Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 7

Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 7

A certain young Frenchman opened up a very interesting debate yesterday which was encapsulated by two very differing opinions. Bigpopz landed firmly on ‘Form over Fixtures’, every time. Los Machos countered with his stance of ‘Fixtures over Form’, every time. The correct answer is probably in the grey area in between somewhere but either way it got us to thinking – what are we actually trying to achieve here by presenting the fixture information every week and how do we come to the conclusions that we do? Well firstly we should explain that we do take form into consideration but it’s more the form of the teams involved than the individual players. We look at the form of the respective teams and over a course of games for each team we attempt to lay out those who are most likely, given the form of the team in question and the form of their opponents, to have a series of positive results or indeed a series of poor ones. Why do we do it on teams and not players? Two reasons. First being that more often than not the two things go hand in hand. A forward in form needs ammunition and he’s unlikely to get that if the others are not firing to some extent. There are exceptions of course but that’s usually the preserve of the likes of a Gareth Bale who could be relied upon to carry the team regardless. The second is simply that we go on long enough at is it as and trust us when we say this – you’d be bored rigid if we factored in individual players too! Anyway, more on the troublesome teen later as we first go take a look at which teams have the best fixtures ahead and which are perhaps best avoided. Taking into account form as well. Naturally.

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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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FAVOURABLE FIXTURES

Chelsea – Newcastle (A), Southampton (H), Aston Villa (H)
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[/three_fourth]Going into last weekends fixture against Arsenal, Jose Mourinho had a number of issues to deal with. Misfiring stars, defensive stalwarts looking shaky and unreliable for the first time ever, the club doctor situation, the list goes on. Even rumors of some form of curse had been mentioned, which the Special One took rather unkindly to when asked about his ‘Third Season Syndrome’. So, what did he do to rectify it? He did what anyone would do. He released the Kraken! The bruising, snapping, snarling Diego Costa did his thing resulting in Gabriel Paulista being sent off for his troubles, leaving the rest of the Arsenal players fuming. Someone should tell them that they fell for it hook, line and sinker. The ex-Brazilian forward is only 26 years old, so Arsene and his players may have to get used to him, he’s here to stay.

The Blues will be eager to make it two wins on the trot as they travel up north to face Newcastle and although they should hold no fear for this game, they will have to make sure that their A-Game is brought as Toon actually have a decent record against Chelsea. The last six meetings have been evenly split with three wins each so Jose and his players will have to be careful. Still, it’s hard to look past the Champions when they play a side so near the foot of the table and we strongly fancy Chelsea to win this one.

Out of form Southampton are the next in this sequence as they travel to Stamford Bridge in hope rather than confidence. The ins and outs over the last few years may finally be catching up on them as they have looked a shadow of their former selves, mustering just a single win from their opening six. This isn’t the sort of form that suggests a result against even an out of form Chelsea should be worried about, let alone a Chelsea who may well be coming off the back of two wins by the time this game comes about. The return to fitness of Ryan Bertrand would go a long way to helping the Saints in this one, but it may serve as nothing but a buffer as Chelsea aim to keep steady their resurgence.

Now, should these previous match-ups go the way we think they will, then Chelsea will be licking their lips at the thoughts of their GW9 fixture. Actually, even if the previous don’t go their way then they should still be confident about facing Villa at home. Fabian Delph has left for the City treatment table and Christian Benteke has put his feet up in a retirement home on Merseyside and with no real quality replacements for either, it looks like being a long hard season for Villa. It doesn’t get any harder than the Bridge (most of the time) as Villa will know having shipped thirteen goals in three visits and scoring just one. It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will have that killer instinct back for this game but even if they do not, it’s still a fixture which they will look at as an easy three points.

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Man City – Spurs (A), Newcastle (H), Bournemouth (H)
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[/three_fourth]Well, who expected that result last time out? A warm-up injury to David Silva was far from an ideal start to the Saturday evening kick-off but still, most would have expected City to continue their fantastic start to the season and make it six wins from six, or at the very least get a draw for their troubles. It didn’t quite work out that way though as West Ham extended their own fine start by scooping all three points. Does this mean the City monster is finished? Should we look elsewhere for our fantasy points from now on? Nope, and one look ahead clearly shows why.

