Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 16
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a famished polar bear with a torch. Sometimes the cute co-worker you’ve scored a date with is a recluse with an unhealthy penchant for cannibalism. Sometimes hope is a dangerous thing.
Take Liverpool and Chelsea. Demonstrating all the rash prematurity of a teenage boy fapping himself blind, the mainstream media had tipped Klopp’s Kop for a tilt at the top. No sooner had the ink dried on their eulogistic proclamations than Newcastle, a team at their season’s nadir, had sports editors everywhere firing staff. Mourinho’s woes have been well documented; however, recent displays had shown a solidity, if not yet flair, that promised to be the foundation for a steady recovery. Yet predictably, Chelsea were unpredictable. Bournemouth defied the odds and plunged a dagger into blue hearts, so hitherto replenished with renewed optimism.
But whether you’re a bib-thowing man-baby at Chelsea; the manager of Liverpool; the physio at Arsenal or an FPL manager still looking to scrape into the top million, you can’t lose hope, for it can make even the most despairing situations flicker into signs of reparation. A gentle shove in the right direction, and suddenly defeats become hard fought draws; draws become victories; a relegation fight becomes mid-table tranquility; a quest for Europa League qualification become… literally anything else; and red arrows turn green.
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible”, as original Superman actor Christopher Reeve sagely proposed (a few years before tragically succumbing to a heart attack caused by an adverse reaction to an antibiotic).
Now adorn those *rose-tinted glasses and behold these wondrous fixtures:
(*glasses not included)
The Tracker…
We have rated each teams fixtures on a sliding scale. Remember that this is just our opinion and you may feel differently but if nothing else it gives you a nice easy visual aid as to each teams upcoming games…
We do have a comprehensive library of other useful trackers including the all singing, all dancing interactive one from Calvin Clyne and you can find them all here – Fixture Trackers
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FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR – Newcastle (h), Southampton (a), Norwich (h)
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[/three_fourth]Spurs finally seem to have a squad capable of coping with European distractions. The midweek visit of Monaco should allow some of Pochettino’s main men to rest, while still giving their French opponents a stern test. Unbeaten in all competitions over the past 8 matches, the Londoners have acquired a steely knack for grinding out results when inspiration deserts them (Chelsea, 0-0), and putting teams to the sword when it doesn’t (West Ham, 4-1). All of which has seen them rise to 5th in the league ahead of a run of favourable fixtures. First up is Newcastle. Yes, they impressively dispatched of Liverpool last week, but a solitary away victory at Bournemouth suggests the Magpies may be relying heavily on the Toon Army to get them over the line this season. After a bright start, Southampton have since completely lost their mojo and much of last season’s defensive compactness has given way to baffling permeability. That Koeman was relatively relieved to have saved a point at home to Villa, reveals much. Next up is Norwich whose return to the top league looks more temporary by the week. A wretched run of 5 points in the last 9 games has seen them hurtle towards the bottom 5. Harry Kane and friends will be licking their lips at a festive feast.
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MANCHESTER UNITED – Bournemouth (a), Norwich (h), Stoke (a)
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[/three_fourth]With more lateral movement than a horse at an equestrian event, Man Utd fans may be forgiven for suggesting their players turn 90 degrees in the hope of actually making progress towards the goal. However unappealing the Red Devils may be to watch, they are undeniably hard to beat. Their upcoming games suggest investing in a defender or two would be a shrewd FPL move, with Mike Smalling and David De Gea the obvious candidates. Eddie Howe’s men will be buoyant after one of the greatest results in the club’s history, but have only scored 8 goals at home all season, and 3 of those were a fortnight ago against Everton. The Cherries also have the joint worst goal difference. Norwich will be a game LvG’s critics have probably already started sharpening their knives for. Should Old Trafford fail to witness anything less than a convincing attacking display against the Canaries, who’ve shipped 18 goals on their travels and without an away clean sheet to their name, the catcalls will become cacophonous. United’s next game is at Stoke. Windy, rainy, snowy, sunny… who cares what the weather is like at the Britannia anymore, those boys can play. It’s sure to be nostalgic for the Manchester United fans to see Mark Hughes. Not least because Stoke now play like United used to.
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MANCHESTER CITY – Swansea (h), Arsenal (a), Sunderland (h)
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[/three_fourth]In stark contrast to their Mancunian neighbours, Man City rarely look like keeping a clean sheet. That their last 18 games in all competitions has brought 2 shutouts is all the more surprising considering it took 456 minutes of league football for Joe Hart’s goal to be breached at the start of the season. Throw in an insipid defeat at Stoke, an injury to Aguero, and one may wonder whether it’s worth banking on the Citizens at all right now. That being said, the Argentinian may well return for the visit of a beleaguered Swansea, which heralds the first of two very comfortable looking games at the Etihad. Recent defeats against Arsenal, Norwich, Liverpool, and now Leicester have turned a poor campaign into an awful one for the Welsh outfit. Bafetimbi Gomis’ decline has been even sharper, not scoring since GW4. Next up is a ding-dong Christmas cracker at the Emirates. Let’s not pretend any of us know what to expect for this one and so cherry pick the third fixture, a plum home game against an admittedly improving Sunderland. But it’s still Sunderland, and one need only look back to late September when City thumped them 4-1 in the Capital One Cup.
