek 21-27.
Brighton’s schedule from Gameweek 12-20 is punctuated by trips to the Emirates and Anfield. However, with Brentford, West Ham, Sunderland (the high-flying Mackems are a tough foe but will have lost numerous players to AFCON) and Burnley at home during this time, as well as trips to lowly Nottingham Forest and West Ham again, it’s a mostly decent stretch.
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace‘s three trickier fixtures – Spurs and both Manchester sides – are crucially at home. Otherwise, it’s strugglers Wolves, Burnley, Leeds and Fulham (twice).
It’s a similar case with Manchester United, who face Everton, West Ham, Wolves (twice), Leeds and Burnley between now and Gameweek 21. Two of their more problematic opponents at Old Trafford, Bournemouth and Newcastle, are porous and winless respectively on the road.
THE STRUGGLE TO FIND SOME FAVOURABLE RUNS
For some clubs, it was a battle to find any favourable runs.
With Sunderland, for instance, we settled on Gameweeks 18-24. This stretch contains fixtures against Leeds, West Ham, Brentford and Burnley, as well as a trip to Tottenham Hotspur, who have toiled at home.
Gameweeks 24-29 were about as good as we could do for Burnley. The Clarets face Sunderland, West Ham, Brentford and Everton during this time.
As for Leeds United, that was even harder. The period from Gameweeks 22-25 is pretty much the only window, as it contains clashes with Fulham, Everton and Forest.
The good thing about the newly promoted trio is that their players, such as Joe Rodon (£4.1m), Nordi Mukiele (£4.2m) and Martin Dubravka (£4.0m), are cheap enough to be parked on the bench during their long spells of unfavourable fixtures, to be called on only in an emergency or as an auto-sub.
Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers also have far-from-ideal fixture runs highlighted. Interest in their players, Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) and Josh King (£4.5m) aside, is muted anyway.