Spurs couldn’t have prepped themselves much better for this game, they really couldn’t. Unbeaten since the opening day and boasting three clean sheets on the spin, including two victories and a decent draw with Everton, things look okay for Pochettino and his men. However, it rarely works out for them in this fixture, which surely has to be the most dreaded of their season. One win and one draw is all they have to show for themselves in the last ten meetings with City, with the last four results reading 6-0, 5-1, 4-1 and 1-0. Many managers will be losing faith in Sergio Aguero as he continues to blank but, if there was ever a fixture to get him going, it’s this one.

If at all possible, it actually gets a bit easier for City now as not only do they return to the home comforts of Manchester, they also welcome Sunderland’s partners in shame, Newcastle. A home game with Chelsea in GW7 should see the Toon remain rooted to the foot of the table before they make the trip to the Etihad to face Kun & co. A missing player or two should have no affect on City for this one and we fancy them to run out easy winners.

City retain home advantage in GW9 as they host newly promoted Bournemouth. Results have been okay so far with seven points to show for their opening six games but it’s difficult to give them any chance in this fixture against the likes of Silva, De Bruyne and Aguero. Having said that, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about an Eddie Howe team it’s that they are full of fight and will try to score goals, evident from a tally of eight in their last four games with half of those coming from Callum Wilson. So while City may be huge favorites for this one, we think it may be a tough afternoons work, but still a pretty safe three points.

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Stoke City – Bournemouth (H), Aston Villa (A), Swansea (A)
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[/three_fourth]Stoke may be in the bottom three and without a win thus far but the upcoming fixtures should present an opportunity to rectify all of that. In theory. They looked like they were going to get that elusive victory last weekend as they lead Leicester 2-0 at the break but then Leicester did what Leicester do and mounted yet another comeback to snatch a point. Stoke were looking good value for their lead but two silly mistakes later and they had conspired to throw it away. On the positive front at least they looked like scoring with Bojan back from his long injury to lead the attack and inject some pace and creativity up top and he capped his return with a goal. There can’t be another Bojan bandwagon on the horizon, surely?! Another old fantasy favourite in these parts is Jon Walters and he opened the scoring in this one to cement his place as Stoke’s all time leading Premier League scorer. With 35. Alan Shearer eat your heart out and all that.

Bournemouth are the visitors this week and they will be sure to come and have a go having scored 9 in their last three away games in all competitions. They did however conceded 6 in those so there should be chances for Stoke here. After that it’s an away trip to fellow strugglers Aston Villa but with Villa yet to win at home they will fancy their chances in this one. The third game in the sequence will be tougher as they have to visit Swansea but even beyond that the games look favourable as they then face Watford and Newcastle in their next 2 so if you do fancy a little ride on the Bojan Bandwagon you do so knowing their games are ok all the way out until GW11 at the very least.

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West Brom – Everton (H), Crystal Palace (A), Sunderland (H)
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[/three_fourth]They’ve done it again! The defensive juggernaut that is West Brom have once again kept the opposition at bay and in turn rewarded fantasy managers who relied on their players for some much needed points. As we mentioned last week, the Villa game was pretty predictable and so it proved as West Brom ran out 1-0 victors thanks to a goal from Saido Berahino, which topped off another rigid performance. The Baggies have been quietly going about their business up to this point with Chelsea and Manchester City the only teams they have failed to take any points from, or concede a goal to. That’s right, you heard correctly, four from six so far have been to nil, which bodes well when we look at the fixtures that lie in wait..

First up we have an Everton side who have come out strong this season. A goalless draw last time out followed an impressive win against Chelsea, suggesting Everton wont be a push over for any side at the minute. However, travelling to the Hawthorns is a different animal. As previously mentioned, the home side boast four clean sheets from six so far and, while they may not be fancied to trounce anyone anytime soon, we do favor them to continue to pick up points and keep it tight. Very tight.

West Brom will certainly look to their defensive capabilities again as they make the trip to London to face an in form Crystal Palace. Despite back-to-back losses, Palace have so far shown that they are capable of mixing it with the very best the league has to offer as they gave City a run for their money in GW5 and the same for Spurs last time out, losing both games by a single goal. This will encourage Tony Pulis and his players though as both losses have been 1-0, suggesting that the all important cleanie is there for the taking again. A point away at Palace is a good result but when it only takes one goal scored to grab a win, would it really be a surprise to see the away side pinch it? We think not.

