Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 11

Welcome to Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 11. This weekend was all about Leicester. The Friday night fixture is often an insipid affair. To say this week’s game was an exception would be an understatement. The red-carded Ryan Bertrand quite impressively managed to notch up a score of -6. If I was better at FPL research I could have told you if it is the lowest total ever. It must be close though. Ayoze Pérez’s hat-trick saw him rack up a quite special 20 points and his first decent tally of the season. We knew he would be a good pick at the start of the season, just not at the start of the season! Jamie Vardy and Ben Chilwell also registered excellent scores with 20 and 19 points, respectively. Meanwhile, one of my defenders is putting the ball in the back of his own net!

Before I dive into my selected teams, I should note that Aston Villa (Liverpool (H), Wolves (A), Newcastle (H)) and Crystal Palace (Leicester (H), Chelsea (A), Liverpool (H)) have some bloody awful fixtures. However, unless John McGinn and Wilfried Zaha have somehow weaselled their way into your thoughts over the weekend, there is little to be gained from discussing these clubs. As such, I have tried to pick out the sides you are more likely to have a player or two from, or might want to consider getting.

Favourable fixtures

Burnley – Sheffield United (A), West Ham (H), Watford (A)
Burnley have scored in all but one of their ten games so far, only drawing a blank in the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool. With four goals apiece, Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes have so far shared the pressure to score with magnificent effect. Three clean sheets at home and none away is not exactly the prettiest of stats for a side with two away games in their next three but I would argue that limiting Arsenal to two and Wolves to one on the road is actually quite impressive. Well, maybe not impressive but at least not concerning – in 2019 home games, Arsenal have scored 2+ in all but two matches (both of which were this season, mind) and Wolves have only failed to score twice. Indeed, after the Vardy party at St Mary’s on Friday night, Pope only conceding two against Leicester last week borders on noteworthy.

Next up is a trip to the Steel City to face Sheffield United. Having conceded just four goals in their first five home ties, United have carried some defensive rigidity with them into the Premier League. However, Burnley have looked sharp in front of goal this season and will look to extend their six-game scoring streak. From a clean sheets point of view, Sheffield United have only scored three goals in their first five home games. Pope could be due another clean sheet to reward his season-long backers.

The following fixture is a visit from West Ham. The Hammers have had a pretty good run of fixtures away from home, although that has only helped them to notch up one win (and three draws) in five, which was against bottom club Watford. West Ham are a pretty erratic side – contrast the 3-1 victory over Watford with failing to score against Aston Villa and Everton – and the recent history of this fixture has brought chaos; last season saw a 4-2 West Ham win and a 2-0 Burnley win. Who knows what will happen this time around? Two good fixtures either side of this ‘flip of a coin’ fixture certainly would not put me off a Burnley attacker to add to my Claret in between the sticks though.

The second of those good fixtures is a visit from the Hornets. If it wasn’t for Leicester slapping Southampton silly on Friday night, Watford would be second in the goals conceded chart as well as bottom of the league without a win all season. Troy Deeney will likely be back from injury by the time this fixture arrives but he will need to be firing on all cylinders from the off as Watford have only scored five goals in the seven matches he has been sidelined for.

Wolves – Arsenal (A), Aston Villa (H), Bournemouth (A), Sheffield United (H), West Ham (H)
Wolves find themselves well-positioned in their Europa League group with a respectable six points. The Europa League schedule usually wards us off squads that lack the sdepth to rotate and Wolves have been no exception so far. However, with just one away game left in the group, is it now time to start having a look at Nuno’s men again?

Next up is a trip to the Emirates. Forget a Wolves clean sheet here – since the start of 2016, only Manchester City have managed to keep a clean sheet (twice) at Arsenal. However, the Gunners have only managed one clean sheet at home this season (Bournemouth) which has included visits from Burnley (1), Aston Villa (2) and Crystal Palace (2), so expect more joy from your attacking Wolves assets who have scored in their last four away from the Molineux and only blanked six times (including Liverpool and Manchester City) on the road last season.

Aston Villa then travel to Wolverhampton where they will find it tricky to keep Wolves out. Jimenez and co have scored in every home game so far and only blanked twice since the turn of the year whilst Villa have conceded in every away game. It perhaps isn’t the time to bring in Matt Doherty though as the Claret and Blue have managed to score in all but one of those games (Crystal Palace) and Wolves only have one home clean sheet (although they did manage to keep City out at the Etihad earlier this month). Add that one to your BTTS accumulator, or *posh accent* parlay.

