Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 17

Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 17

Much of the talk this past week has been about how to fill that Aguero shaped hole in your team. It may be a small hole in terms of stature but it’s a massive one in terms of fantasy points. The gulf between him and the rest of the forwards in terms of points is huge. He departed on 105 and his nearest challenger is a full 25 points behind. The search for his replacement began last week of course but many will still be juggling with the decision as to where to settle given this weeks events. Those that saw the value in a straight switch to Dzeko were cruelly disappointed as the Bosnian didn’t quite make it and his replacement was announced minutes prior to kick-off due to an injury in the warm up which may see him miss a few weeks. We shall proceed as normal with our fixture guide but perhaps for once we will have an eye on some specifics and notably any potential replacements for the stricken Sergio.

Deadline reminder
With the fixtures coming thick and fast and the busy Christmas period only a few weeks away we will be adding a reminder here each week as to when the transfer deadline is. This week is a bog standard Saturday start and so the deadline is Saturday 20th December at 11.30am UK time. It is also the last ‘normal’ game-week before the Christmas schedule kicks in. We will be doing a fixtures article as usual next week ahead of GW18 in which we will talk you through the festive fixtures and the relevant dates and deadlines. An early warning though before the eggnog kicks in – GW18 is on Boxing Day which is a Friday.

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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 – Stoke (a), West Ham (h), Southampton (a)
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[/three_fourth]A routine 2-0 home victory over Hull but perhaps not quite the romp that we all hoped or expected it would be. It was just enough to satisfy those that owned Eden Hazard though as he managed a goal, an assist and all three bonus points. A tasty 28 if you captained the home bird. The Costa conundrum seems to be gathering pace though despite him scoring again. It seems that 12 goals in 13 appearances just isn’t enough for some people. The thing is, they might actually be right. Let us illustrate. Costa may still be the 3rd highest scoring forward with 76 points, despite missing three games so far, but 54 of those points came in the first seven GW’s. He’s only scored 22 points in the last nine. That Hull goal was his first since GW12. He still has zero assists to his name all season. His aversion to bonus points is a concern too as he only has 9 all season and in fact has only attracted a bonus in four games and only managed the maximum three in two of those. Oh and he likes a card or seven. The only surprise is that they’ve all been yellow so far and don’t include a red. Give it time though, he’s working on that one. So as you can see it’s pretty much goals or nothing for him and perhaps at a lofty £11.1m the money may be best distributed elsewhere. If you dare.

“But can they do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke”.  That’s the saying and we will find out next Monday whether Chelsea can indeed. Sort of. You know what we mean. The odd day aside, Costa himself doesn’t exactly look the sort to be put off by either the cold, the Stoke or the night. Or anything for that matter. One things for certain though, if he can get a yellow against Hull at home in what amounted to a testimonial he’ll get at least that against Stoke away! For their part Stoke have reserved their best ‘performances’ for the top sides this season with wins against the likes of Man City and Arsenal under their belts already. This won’t be easy for Chelsea by any means and neither will the next game against West Ham in all honesty. Yes it’s at home, which helps, as Chelsea are now 8-0 at the Bridge but it’s a derby and West Ham are flying high. Southampton away would have been classed as a tough one about six weeks ago but the way the way the Saints are going lately we think Jose could rest a few here and still expect to take the points.

All in all that’s not a cake walk for the leaders but this is Chelsea after all and you would have to expect that they will take some if not all of the points from these games as that’s what they and Jose do and specialise in. Ultimately it may not be pretty but hey Hull wasn’t either but it still provided points aplenty for Hazard, Costa and the Chelsea defence.

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Man City – Crystal Palace (h), West Brom (a), Burnley (h)
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[/three_fourth]What a difference a few GW’s can make. Two weeks ago they had one of the best strikers in the world plying his trade up front for them (Aguero). Last week they had one of the laziest, but nevertheless semi-deadly, warming up for them (Dzeko). This week they’re looking for updates on one of the most injured strikers ever (Jovetic). Next week they’ll actually be playing one of the least known and least owned strikers ever (Pozo). Yep that’s right, from Aguero to Pozo via Dzeko and Jovetic in two short weeks. Money can buy you a lot but sometimes it just can’t buy you luck. Where’s Negredo when you need him? Surplus to requirements apparently. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if you have the injury prone Dzeko and injury permanent Jovetic as back ups you are more than likely going to come a cropper at some point. And City have done just that, big time. Young Pozo may be called upon to lead the line for a few weeks then unless they decide to play Silva as a ‘false 9’ which would enhance his prospects no end. They could probably do worse than actually playing Lampard up there. He certainly knows where the goal is anyway. Pellegrini has actually said that £5.4m James Milner may be played up front in the same breath that he said “Pozo isn’t a real striker”. Take you pick, close your eyes and hope for the best!

What they probably need then is a kind fixture schedule and at least they got lucky in that respect as the next three look like wins for them, on paper. Actually scrap the paper, if they don’t take nine points from this lot, striker or no striker, you can forget the title challenge right now but they should and likely will do. All three opponents are either in, or at least being dragged into, the relegation scrap. Palace and Burnley have managed just two away wins between them this season whereas City have won five out of seven at home and are only just getting into their stride really. The trip to West Brom shouldn’t present too many problems as the Baggies have lost three of the last four at home.

