Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 32
First things first, we’re well aware that GW31 isn’t over! Villa and QPR still have to do battle tomorrow evening but we thought we’d release Fixtures for GW32 so we can keep to our usual timing of articles into the next gameweek. Plus we also are very aware that you are thinking of transfer plans already! GW31 has certainly been a case of whether your captain paid off or not with the likes of Austin, Beneteke, Alexis, Hazard and Rooney all rewarding managers, while those who stuck with the HurriKane were left with more of a modest breeze. GW32 shouldn’t disappoint as we have the Manchester derby at Old Trafford and the West London derby at Loftus Road. After two difficult weeks things appear to look up for Liverpool and things continue to be tough for the Toon. At the bottom things are certainly heating up with Leicester’s victory over West Ham. So let’s have a look at those teams you should be banking on and also those you should maybe avoid over the coming weeks.
Dates for your diary
We have DGW’s galore on the horizon. Unfortunately at this point they are all spread out! Well they were, until the young Brazilian magician Coutinho gave us a double bonanza in GW34 with his goal in the FA cup. Now we have 4 teams with two games in GW34, but this also means we now have 6 teams with a blank in GW33.
GW32 – This is a normal game week with all 20 teams playing and no team has a double fixture. The deadline is Saturday at 11.30am GMT.
GW33 – If you did decide to pick up any Villa or QPR ‘stars’ then please be aware of the fact that they both have a blank in GW33 along with Arsenal and Sunderland.
The 6 teams who have a blank game-week in 33 are –
Arsenal
Aston Villa
QPR
Sunderland
Liverpool
Hull City
GW34 – The next confirmed DGW sees both Leicester, Chelsea, Liverpool and Hull City feature twice –
Leicester play Burnley (a) & Chelsea (h)
Chelsea play Arsenal (a) & Leicester (a)
Liverpool play West Brom (a) & Hull (a)
Hull play Crystal Palace (a) & Liverpool (h)
GW37 – Arsenal and Sunderland go into the penultimate game-week of the season with a double –
Arsenal play Man United (a) & Sunderland (h)
Sunderland play Leicester (h) & Arsenal (a)
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And so onto the teams and fixtures 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_blue]Blue[/highlight_blue] – These teams have either a double or a blank game-week to consider.
[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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[/three_fourth]FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
And so onto our usual analysis of which teams we feel have the best run of fixtures ahead of them…
Liverpool – Newcastle (h), NO GAME, DGW34 West Brom (a), Hull (a)
It’s certainly been a strange time for Liverpool – after five wins in a row and seemingly having the momentum to push on to Champions League qualification, two losses in a row to rivals Man Utd and Arsenal has seen Brendan Rodgers admit that a top four berth is now very unlikely. Red cards for Steven Gerrard and Emre Can and a retrospective suspension for Martin Skrtel together with contract shenanigans involving Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson has led to calls of crisis at the club and the manager will be keen to recover quickly and regain some confidence and good feeling in the camp. One look at the fixtures suggest this shouldn’t be beyond them. This weekend sees the visit of Newcastle who are very keen themselves to see the end of the season having lost their last four matches including Sunday’s derby defeat at Sunderland.
So the “wait and see” part for Liverpool is over in terms of their upcoming fixtures. With Liverpool’s victory in the FA cup they will now have a blank in GW33. GW34 sees Liverpool travel to West Brom & Hull – the Baggies match is one that they should sail through on paper, especially if QPR can go to the Hawthorns, smash four past a Pulis defence and run off with three valuable points. In the second game of the double they will see a desperate side in Hull specially the way they are dropping, Steve Bruce and his men will be very much in the relegation dogfight.
Both Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel will be available after suspension for DGW34, while Emre Can is as likely to excite you as a fantasy prospect about as much as Mathieu Flamini or Ramires. Of course the standout names continue to be the likes of Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson, while we would advise you to keep an eye on Daniel Sturridge on Wednesday night – a fit Sturridge has a great scoring record and will be paramount to Liverpool ending the season well. Defensively, they had been so tight before the United game with the likes of Skrtel and Moreno bringing decent returns and we would expect that to continue come GW32.
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[/three_fourth]Chelsea – QPR (a), Man United (h), DGW34 – Arsenal (a), Leicester (a)
The march to another title grinds on with the Blues now seven points clear of second placed Arsenal with a game in hand. Saturday’s win over Stoke was another match where Chelsea took another three points but made life difficult for themselves, although to be fair, it’s difficult to legislate for your keeper getting beaten from 65 yards! Where’s Petr Cech when you need him?! It would appear that a lot of the suave and swagger which was evident earlier in the season has gone from Chelsea and one look at the fixtures suggest this will continue to be the norm for the near future. A derby day at QPR should be a fairly straightforward away win – the difference in quality is obviously huge – but we now know that Rangers have found a bit of fight in them if GW31 is anything to go by and therefore we wouldn’t rule out QPR scoring one or two, but at the same time expect them to concede three or four! So another three points there and then in GW33 there is the visit of Man Utd to the Bridge. A resurgence in form for the Reds has seen them appear likely to gain LVG the Champions League spot he was brought in to deliver but have they got enough to trouble Chelsea at Chelsea? Unlikely we feel, but it’s probable that this will be another tight win for Jose’s men.
