Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 5

Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 5

We usually huff and curse at the first sight of an International break rudely interrupting our FPL flow just as it gathers steam and we all start stretching our legs and getting into the flow of things… Not this season! It’s actually felt more like a chance to go take a good long hard look in the FPL mirror, Cinderella style, and just hope it doesn’t crack at the sight of those first four game-weeks. The break has for once been timely and afforded every fantasy manager a chance to quietly reflect on the train wreck that preceded it. Now whether that meant a wholesale change in the shape of a wildcard or a decision to slowly push on, with the originally well thought out plans and players, in the hope that some sort of normality returns soon is an individual decision. What we can all do regardless is look ahead and plan (with hope), and some fixtures analysis of the next few weeks is as good a place as any to start. So let’s take a look at who we feel have the best fixtures ahead of them and who we feel it may be wise to err on the side of caution with.

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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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And so onto the teams themselves for GW5 and beyond…

FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
Bournemouth – Norwich (A), Sunderland (H), Stoke (A)
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[/three_fourth]Bournemouth started off with a couple of narrow 1-0 defeats (albeit one of them being an almost criminal loss at Anfield) and things were looking dicey given their inability to find the net but then came a ‘Eureka!’ moment with an outstanding performance in a 3-4 thriller away at West Ham. It almost felt like the Leicester one away at Spurs last season when the floodgates opened and the football started flowing. The one difference here being that Bournemouth actually won it. They followed it up with a very creditable 1-1 draw at home to Leicester themselves but it did suddenly feel like we could finally have faith in their ability to score.

Whether that was a freak occurrence or a sign of better things to come we don’t yet know but certainly the next few fixtures should be a good indication and allow them a chance to express their attacking potential. First up are Norwich away who have allowed an average of 2 goals per game at home so far. After that it is everyone’s favorite plaything – Big Dick’s Mackems – bottom of the league and the most goals conceded with 10 against so far and looking likely to collect a few more in that column. The last game in the featured sequence is Stoke away who are yet to win or indeed even score in front of their home ‘crowd’.

So that feels like a good run for them and to sweeten the pie the game after the above three is Watford at home so any investment now in Bournemouth personnel can easily be considered a month long purchase. GW’s 9 & 10 may prove to be more difficult as they then run into Man City away and Spurs at home but that’s a fair way off so for the short to medium term we feel they are a good investment.

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Leicester City – Aston Villa (H), Stoke (A), Arsenal (H)
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[/three_fourth]Now of course as soon as the news filtered through that Claudio Ranieri had been appointed as the new manager at Leicester we all ran out and stocked up on their players as we fully expected them to be sat in the Champions League places after a few weeks. Right, right? No. Of course not. At best we felt there would be a transitional period of settling in and at worst we probably feared a complete meltdown, Greek stylie. In contrast they haven’t skipped a beat and if you’d somehow missed all of the summer you would be forgiven for thinking that last season hadn’t ended, Nigel Pearson was still terrifying everyone and that the Leicester juggernaut was still in full flow. Some of those things have changed. That Leicester are still in full flow hasn’t judging by their early results.

Up next are a couple of winnable fixtures at home to Villa and away at Stoke followed by a tougher one against Arsenal. Villa are being Villa and flattering to deceive as ever. If Leicester are in the mood and Claudio sends them out fired up to Kasabian again then they should have no problem dispatching of the Villans. A trip to Stoke is next who are yet to register a victory this season and haven’t scored a home goal this season. The third game, as mentioned, is Arsenal but even that is at home and you’d fancy Leicester to at least take it to the Gunners. Beyond that they travel to Norwich which again is winnable for them.

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Man City – Crystal Palace (A), West Ham (H), Spurs (A)
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[/three_fourth]According to most observers Man City well and truly ‘won’ the transfer window. They certainly spent the most but they also did the majority of their business early on with ruthless efficiency. The team is reflecting this on the pitch so far. And that’s even before the most expensive and latest acquisition even doffs his pale blue cap. Sans Kevin de Bruyne, City have been exciting and creative and swept aside all before them. With him, they may just be unstoppable. For anyone unfamiliar with the former Chelsea ‘flop’, having been cast aside as surplus to requirements at the Bridge by Jose, Mr de Bruyne took himself off to the Bundesliga with Wolfsberg and fairly ripped it up. Last season he registered 16 goals and 27 assists in all competitions and was named as Footballer of the Year. And he didn’t even play for Bayern.