Player wise if you have City defenders then now is the time to play them. Whether Pellegrini agrees and plays them too is another matter entirely! Zabaleta was a perfect case in point last weekend as he was rested for Sagna and that scenario is likely to be repeated on the other flank at some point with Kolarov now back to offer an alternative to Clichy. With Kompany now out again, Mangala and Demichelis are likely to forge some sort of comedy partnership to rival the Chuckle Brothers and so that perhaps leaves Joe Hart head and shoulders above the rest as your best option. In midfield Nasri is showing signs of form with a couple of recent assists and that goal at Roma but really it’s difficult to look beyond either Yaya or Silva. Pick up Yaya if you haven’t already as he is on penalties too but do so in the knowledge that he is perched precariously on four yellow cards.

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Spurs – Burnley (h), Leicester (a), Man Utd (h)
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[/three_fourth]Surely you can’t replace the £12.5m+ world renowned, world class superstar Sergio with a little known £5m kid with less than 30 first team appearances under his belt can you? Well yes you can, in theory. Harry Kane won’t get you the same return by any means and he’s not captaincy material week in, week out as Ageuro is but he’s proved himself in the Europa League and as a result of a cockney clamour found himself thrust into the Spurs first team and he’s done ok so far. His overall performances have probably been better than his actual stats in fairness. He’s scored 3 and assisted 2 and for £5m he will possibly be great value for money and will give you a striker in some sort of form and a massive budget to play with elsewhere.

Talking of value for money his team-mate Christian Eriksen is proving to be just that at £8.0m. That will surely rise this week on the back of another 13 point performance against Swansea that included a goal, an assist and all three bonus points. He’s becoming hard to ignore with 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 5 games.

Spurs next two games are against two of the bottom four and so you would expect they should take full advantage and deliver accordingly. The third is Man Utd at home and Spurs are becoming infamous for lying down and getting their tummy tickled by anyone approaching the top four but hopefully they will show some Christmas spirit and put up a fight against a depleted Utd backline.

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Man Utd – Aston Villa (a), Newcastle (h), Spurs (a)
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[/three_fourth]For a team seemingly in transition and with ever increasing defensive woes six wins on the bounce isn’t bad. Rooney and RvP are two men that could potentially replace Aguero if you choose to go Utd and both are on form and have the fixtures to justify it. Rooney has three goals and an assist in the last five games and RvP has four goals, two assists and six bonus points since GW13. RvP has the advantage of being on penalties and actually playing up front which always helps as Rooney seems to have been asked to play a deeper role but he’s still getting himself in goal scoring positions as the above stats show. A move for thr Dutchman would wipe out all of your Aguero funds as he’s now actually £0.1m more expensive at £12.6m whereas a move for Rooney would still give you £2.0m to spend elsewhere.

Fixture wise, a move for either could be a shrewd one as they visit a struggling Villa next and then host Newcastle at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. They should be capable of extending that winning run to eight games given those. Villa have managed to score just six goals at home all season which is by far and away the worst record in the league and could present an opportunity to play a Utd defender for once if you can find one. Despite their recent good run Newcastle have the third worst away defensive record having conceded 14 on the road so the aforementioned duo will be licking their lips at the prospect of that one. A trip to White Hart Lane is just two days later on the 28th and Spurs have lost more at home than they have won.

It wasn’t so long ago that you would be hard pushed to find a serious fantasy manger that didn’t own RvP and his recent run of scores of 10, 2, 13 and 11 hark back to those times. Unlike Kane at Spurs you could probably make a viable case for actually captaining RvP throughout the festive period. If you aren’t considering him just yet then a couple more games like those could see his low ownership of 6% rocket fast and his price do likewise.

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The Indifferent
We normally just present you with the teams with the best and worst fixtures and allow you to assume that the rest are somewhere in between, which they usually are, but given our theme of helping you find an Aguero replacement we wanted to shine our fantasy light on a couple of other clubs who both possess potential alternatives.

Swansea – Hull (a), Aston Villa (h), Liverpool (a)
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[/three_fourth]In Wilfried Bony Swansea have a striker that many will have had their eye on for some time and if you were one of the lucky ones to have purchased him recently he has rewarded you consistently with a points run of 7, 7, 5, 7 and 7 stretching back to GW12, a run that has included four goals, an assist and four bonus points. You always get the impression with Bony that it could be so much more though and the home defeat to Spurs was a perfect case in point. He got the only goal and a handy bonus point with it but had he taken some more of many good opportunities you would probably be looking at a score over 15 rather than just the 7.

Do Swansea have the fixtures to entice you though that is the question. Well yes. And no. Let us explain. In theory Hull, Villa and indeed Liverpool are all teams that are not in the best of form and you would be entitled to expect Swansea to beat any of them on their day. The problem lies in their away form though and two of these are on the road. You have to go back to the opening day of the season to find a Swansea away win and they are without a win in the last seven trips since which includes a defeat at Anfield in the League Cup. In fact they’ve only scored five league goals on the road since that victory at Old Trafford back in August.