A trip to Bournemouth is next on the cards. Conceding in 8/10 and scoring in 7/10 (the three blanks coming in the last three games) matches so far, Eddie Howe’s ethos seems clear. Well, an ethos brought out of necessity for having a sh*te defence. What this should mean for a free-scoring Wolves side is goals, and probably also conceding one or two for good measure! In short, Wolves’ upcoming fixtures are all about their attackers.

Slightly encroaching on future writers’ content, Wolves’ fixtures after Bournemouth continue to boast potential although the game against Sheffield United comes just three days after Wolves’ trip to Portugal to face top-of-the-group Braga.

Manchester United – Bournemouth (A), Brighton (H), Sheffield United (A), Aston Villa (H)
7th in the table, struggling to score and struggling to defend, I will forgive you for not bringing in a United player this week. However, with Sheffield United the highest-placed team Ole has to drag his team of prima donnas out to face in the next four, there is real chance for United to kick on and become the top-half side they recently could only dream of being.

United have conceded in every away game so far and only scored in 60% of them – against fairly mediocre opposition – so two such games over the next three doesn’t sound particularly favourable. However, Bournemouth’s inability to defend should help get the Red Devils on the score sheet and Sheffield United are unlikely to replicate their 1-0 victory over Arsenal. Then again, maybe it’s wrong to compare United with Arsenal, being a side that is on course for a (slightly) better than mid-table finish.

Sandwiched in between these two games is a visit from Brighton. After an opening day victory over Watford, Brighton have just one point on the road, conceding eight in just four games (although that does include four against Chelsea and two against Manchester City). This, coupled with a visit from Aston Villa at the start of December – who have conceded in every away game so far, including Crystal Palace (1) and Norwich (1) – should see United’s attackers get back on track, or at least score … the odd goal … between them. Perhaps Sunday’s win is a sign of a change in the tide. Perhaps they only played Norwich so we should not read too much into it!

Unfavourable fixtures

Jon Lundstram – Burnley (H), Spurs (A), Manchester United (H)
Lundstram has provided us with two things this season. Firstly, an abundance of points far in excess of what his starting price tag ought to have provided managers with. And secondly, evidence that your history teacher was perhaps correct to effectively synonymise Wikipedia with Satan, Top Gear under Chris Evans and Take That’s cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit (if you have never watched it, enjoy!), as Sheffield United’s defender-cum-midfielder has a knighthood, apparently.

Whilst Sheffield United have been totally unpredictable up until now, I would be still be very surprised to see Jon Lundstram – because, let’s be honest, you don’t care about the rest of the team – come out the other side of the upcoming three fixtures unscathed. Although the Yorkshire club have kept two clean sheets at home this season, Burnley’s scoring prowess so far means it is unlikely that they will add to this tally.

Things only get worse for the Blades with Spurs away and Manchester United at home. Spurs have only had one blip at home (a 1-0 loss at the hands of Newcastle), scoring 10 in the other four games. As noted above, Manchester United have started the season poorly, although I would still expect them to score in this fixture. As such, Lundstram’s defensive appeal is greatly diminished over the coming weeks.

Bournemouth – Manchester United (H), Newcastle (A), Wolves (H)
Perhaps the decision to include Bournemouth has been fuelled by bitterness. I just can’t seem to land on their players at the right time. I must admit, that probably was the reason why I jotted them down in the first place. As always, I have found some substance to try and mask my partiality, aided somewhat by the Cherries blanking for the last three games on the bounce.

Manchester United and Wolves make the trip down to Bournemouth in the coming weeks and have already been discussed above. A tie away at Newcastle is nestled in between and the Magpies haven’t scored more than one goal in a game all season although they have managed to keep three clean sheets and only conceded more than one goal on just three occasions. Given what has already been said about Eddie Howe’s side in this article, it will be interesting to see what happens when his attacking side comes up against a side with about as much vim and vigour as the owner’s sports shop. Bournemouth’s attacking assets can be explosive but I would be very concerned by the fact that Newcastle have only conceded three goals in their five home games so far this season, which is reminiscent of their strength at home in the second half of last season.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 11 This article was written by AT

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