Such has been their start that the actual fixtures themselves have been rendered almost irrelevant to an extent. They took on their next best rivals in Chelsea and barely got out of a sweat before dispatching them for a 3-0 hiding. They’ve since seen to West Brom for the same scoreline, having previously knocked two past both Everton and Watford without reply. For the record it’s Palace away followed by West Ham at home and then Spurs away. As if it matters. Beyond that it actually gets even better with back to back home games against Newcastle and Bournemouth. Buy City players with confidence.

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West Ham – Newcastle (H), Man City (A), Norwich (H)
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[/three_fourth]Here’s a trick question – West Ham have scored the 2nd most goals this season with 9 to their credit. Liverpool have scored the joint least with just 2. Who’s higher up in the league table?! Ok so it wasn’t that tricky but the answer is an odd one nevertheless. It is Liverpool. We serve this up to highlight one thing though – regardless of results, West Ham are scoring freely which is always music to any fantasy manager’s ears. You should be aware that they are also conceding fairly freely with 6 against which is the 4th joint worst in the league. The message there is clear.

Whilst West Ham may not have matched the outlay of Man City they certainly weren’t to be found sitting on their hands during this transfer window with boss Bilic strengthening his squad with last minute swoops for the likes of Alex Song, Michail Antonio, Nikica Jelavic and Victor Moses. We recommend waiting to see which of these makes an immediate push for the inclusion but certainly the likes of Moses will be of interest with him being listed as a midfielder but likely to occupy a spot much more advanced.

Their fixtures are tricky to negotiate with two very attractive home games being split by one very difficult looking away trip to Man City. Newcastle (h), Man City (a), Norwich (h). Play, bench, play. That looks to be the order of the day. It’s Sunderland away next after those so you could be forgiven for hanging onto any Hammers assets past that City game.

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BE WARY OF…
Everton – Chelsea (H), Swansea (A), West Brom (A)
Everton have done ok so far, especially given the fixtures they were handed. They’ll have to continue to do ok for a bit too as the fixtures don’t get much easier for a while. Facing Chelsea, Swansea, Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal in 5 of the next 6 makes that solitary trip to West Brom look like their best prospect. And even that won’t be easy. They traditionally have a habit of raising their game and giving the ‘big boys’ a good game, especially at home, so all isn’t lost but we certainly wouldn’t be rushing out to buy any Everton players in expectation any time soon.

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Man United – Liverpool (H), Southampton (A), Sunderland (H)
A decent if unspectacular start for LVG was tempered somewhat by a loss to Swansea last time out. The fixtures themselves do not smile kindly on them for the next 6 weeks in all honesty with the one exception being Sunderland at home in GW7. Everyone likes playing Sunderland these days, especially at home. The other 5 look challenging though as they face Liverpool and Southampton as per above and then also Arsenal, Everton and Man City in the next three after that.

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Newcastle – West Ham (A), Watford (H), Chelsea (H)
Newcastle are second from bottom. The fact that only Sunderland prevent them from being face down last may bring an ironic smile to some Toon faces but either way it’s not a good place to be at any stage of the season. To be fair to them they hit every branch on the way down that sh*tty fixtures tree at the start and the bad news is that the end isn’t in sight for a good while! An away trip to West Ham next isn’t ideal. A home game to newly promoted Watford may bring a relief for a week but then it’s Chelsea up next followed quickly by Man City away.

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One week only picks!
Whilst many managers plan their transfers with the next few weeks ahead in mind we are also conscious that some simply play each game-week as it comes. This may be for a variety of reasons such as having a rotating forward or simply because they need the best pick in order to facilitate another important move. A such we have decided to take a quick look at the upcoming GW5 in isolation and give you our top 3 picks for this week only…

Pick 1
Our number one go-to team this week would be Leicester at home to Aston Villa. Leicester have scored 5 at home but have conceded 3 so we would probably go for an attacker here. Villa have won one and lost one on the road and have only scored 2 goals in those games.

Pick 2
Arsenal may not feature in the main article this week and that’s predominantly because they have a couple of tricky trips to Chelsea and Leicester on the horizon but this week you can buy with confidence as they host a Stoke team that are yet to register a win. Granted, Arsenal themselves have been stuttering away but this weeks fixtures is as good as any to kick start their campaign.

Pick 3
Our final pick sees a bouyant West Ham play host to a struggling Newcastle and we’d fully expect the Hammers to take their Liverpool confidence into this one and register their first home points of the season.

Fixture Fun
We are of course in the midst of an International break and a lot of your players will currently be scattered all over the globe and travelling back to their clubs at various stages of this week so be sure to keep an eye and ear out for any injury updates once they have returned.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 5 – Fantasy Premier League 2015-16. This article was written by Inittowinit

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