If form teams like Everton and Palace fail to worry us too much, then our next featured team certainly wont either. One look at the league table will suggest why. Rock bottom Sunderland have been absolutely woeful so far. A very favorable opening schedule hasn’t made any real difference as they continue to leak goals each week and struggle to score, with the defensive side of things proving to be the most painful. So, how bad are they at the back? A quick look at the FPL standings says it all really: Pantilimon, Coates, van Aanholt, O’Shea, Jones, Kaboul, Matthews, Brown and Yedlin have scored a combined total of 31 points from the opening six weeks, which is less points than Boaz Myhill. That’s how bad. No hope for the away side here.

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West Ham– Norwich (H), Sunderland (A), Crystal Palace (A)
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[/three_fourth]Having had such a dreadful pre-season and then basically forfeiting their Europa League place there were many doubts cast over the Hammers and in particular their new boss Bilic, but he’s well and truly put his doubters to bed with a string of results that sees them sitting pretty in 3rd place. Having already seen to Arsenal and Liverpool on the road this season, Man City away was expected to be a match too far. ‘Pfffttt’ said Bilic on his way to orchestrating yet another ‘giant killing’. The man can do no wrong. West Ham are in fact starting to mirror Bilic’s Crotia side a little bit which can be no bad thing – organised and difficult to beat but with an attacking streak when it’s allowed or appropriate, executed with precision. England know all about this having been humbled by such an approach in their recent history. They have scored 13 goals so far which is joint top with Leicester. They have however also conceded 7 which is the most in the top 10 other than Leicester. The fantasy message here then is clear – buy West Ham (and Leicester) attackers but perhaps give their defenders a swerve. Funnily enough the pair square up in the Carling Cup this week so expect a 5-5 thriller!

Given their current form we would probably back them against any team right now and their fixtures ahead go hand in hand to create the perfect storm really. That two of the next three are on the road doesn’t really matter as their away form is brilliant – played three, won three. It’s their home performances that need a bit of work. First up is that home game and it’s Norwich who are the visitors. The Canaries have had a mixed start to their own campaign but that is probably to be expected from a newly promoted team. They travelled to Anfield last week and earned a credible draw but then again Liverpool have only scored 4 goals all season so they will be up against a much more potent Hammers attack. After this West ham hit the road and there’s no better place to go right now than to Sunderland who are without a win so far and have leaked the most goals in the league (13). After that will be a sterner test in the shape of Pardew’s Palace but having already gone to Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City and come away with maximum points you’d expect the Hammers will fancy this trip too.

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BE WARY OF…
Aston Villa – Liverpool (A), Stoke (H), Chelsea (A)
At best you may have the odd Villain defender getting the occasional run out for you or indeed a stray Westwood riding your bench. If that’s the extent of your involvement then good, keep it that way, or even get rid as the next three games above look tough for them and that’s the good news. The three beyond those are Swansea, Spurs and Man City. Stay away, well away.

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Everton – West Brom (A), Liverpool (H), Man Utd (H)
With Everton having climbed up to 6th place and with impressive recent victories over both Southampton and Chelsea then surely the time is coming to think about getting some Toffee coverage? Nope, not yet! This weeks trip to West Brom has stalemate written all over it before they then play host in consecutive weeks to their nearest and dearest – Liverpool and Man Utd. It doesn’t even get much better after that as they then have two tough trips in the next three to London to face Arsenal and West Ham. The one crumb of comfort in all that is that they face Three Points Sunderland at home in GW11.

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Newcastle – Chelsea (H), Man City (A), Norwich (H)
Having scored only a pathetic three times this season we would be seriously aghast if you had, or were indeed considering having, any Newcastle attacking cover. If on the off chance you somehow find yourself with any defensive cover then we’d look at shipping those out too as they face Chelsea and then Man City in the next two. To be fair to Newcastle they’ve had a horrible run of games so far and they’ve handled them exactly as we’d have thought they would – badly. Things do brighten up after the next two with games against the likes of new boys Norwich and Bournemouth as well as the only team in the league worse than them so far (just) – Sunderland.

