Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 6

Welcome to Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 6. I don’t often do fixtures articles, instead you usually find me writing Captain Picks or Tips and that is mainly due to the fact I love a differential. They love my off the wall picks, I think (hope), so always lets me share with you all those risky players! Maybe they just wanted to see if I can do the bleeding obvious and simply tell you which fixtures are good, and which are bad, as a test. But they obviously doesn’t know me that well!

This week I am going to stick to a best and worst fixtures format but only for the ‘weaker’ teams. I am not going to be telling you that City are great, and Chelsea are good, so load up on them players etc. If you can’t figure that out for yourself… turn off the computer, sit in a quiet room and question your existence! This week I will take you through some differential teams that have some nice fixtures coming up and jumping on board one or two of their players could be what helps you move up the rankings.
The reason behind this is the ‘big boys’ are about to start their European campaigns with Man City, Man United, Liverpool and Spurs in the Champions League while Arsenal and Chelsea will ply their trade in the Europa League. Cookie already covered all this in depth here. Not only is European football back but the Carabao Cup is also returning next week.

The all important FPL FIXTURE TRACKER itself…

Favourable Fixtures

Leicester (Huddersfield (H), Newcastle (A), Everton (H))

I am including Leicester first here as a quick glance at not only their next three fixtures but their matches all the way to GW16 show a brilliant opportunity to grab points. The only ‘big team’ Leicester play from now until GW16 is Arsenal and the Gunners are not defensively solid so even that game isn’t too much of a worry.

The first of this nice run sees the Foxes welcome the Terriers to the King Power. Leicester may be coming off a 4-2 loss, but Huddersfield have not won a single match this season only scoring 2 goals in 5 games. Leicester on the other hand have scored in every game this season so grabbing attacking cover against a poor Huddersfield team could be a shrewd move.

Next up for Leicester is an away trip to Newcastle and then going back home to host Everton. These games could prove tricky for Claude Puel and his men, but they are winnable or can be drawn. Between Everton and Newcastle, they have only kept one clean sheet, so goals should be rife in these games and point again to having Leicester attack in your side. I will leave it to Kop later in the week to possibly tip players from Leicester, but I would recommend getting someone.

Watford (Fulham (A), Arsenal (A), Bournemouth (H))

Next up are the high-flying hornets, I am probably looking more so at form over fixtures here as Watford are playing some brilliant football and are really impressing me so far this season. I saw a little bit of their last game against Man United and I will say they were unlucky not to earn a draw. An amazing last-minute stop from De Gea meant United took all 3 points but it could have easily been 1 point apiece. Watford are showing a type of doggedness that we previously saw in miracle season winners Leicester. Now I am not saying Watford are going to win the league but if they can keep these performances up I can’t see why a Europa League place is out of their grasp.

First up is a relatively easy fixture on paper as Watford play Fulham in a London derby and with Fulham having not kept a clean sheet all season the likes of Deeney, Gray and Pererya will be licking their lips at the chance to get at this leaky defence. Another London derby follows the Fulham game as Watford play near neighbours Arsenal in a match that could see plenty of goals. Both sides are attacking this season, but Watford have kept a clean sheet whereas Arsenal have not, this would point the match slightly in Watford’s favour, but the calibre of player should see Arsenal cause problems for Javi Garcia’s men.
After these two away games against London rivals, Watford return home to play fellow highflyers, Bournemouth. This game sees two of the leagues surprise packages come up against each other and could either provide plenty goals or a drab 0-0. Either way Watford should continue their brilliant form over the next few games and I hope they do as I really am enjoying their style of play!

Bournemouth (Burnley (A), Palace (H), Watford (A))

Bournemouth are a confusing team right now for me, they are doing the business but not exactly setting the world alight with their playing style. Eddie Howe stated that over the international break Bournemouth went training with the SAS! What they did exactly he wouldn’t say but hopefully the main takeaway is all guns blazing and the most recent game saw the Cherries bang in 4 goals. Now I didn’t get to see the game but if they start scoring loads of goals we will all be happy. Well, you will if you own any of them.

Firstly they come up against a Burnley side that are all over the place this season with only 1 draw and 4 losses. The usually solid defence from last season has leaked 10 goals in 5 games and I can’t see this changing too much. If Wilson can get on the ball enough then we could see even more goals go into Joe Hart’s net this weekend. After the trip to Burnley, Bournemouth welcome Crystal Palace to the seaside in what could be a big test for Steve Cook and co. as Zaha is trying to prove a point it seems and is really in a mood where he’s ready to take everyone one on, even the FA! (see his interview after this weekend’s game). As mentioned above Bournemouth then travel to Watford.

Unfavourable Fixtures

West Ham (Chelsea (H), Man Utd (H), Brighton(A))

West Ham finally picked up some points this season after a 3-1 win over Everton. This will ease the pressure on Manuel Pellegrini and his players but the next 5 games see them play Chelsea, Man United and Spurs which does not make for good viewing if you are a Hammer. Up first is Chelsea at home in the London Stadium which should see another loss to the West Ham team. Chelsea are scoring at least 2 goals a game and have 14 in total for the season so Fabianski will be busy, but it could result in plenty of save points for the former Arsenal stopper. If West Ham survive that Chelsea game, then they face another home game as Man United are next to visit the Hammers ground (I have many long standing issues with its actual name!). This could be an easier task for West Ham as Man United are finding wins but they are not proving very convincing in those games. If Arnie continues his assists and goals and if Yarmolenko builds on his brilliant performance against Everton, then a shock could be on the cards, but it would still be a massive one.

West Ham then visit the seaside as they travel to Brighton and it could be a game they win but I still wouldn’t be rushing to grab any Hammers, such as Zabaleta! Most people his age in Brighton will be found taking a leisurely stroll down the pier.

Cardiff (City (H), Burnley (H), Spurs (A))

Next five sees them play City, Spurs and Liverpool so I don’t see Cardiff doing much over the coming weeks and even the coming season. Cardiff will probably spend most of the season in the relegation zone and if they are in a battle to stay up by the seasons end that will be a positive for them. Five games in and the Bluebirds have no wins and 2 draws. They have gotten Chelsea and Arsenal out of the way and in five more games they will have played Man City, Spurs and Liverpool so you could argue that by November their fixtures will improve, and they could go on a run that launches them up the table but looking at this exact moment I would stay well away from Neil Warnock’s men.

Liverpool (Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), City (H))

Now I know I said I will not mention the big six, but I will mention Liverpool. You may raise your eyebrows by seeing them in their unfavourable section especially looking at their Premier League fixtures in the next few weeks which sees Southamption, Chelsea, City, Huddersfield and Cardiff. People may say that Liverpool are looking likely to beat anyone right now and that they always play better against the big teams, but I have added them in here because I think Klopp will rotate the team a good bit over the next month. Cookie wrote last week about the Champions League and that is the main reason I included Liverpool here as they are about to embark on one of the hardest runs of fixtures I have seen in a long while. Games against PSG, Napoli, City and two against Chelsea in both the league and the Carabao Cup mean Liverpool will be facing some tough teams and that is without looking at Southampton who also perform as if they know they are actually auditioning to be a part of Klopp’s team next season. I am not saying dump all your Liverpool cover, but I am warning you to beware you could be stung a few times as Klopp has already shown he is not afraid to bench even Henderson, to rest him for PSG.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 6. This article was written by MattX

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