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CHELSEA – Leicester (a), Sunderland (h), Watford (h)
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[/three_fourth]Given the innumerable trenches Mourinho has dug for himself this season, it’s hard to feel any genuine sympathy for him. However, the under-fire Portuguese must be wondering how long this Eva Carneiro karma is going to last for. 15 games gone and 2 points above the relegation zone in 14th place, this is no longer anomalous ‘just a bad start to the season’ territory; this is ‘nearly halfway through and staring at mediocrity’ territory. The last chance saloon is well and truly open for business, but for how long only Mr. Abramovich knows. If Jose can last beyond Porto and Leicester, he faces much kinder opposition in Sunderland and Watford. The Hornets are no mugs, buzzing as they are up in 9th, but have yet to do the business against some of the more illustrious opponents, losing to Man City, Arsenal, Leicester, and Man Utd. Whether Chelsea deserve to be still in this category is looking increasingly dubious. We’ll know a lot more by the final whistle on Boxing Day.
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BE WARY OF…
NORWICH CITY (EVERTON, man utd, spurs)
The canaries schedule shows little sympathy for their current descent back towards the Championship. Alex Neil’s men will do well to get anything from an improving Toffees, a stubborn Man United, and a confident Tottenham.
SUNDERLAND (WAT, chelsea, man city)
Big Sam deserves credit for turning a hopeless Sunderland side into a below-average one. He’ll want to make the most of Watford’s visit however, before trips to Stamford Bridge and the Etihad.
LEICESTER CITY (CHELSEA, everton, liverpool)
There are no words that can do justice to the Foxes’ season, and yet West Ham remain their most notable scalp thus far. The next three games should see them face some stern tests. If they’re still top of the Premier League come the New Year after seeing off Chelsea, Everton and Liverpool, then they’ll have to be taken seriously as Champions League contenders.
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One Week Wonders
Let’s chase goals! This is our weekly ‘punt’ where we attempt to pinpoint any games or teams where we feel there may be a high chance of goals and therefore fantasy points on offer…
1) Man City vs Swansea
Whether Kun is about or not, this should be a stroll in the park for City – Swansea haven’t kept a clean sheet since GW6, got thumped by Leicester at home last week and have lost all four of their previous Premier League matches at the Etihad, conceding ten goals in the process. With the Swans’ confidence at an all time low and City having to recover from Saturday’s loss at Stoke, expect the likes of Silva and KdB to create chances aplenty. An early goal will likely open the floodgates and see the confidence return to Pellegrini’s men, who average almost three goals at game at home this season.
2)Spurs vs Newcastle
It’s a brave FPL manager who goes without Harry Kane this week as Newcastle come to the capital fresh off their win over Liverpool on Sunday. However, we doubt many have been fooled by that result and if the linesman had done his job properly we could easily have seen a different result. A quick glance at the Toon’s away form this season makes for ugly reading as they conceded five at Palace last time in the capital and have also allowed City to score six – even Sunderland scored three vs them! Spurs will be keen to get back to winning ways having drawn their last two following their derby dispatching of West Ham and the Sunday visit of Newcastle is likely to provide them with the opportunity to not only grab the three points but get that scoring streak back.
3)Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Despite not playing well at the weekend, the Gunners still put three past a stubborn Sunderland side – they now go to bottom of the table Villa on Sunday knowing that a win would put them back on top – at least until Leicester play Chelsea on Monday. Goals have hardly been an issue for Wenger’s men, for they have only failed to score once on the road this season, while Villa have only kept one clean sheet at home all season. With Walcott back and Ramsey scoring last weekend, maybe the loss of Alexis won’t be so badly felt – for this week at least. Villa haven’t beaten Arsenal at home since 1998 and have lost the last three meetings, conceding 12 goals in the process.
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Fixture Fun
This week is a busy week of European action with Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd all playing their final group matches, while on Thursday Liverpool and Spurs compete in the Europa Cup. Be sure to keep an eye and ear out for any news after those have finished.
GW15 DEADLINE
We have an early game on Saturday in the shape of Norwich vs Everton at 12.45pm and so we are back to our normal deadline of 11.45am, UK time.
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Top fixture article Bry entertaining as ever cheers mate.