Their home form is remarkably better which is just as well! They’ve won five and drawn two at the Liberty with a healthy return of 14 goals. Clearly then that Villa game is the stand out one and if Bony can sharpen up his finishing a bit then we would be tempted to give him a whirl and he may even be a candidate for an outside captain shout in that one.

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Arsenal – Liverpool (a), QPR (h), West Ham (a)
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[/three_fourth]Some players divide opinion and Arsenal can lay claim to one that certainly does that. Whether you think Olivier Giroud is good, bad or ugly, one thing is for certain, he’s certainly not the latter and boy does he know it. Missing in action for the majority of the season Giroud returned with a bang in GW12 with a cracker against Man Utd from the bench. He’s been used sparingly since but two goals at the weekend in the 4-1 romp over Newcastle will have cemented his place back in the Arsenal line-up and probably leave Danny Welbeck with deja-vu. It was perhaps inevitable that history would repeat itself and sure enough young Danny finds himself clinging on to a wider support role once more and he’ll probably lose that if Theo ever gets himself fit again.

Fixture wise it’s a mixed bag for the Wenger boys as this weekend they return to the scene of one of their most embarrassing defeats of last season but will be delighted to find a much changed Liverpool outfit waiting for them. Boxing Day is the one really as they have QPR at home, a game that will see the lovely Oliver licking his luscious lips at the prospect of facing the team with the worst away record in the league. Eight games away, eight defeats and 20 goals conceded for QPR. The game at West Ham will be much tougher as the Hammers are in rude health and can boast recent home wins against the likes of Man City and erm Newcastle and they are undefeated in their last six at the Boleyn.

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LESS FAVOURABLE FIXTURES

Burnley – Spurs (a), Liverpool (h), Man City (a)
Despite squeezing a 1-0 victory over the disappointing Southampton and clambering out of the relegation zone that was only Burnley’s third victory of the season and given the fixtures they face over the Christmas period it may not be a merry one for Dyche and his troops. With just one win and four goals away from home the trips to Spurs and Man City will be daunting prospects. It’s Liverpool at home on Boxing Day and that perhaps presents them their best opportunity for points which probably says more about Liverpool than it does about Burnley.

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Aston Villa – Man Utd (h), Swansea (a), Sunderland (h)
In Christian Benteke Villa have a striker who really ought to come into consideration in the Aguero debate. Plagued by injury and suspension so far this season he’s only managed one goal and one assist but both of those have come in the last three games since he returned to action in GW14. He would represent a punt and a risk but his overall goals to games ratio for Villa is almost 1 in 2 so the potential for reward is certainly there. A home game against a resurgent Utd may not be that bad as LVG has only orchestrated two wins away from Old Trafford this season but you would still expect Utd to scrape that one. Villa are however better on the road according to their record so a trip to Swansea may be tough but possibly not beyond them. Sunderland can be difficult to break down and they will likely come to Villa Park looking for a low scoring draw.

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Stoke – Chelsea (h), Everton (a), West Brom (h)
Peter Crouch. There we said it. Two goals and an assist in his last two games have almost certainly brought him to our attention but before you get carried away and go and splash all of £5.7m on the beanpole take a look at their next two fixtures. Yes they beat Arsenal handsomely at home but Chelsea won’t go with the same lily-livered approach as their neighbours did. Goodison Park is always a tough place to visit but perhaps the light at the end of the Christmas tunnel is West Brom at home which you would expect Stoke to win.

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Newcastle – Sunderland (h), Man Utd (a), Everton (h)
Oh where did it all go so wrong? Pair that question with the words ‘Newcastle FC’ and we could be here all day. Let’s just say that they had an off day at the Emirates. And perhaps one at Burnley and maybe one at West Ham. In the interests of balance it’s only fair to point out that their only home game in that little run was against Chelsea which they only went and won. Next up is their Cup Final as Sunderland take the short trip to the Sports Direct shopping arena, thing. That could go either way as derbies are tough to predict but a trip to Old Trafford against a Utd team that now boasts seven victories out of nine at home will not be easy and neither will Everton at home.

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FIXTURE FUN
There’s plenty of that ahead! GW17 starts on Saturday but actually doesn’t finish until Monday. The teams then re-group ahead of Friday which is Boxing Day and they all play that day. We will talk you through this properly next week.

The good news is that the European fixtures have now finished for the year. The bad news is that it’s Milk Cup time again this week! This means that all of the following will be in action in midweek ahead of GW17 –

Chelsea
Liverpool
Newcastle
Spurs
Southampton

Team Talk and PhysioRoom.com
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. Don’t forget we do our best to never leave you to fend for yourselves in this regard and Team Talk on a Friday afternoon always details all of the news from the manager’s press conferences and if you ever need a quick update simply visit our live link to PhysioRoom.com which gives updates on the nature of any injury and their expected return date.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 17 – Fantasy Premier League 2014-15. This article was written by Inittowinit

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