Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 13

Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 13

And welcome to GW13 already! 13 is unlucky for some, so they say. Let’s hope it’s a myth and is kind to fantasy managers. Certainly kinder than GW12 was anyway. GW12 was supposed to be about how many goals and points Costa and Aguero would accumulate and which of the supposedly only two viable / realistic captains would score more on the day. Well if we’d told you last week that the pair would come up with a solitary goal between them, no assists and zero bonus points you’d have said we were bonkers, but that’s exactly what happened and served to dampen many a fantasy managers week and that along with Southampton’s fairly poor showing at Villa certainly contributed to a relatively low average score this week. Those that were brave enough to captain someone else such as Eriksen, Gayle or Ings were rewarded handsomely (we know, you didn’t).

[clear]Fixture pile up!
GW13 commences this coming Saturday as normal and concludes on Sunday. GW14 is a midweek schedule taking place on the Tuesday and Wednesday immediately following next weekend and GW15 commences on the Saturday after this so it’s a very quick turn around next week. Do not forget and be caught unawares. We warned you, so no excuses! GW18, which is where the current tracker ends, represents the Boxing Day fixtures would you believe. Yes, scary as that may seem, all of your presents (socks, mainly) will have been unwrapped already by the time GW18 arrives. So let’s go and take a look at who we feel have good or indifferent fixtures ahead…

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Just before we examine the fixtures ahead, here is a reminder of a couple of essential Fantasy Football tools that you may wish to refer back to.

Mito produced some outstanding and detailed analysis on the best rotation pairs for the season which can be found here –
Rotation Analysis Home and Away and Favourable fixtures

Calvin Clyne devised an ingenious interactive fixture tracker which can be found here –
Fixture Tracker – Fantasy Premier League 2014-15

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And so onto the teams and fixture themselves. Let’s begin with a very straightforward fixture tracker…

We have colour coded the fixtures in a simple fashion to allow you to judge your transfer and team selection plans accordingly:

[highlight_green]Green[/highlight_green] – We deem these to be winnable fixtures for the given team and should, in theory at least (!), harvest good fantasy points for you in the opening games. Aim to have a good nucleus of these players in your squad.

[highlight_yellow]Yellow[/highlight_yellow] – These are the fixtures that could go either way and do not stand out as being either particularly good or poor. If you have a player from a team in this category then do not be afraid to play them but take a considered view that it may or may not not be an explosive week for them.

[highlight_red]Red[/highlight_red]- These are the teams that we consider to have a difficult fixture and as such may be best avoided from a fantasy perspective. Aim to minimise any players that have a run of reds in the opening games.

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FAVOURABLE FIXTURES

Chelsea –  Sunderland (a), Spurs (h), Newcastle (a)
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[/three_fourth]2-0 up and absolutely cruising, West Brom down to ten men in the first half, Costa, Fabregas, Hazard and Oscar owners licking their lips wondering just how many of the surely inevitable cricket score their men would be involved in… Well it seems that Chelsea took the cricket analogy literally and actually ‘declared’ at half-time as the second-half was played out like a testimonial. Somehow it ended up at 2-0 to leave many deflated but given that Chelsea are on Champions League duty in midweek maybe it was somewhat inevitable.

The good news is that Chelsea go to Sunderland this week who have won just once at home in six attempts while Chelsea are unbeaten all season. Notch that one up as away win on your pools coupon. Next up is Spurs at home and you have to go back to 1990 to find the last time Spurs won a league game at the Bridge whilst Chelsea have won six out of six at home this season. Spurs also have a massive inferiority complex against anyone they percieve to be bigger or better than them and as such have a tendency to bend over very willingly. Home win. The last of the sequence may actually be the toughest test for Jose and co. Newcastle are in fine form and somehow find themselves in fifth place. They’ve won their last five league games and won their last three at home which is great, except for one small detail. They didn’t play Chelsea in any of them. Away win.

It’s probably worth noting that both Costa and Fabregas are still just one booking away from a one game suspension. Make sure you have a strong bench as it’s unlikely you would want to use two transfers and probably lose money in the process of selling one or the other and buying them straight back for this run of fixtures.