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Man United– Sunderland (H), Arsenal (A), Everton (A)
With probably (it is) the strongest fixture this week this is more a precautionary tale than a warning as we know a few factors have come together at once that will see many a fantasy manager ushering a certain young Frenchman into their teams ahead of facing Sunderland at Old Trafford this weekend. And many will captain him too and we can’t blame them for doing so. We put them here simply to highlight that after Saturday’s inevitable mauling of the Black Cats they then have three or four tough games on the bounce. Trips to Arsenal and Everton are followed up with the Manchester derby and then a trip to Palace. So yes, go ahead and welcome Mr Martial this week, but maybe don’t get carried away by also adding many others for now. Let’s just hope that beyond this week he can prove that old mantra correct – ‘form is temporary, class is permanent, fixtures don’t matter’. Ok, so we may have added that last bit ourselves…

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Southampton – Swansea (H), Chelsea (A), Leicester (H)
As we touched on earlier the Saints are stuttering a bit now with just a single win to their name. They’ve picked up three draws along the way so it’s hardly panic stations but they certainly aren’t sweeping aside all before them as they were at times last season. They’ve scored seven goals which brings us nicely back to the form vs fixtures argument as Graziano ‘The Hair’ Pelle has had a hand in five of those so far. So the odds are that should they score admist this run of fixtures that he will be involved in the majority of them. Whether they win or not the next few games actually aren’t that bad in terms of scoring potential. Swansea are up next but it’s at home and of the 5 goals the Swans conceded so far 4 have been away from home. Then it’s Chelsea and their 12 conceded but that one depends on whether that particular corner has been turned. Lastly it’s Leicester who we have well and truly documented as being as vulnerable at the back as they are lethal up top.

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Spurs – Man City (H), Swansea (A), Liverpool (H)
Nobody is really mentioning Spurs and with good reason. They’ve just been bumbling along quietly not really doing anything good or particularly bad. Two wins in six with 5 goals for and 4 against says it all – Mr Average, Mr Boring. They’ll probably lose to City and then it’s straight back to two close games with Swansea and Liverpool that they’ll probably grind out draws from if they can. Probably low scoring ones at that. It’s all probability with Spurs and probably a bit boring, but that’s how they feel so far. *yawns

Sunderland – whoever
We mention them simply in passing now. We haven’t even bothered to look at their fixtures as you can see above. They just feel irrelevant, as whoever it is they’re actually playing they’ll lose to them. That’s all you need to know at this stage really. If you have their players then it’s probably from some pre-season mistake as you surely wouldn’t have actively transfered one in since. If you had Kaboul stashed away on your bench and he somehow fought his way through the injured crowd and onto your pitch this week to proudly display his minus points like some deranged fantasy stalker then that’s just plain unlucky. The stupid b st rd 😉

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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 Man United– home vs Sunderland
Pretty much anyone at home to Sunderland will get top spot here but particularly so a team with a couple of good recent results tucked under their belts and maybe hitting a bit of form. In all honesty, even if they all go out and get leathered on Friday night and turn up at 2.55 pm on Saturday wearing pigskin they’ll probably still knock 4 past this lot without even realising.

Pick 2 Chelsea away vs Newcastle
Chelsea, and Jose in particular, have traditionally struggled away at Newcastle for some odd reason but in all honesty this is as good a time as any to break such a hoodoo and we fully expect they will. Whether Costa is there to help may depend on his appeal against his misconduct charge but either way it would be a surprise if this wasn’t a one-sided contest in Chelsea’s favour for once.

Pick 3 Liverpool home vs Aston Villa
Yeah ok, we know. You can stop laughing now. This really should be a home banker. A 3-0 job, at least. If and we know it’s a massive if Liverpool can get themselves together and finally play as a cohesive unit then it will be. The more we write, the less convinced we become. 1-2 to Villa anyone?!

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Fixture Fun
This midweek sees the return of the Capital One Cup and means that 19 out of 20 Premier League clubs will be in action this week. Quick quiz – who’s the missing team? Whether they field weakened teams or not we will just have to see but not all of them have that luxury of squad size and lo and behold one or two of them actually take this seriously and want to actually win! Either way be sure to keep a close eye on proceedings for any fresh injuries and take note that any suspensions incurred in these games count towards Premier League games. The answer by the way was Watford.

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FANTEAM.COM – FANTASY BETTING

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Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixtures Game-week 7 – Fantasy Premier League 2015-16. This article was written by NIN and Inittowinit