Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 29

Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 29

Welcome to Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 29. Gameweek 28 may not officially be finished until Thursday when Arsenal have to endure playing Man City for the second time in the space of a week but if Arsenal ‘play’ like they did in the Carabao Cup Final then I think we can safely start looking towards Gameweek 29.

With only 2 more GWs until the first blanks of the season some of us will be looking at making the most of the blank but also out of the weeks prior. As long as you can bring in the key options for GW31 you should be fine but don’t forget there are 12 other teams in the league… or at least 5-6 other teams we would actually want players from.

The fixture tracker below should help you plan for the weeks ahead. Not only for GW31 but the DGW’s further down the line!

The All Important Fixture Tracker…

Gameweek Tracker GW29-38

Favourable Fixtures

Liverpool – Newcastle (h), Man Utd (a), Watford (h)

All supporters bias aside I truly believe Liverpool are fixture-proof at the moment so it is obvious that I would put them first in this fixtures article. It is a necessity to have three Liverpool players over the next few games especially with them playing in 31. With the attacking force that Liverpool have and with the improvements they are making in defence Liverpool are a decent team all over so apart from goalkeeper it doesn’t really matter what three positions you have covered as long as you do own the full compliment.

First up is the visit of former gaffer and a much beloved figure around Anfield, Rafa Benitez. The Chuckle Brothers will be divided this week as my counterpart will be hiding behind his couch or sitting in the corner hoping my team don’t spank his. I, on the other hand, will be on the couch hoping Liverpool don’t screw up! I actually expect a tight game as Rafa will try and frustrate Liverpool, but Klopp has seemingly found a way to break teams down so I’m going with a 2-0 win.

After the Geordies, Liverpool face a trip to Old Trafford and if they thought that breaking through Rafa’s team would be problematic, they will now face a triple decker Jose bus and a wall that Trump would be proud of. The match at Anfield was a boring 0-0 and the return is likely to be equally as tight – however the United defensive machine has not looked quite as tight as it did earlier in the season and they have kept just once clean sheet in the last four in the league.

Finally it’s Liverpool’s GW31 vs Watford at Anfield. Every serious active player will have 3 Liverpool for this one and while the Hornets won last week vs Everton, it was a poor game played by two poor sides. Prior to that Watford lost at West Ham a week after they thumped Chelsea – mercurial they may be but they don’t travel well and have taken just a solitary point on their last seven roadtrips. The world and his wife will likely capo Salah and with every justification!

Spurs – Huddersfield (h), Bournemouth (a), BLANK

Last week Cookie called Spurs an enigmatic team and he was proved right as they struggled vs Palace but ultimately came away with the victory.

Even though I want Spurs to score they are welcoming a team to Wembley that I have a soft spot for. The mighty Terriers are travelling down to the capital for this game and even though Spurs should win easily I’m hoping my main man Mooy will nick a goal or two! They are in decent form after winning their last two but Spurs should end that run. Spurs are unbeaten at Wembley since GW2 and Kane owners will be licking their lips as their man faces a defence which hasn’t kept a clean sheet on the road since their trip to Burnley in GW6.

Another team I fully expect Spurs to beat is Bournemouth who Spurs travel to the south coast to play in GW30. Eddie Howe and co. really are a yo-yo team – having recorded home wins over Everton and Arsenal, the Cherries were then humbled 4-1 at Huddersfield before staging a late recover to nick a home draw vs Newcastle. Given current form, Spurs should have too much….

Everton – Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Stoke (a)

I debated putting Everton in here to be honest as they really looked bad against Watford but with them playing decent fixtures and playing in GW31 I had to remind myself it is fixture over form in this article so included they are. Init will be hoping for 9 points out of 9 but I’d say he will settle with 5 points! (Ed. – he’ll be happy with 2, trust me!)

The problem with Everton (well the main one) is their away form – since beating Palace in GW20 The Toffees drew at West Brom before losing at Bournemouth, laying down and opening their pants at Arsenal and losing a dullard match at Watford.

Burnley I see as being Everton’s toughest fixture in the next few and I don’t see it being much more than a drab 0-0 draw or a 1-0 nicked win by either side so I will move on before you get too bored.

Brighton seem in decent form after going undefeated in their last four but those teams were all in the bottom half of the table so I wouldn’t look to much into it if I was Sam Allardyce. Everton should have too much for Brighton at Goodison with the likes of Walcott and Siggy on the counter there should be too much speed for Dunk and Duffy to deal with.

Everton’s match in the blank week is the trip to Stoke and this one could go either way. Neither team is showing much to warrant mass coverage but on the basis of ‘if you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win the lottery’ it seems wise to have some coverage (Walcott, Siggy, Shaqiri etc) and hope they can produce something in the reduced week.

UNFAVOURABLE FIXTURES

Man City – Chelsea (h), Stoke (a), BLANK

I was surprised when I saw City in the unfavourable section last week but after reading it and looking at the fixtures myself I could see why. Chelsea should be able to put up a bit of a challenge to City at the Etihad but really City should grab the win in this one so don’t sell any of your City players especially with their next fixture.

This next fixture is the short trip on the M6 to Stoke. This fixture kind of speaks for itself and City should win it handsomely so if you get rid of your City players before this one then I ask you ‘WHY?’! Hold them and maybe even cap them but just remember they blank in 31 even though they are knocked out of the FA Cup.

The main issue with City is not so much the fixtures themselves but the rotation issues that surround them. The Cityzens have a 13pt lead with a game in hand, the league may be over sooner rather than later – Jesus is back to compete with Kun, Sané and Gündogan are now fit to challenge the midfield crew while Stones and Kompany are fit and Laporte has been bought in meaning that Otamendi is no longer a guaranteed pick.

Man Utd – Palace (a), Liverpool (h), BLANK

Much like their noisy neighbours, Man United play a top team before their blank but unlike City I would have no problems with selling United players as Jose’s side are not playing great and with Liverpool coming up after their trip to the capital to play Hodgson’s Eagles having a United player after the Palace game does not seem wise to me.

The game against Palace should be a good chance for United to build on their win against another Chelsea. United beat them 4-0 earlier in the season but that was when Jose’s bus was late and they played football!

Chelsea – Man City (a), Palace (h), BLANK

Chelsea are exactly the same as United to be honest. They play City and I can see them losing that one before they host their cross town neighbours Palace. Like Man United, Chelsea got the win earlier in the season against Palace winning 2-1 so they should repeat that result this time around but that is only if Hazard gets some help from his team mates!

Crystal Palace – Man Utd (h), Chelsea (a), Huddersfield (a)

Palace have featured pretty heavily in this week’s article and for good reason. Their fixtures over the next 2 weeks are dire as they have to play both Man United and Chelsea but the Eagles do play in GW31 so maybe consider them after the Chelsea game.

I’ll skip over the first two fixtures as they have already discussed and move straight to my boys ‘Uddersfield. Mooy (let’s face it he is the the best!) invites Palace to the John Smith Stadium for another of the games in GW31. This one could actually be a very interesting game as both teams need the points so it will either be an end to end game where both teams are trying to get the win or a boring as hell game where neither team wants to lose. I vote for the former as a neutral and the fact that Wagner does not like defending!

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 29. This article was written by Matt