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QPR –  Leicester (h), Swansea (a), Burnley (h)
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[/three_fourth]Let’s not kid ourselves, this is not about QPR from a fantasy perspective its about Charlie Austin first and foremost. Well ok, first and only. If you have any other QPR players we will assume they are fillers and subs only. If not then have a strong word with yourself please. Austin is the only real prospect here but he’s a serious one given the fixtures and his form as of late. You could make a case for a defender as a rotational prospect also but certainly don’t rely on them – they are bottom of the league for a reason.

So why are QPR even in this section you may ask. Well as we say it’s mainly about Austin but also because they have been showing signs of life lately despite their league standing. They’ve had some awful fixtures as of late, namely Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool in the last five but perhaps that City game in particular was a tell-tail sign as to their (his) potential as Austin managed to notch at least a hat-trick in that game although only one of them actually stood, legally. At just £5.8m and with six goals, an assist and seven bonus points he could be an ideal replacement for the likes of Pelle as his fixtures stiffen or the likes of Sakho as his back does likewise.

QPR have only won twice this season but both of those were at home and it is for that reason we feel that certainly two of the next three games look hugely enticing for them as they host fellow strugglers and relegation rivals Leicester and Burnley. The last time a team as weak as either of those two came to Loftus Road Mr Austin sent Villa packing single handedly with a brace. The trip to Swansea will be a different proposition altogether of course but for the other two it may just be worth having a look at the guy who was playing for Poole Town in the Wessex Premier League as recently as 2010.

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Swansea – Palace (h), QPR (h), West Ham (a)
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[/three_fourth]Swansea sit a very respectable 7th and are good value for it too, playing some expansive and exciting football and the best thing from a fantasy managers perspective is that they are happy to go for it and try to win games by attacking. This obviously won’t work every week but certainly at home it has paid dividends as that recent victory against Arsenal paid testament to. The great news is that they have two decent home fixtures on the bounce against Palace and QPR and of the five wins they have secured this season, four of them have been at the Liberty. You would fancy they will take it to West Ham as well in the third game and that one could actually be a cracker. We didn’t think we would be saying that at the start of the season!

Gylfi Sigurdsson or ‘Siggy’ as he is affectionately known has been the fantasy revelation that we knew he would be. The only surprise was the low price tag of just £6.0m. Two goals, seven assists and nine bonus points have seen that rise by £0.7m unsurprisingly but if you still haven’t managed to jump on the Siggy train do not despair as there is still time given these fixtures. The other potential bandwagon is Wilfried Bony. Currently owned by just 4.4% of managers that is perhaps primed to rise somewhat especially when you consider the fixtures ahead and that he has five goals in the last six games, he’s certainly hitting form after a very slow start to the season. At £8.2m he is also a very viable alternative to Pelle for the upcoming games.

In fact it is worth noting that Swansea have a good run beyond these three games too with another home game to Spurs next and then they face Hull away and Villa at home so if you are considering adding Swans players now you can do so with the extra comfort that they will be likely starters in your teams for a good while.

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Liverpool – Stoke (h), Leicester (a), Sunderland (h)
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[/three_fourth]If last seasons 3-3 draw at Palace was a disaster then this seasons 3-1 defeat may just sum up the regression that has occurred since. Brendan’s assessment contained the following – ‘Our players’ passing is too tentative. There is not enough intensity and togetherness. Confidence is low and the team is conceding poor goals. They are not aggressive and not playing as a team.’ A damning indictment indeed but one that at least shows he knows what the problems are and is happy enough to front up to it which is always a good sign. The alternative, which is a head in the sand approach, is usually a much more worrying one. It’s for that reason and probably that reason alone we will give Liverpool a chance here and hope that they can get it together for a decent little run of fixtures. As for Brendan’s quotes, one he may be regretting somewhat at the moment is his assessment of Spurs last season – “If you spend more than £100m, you expect to be challenging for the league”. Well guess who did this summer, and guess who clearly isn’t…

Stoke probably managed to boast the only result that was actually worse than Liverpool in GW12 and we would expect the Reds can bounce back and take care of Hughes’ troops at home this week. Leicester away smacks of Palace away but Palace are a bit of a bogey team for Liverpool so we would think they will fare better in this one and Sunderland at home should in theory be winnable.

We wouldn’t go mad buying up many Liverpool players but likewise if you still have any, probably Sterling, keep them for this run. It’s worth pointing out that beyond these three fixtures Liverpool do face Man Utd and Arsenal in the next two.

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Manchester United – Hull (h), Stoke (h), Southampton (a)
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[/three_fourth]Utd will certainly be buoyed from a fantastic result at the Emirates. They played a dangerous game with Arsenal by allowing the Gunners possession and aiming to pick them off on the break but it worked a treat in the end. Truth is that Arsenal were profligate as ever early on and paid the price for naivety later on. With RvP giving another ghost performance it was left to Rooney to seal the deal with his 4th goal of the league campaign, provided unsurprisingly by Di Maria with his 6th assist of the season.

With confidence surely on the rise the next two games look enticing for Utd as Hull are on the crest of a slump and Stoke have just been beaten by Burnley of all teams. The third game is tougher in theory at Southampton but having gone to Arsenal and won, and with the Saints not showing much at Villa, and coming off the back of two tough games against Man City and Arsenal, then Utd will fancy they can get something there you would imagine.

As ever we would stay away from their defence but if you own Di Maria it will be difficult to justify shipping him out ahead of the next two and given that Rooney is hitting some form for both club and country he could be a sneaky differential if you have the cash as most will have spent it on the obvious two already.

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LESS FAVOURABLE FIXTURES

Stoke Liverpool (a), Man Utd (a), Arsenal (h)
A home loss to lowly Burnley will do the Stoke confidence no good at all especially when you consider their next three fixtures are against Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal. For good measure the first two are away from home as well. For a team that recently went to Sunderland and actually lost 1-3 that doesn’t bode well. If they are losing to Burnley at home then we don’t expect they will do much better in the third game against Arsenal either. That 11th place may be flattering and may also be more like 16th or 17th, if they are lucky, come the end of these three games.

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Sunderland Chelsea (h), Man City (h), Liverpool (a)
We kick the heck out of Sunderland most weeks and mainly because they are easy targets. A 0-0 draw at Leicester was a fabulous result (for them, it’s all relative) but perhaps the open top bus parade around the city centre this week was a touch too far we feel. They didn’t of course but maybe they should have as looking at their fixtures ahead that point is possibly the last one on the horizon for a while. They face the Champions elect and then the current Champions in the next two and then go to last seasons Champions elect in the third game. Champions all round then but the common denominator in this is themselves and they will likely lose the lot. To the Champions. Past, present and never was.

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Southampton – Man City (h), Arsenal (a), Man Utd (h)

With such a challenging fixture list ahead many were viewing Monday nights game at Villa as a last hurrah for some of their Southampton players who have served them so well over the course of the season so far. In the first half they managed a passable impression of Arsenal. 65% of possession and zero to show for it, going in 1-0 down courtesy of the usually reliable Forster having an uncharacteristic rush of blood to the head. The second half continued in much the same fashion until 10 minutes from time when Clyne and Bertrand combined for the former to grab an equaliser and salvage a crumb of comfort for their owners who probably expected more from the likes of Tadic and Pelle.

We will find out much about Southampton over the next three weeks. If they somehow come out of this little run unscathed and still in second place we will be pleasantly surprised and a little shocked but you just never know… City haven’t exactly been the City we know and that West Ham result recently will give the Saints heart that they are vulnerable and beatable. They have already gone to the Emirates and knocked Wenger out of the Rumbelows Cup this season so confidence will be high that they can do the same again. Man Utd proved that there is still life left in the old dog yet with a win at the aforementioned Arsenal this week and their clash with Southampton will be a close call. Patience with any Saints assets will be tested given the run and hopefully rewarded but we would forgive anyone for perhaps trimming them back for a while and looking elsewhere until their fixtures ease up once more.

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Hull – Man Utd (a), Everton (a), West Brom (h)
That defeat to Spurs left Hull with just one win in eleven Premier League games. If ever there was a team quietly sliding towards the relegation zone it is them. In fairness, the result was a tad harsh on Hull who battled valiantly but once again Spurs played their get out of jail card and capitalised on the lunacy of an opposition player getting himself needlessly sent off. With Man Utd and Everton up next and both away from home life doesn’t get much easier for the Tigers and by the time West Brom show up to lighten the load in GW15 they could well find themselves in the relegation zone.

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FIXTURE FUN

This week sees the return of both the Champions League and the Europa League which means that six teams are in action prior to GW13. Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man City and Spurs all play this week.

Be sure to check out the availability of your fantasy players once this weeks European games are over and everybody has returned home, hopefully in full health.

Good luck to 99.9% of you this week. Hi Bry

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 13 – Fantasy Premier League 2014-15. This article was written by Inittowinit

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