DGW34 is the one to get really excited about and what you should start planning for if you haven’t already. However, while most are suggesting three Chelsea DGWers is the way to go, Diego Costa’s hamstring is again causing us FPL managers headaches! Loic Remy has scored in both of his previous two matches, with his goals proving the winners at Hull and against Stoke and his current price of 7.1mnln lends him to being called a bargain – if Costa is not fit! The DGW sees two away matches, firstly at Arsenal and then at Leicester. The match at the Emirates could be a cracker if Arsenal maintain their cracking form – it should be a game of goals whist the trip to Leicester should be more routine for Chelsea.
Obviously Eden Hazard is the default option but trying to find the full compliment of three is not so straightforward. Costa’s injury will no doubt leave us sweating and may or may not mean Remy is a decent and reliable option. Cesc Fabregas provided the assist for the first goal vs Stoke but his returns have diminished severely since Christmas. John Terry or Branislav Ivanovic should really be a default defensive option but two clean sheets in eight is poor by Chelsea’s standards. So it may well be that a gamble is called for which certainly makes things more interesting for us FPL managers – who knows, a punt on Oscar or Willian may just be the differential that moves you up the leagues in DGW34!
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[/three_fourth]Southampton – Hull (h), Stoke (a), Spurs (h)
Southampton’s form since the turn of the year has led to them dropping out of the top four, but they remain in a fight with Liverpool and Spurs for 5th place – an achievement which would be superb for a team that was written off by many before the season had even begun. Ronald Koeman has of course organised his squad well, especially at the back, which has seen them produce the best defensive stats in the division. The weekend defeat at Everton wasn’t entirely unexpected as the Toffees have shown a slight turn of form of late while the Saints continue to struggle in front of goal. They have an immediate chance to bounce back from the defeat at Goodison when they welcome struggling Hull this weekend – a clean sheet seems probable at the very least and will again lead for calls to double or even treble up on defenders and a keeper – Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne continue to be the premium choices, Toby Alderweireld comes in at a budget friendly 4.8mln while Fraser Forster’s injury has seen Kelvin Davis become attractive at 4.4mln.
Saints then travel to Stoke in GW33 in a game that will be tougher than Hull but one in which they will still fancy their chances in and they will ensure that Davis is expecting Charlie Adam to shoot from anywhere! GW34 sees Spurs visit St Mary’s in a match that could go a long way in deciding who finishes above the other.
Koeman will be desperate for his strikers and his attacking midfielders to find some form sooner rather than later, but despite the decent fixtures, we would still err on the side of defensive coverage ahead of any of the attackers. Sadio Mane is maybe the one exception – the attacking midfielder was brought on after an hour at Goodison and although he couldn’t conjure up an equaliser, Koeman will surely start him more times than not in these last few gameweeks. What must Rickie Lambert be thinking?!
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[/three_fourth]Swansea – Everton (h), Leicester (a), Newcastle (a)
Very often at this stage of the season we would warn against those teams that have nothing to play for. But Swansea appear to be going from strength to strength and have found inspiration when many of us feared their season would tail off without their talisman Wilfried Bony. Strangely, the opposite has happened – Swansea have picked up form and City’s title challenge seems over. The Swans have some very winnable fixtures coming up starting with the visit of Everton at the weekend – whilst this is not the easiest as the Toffees have won three in a row, but we would certainly make Swansea favourites and a win here would give the Welshies a record points total in the Premier League. The next two fixtures are on the road, but that is where the bad news ends.
Trips to Leicester and Newcastle will certainly not frighten Garry Monk and his squad and will give his firing troops plenty of opportunities to increase that points tally. Leicester as we know will fight but you’d expect the Swans to make a better fist of it than the Hammers did at the weekend while a trip to Newcastle will scare no-one right now as that plane to Ibiza has well and truly flown long ago.
Bafetimbi Gomis and Sung-Yeung Ki are the form men for Swansea, while Gylfi Sigurdsson will always attract interest. The injury to defender Kyle Naughton will need to be monitored as he was proving a shrewd FPL purchase.
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[/three_fourth]Leicester – West Brom (a), Swansea (h), DGW34 Burnley (a), Chelsea (h)
Yes we’re being serious! Well, sort of. Bottom of the league, six points from safety, all seems lost for the Foxes. And yes, that’s probably right. But Saturday’s win over West Ham has shown that they haven’t yet given up hope of a miraculous great escape. While they still seem destined for Championship life, there are some fixtures which may just offer some FPL interest, none more so than their DGW34. Before that however, they go to West Brom at the weekend and if QPR can go there and win, why can’t Leicester? They’ll certainly give it a go. GW33 sees Swansea visit and you can bet that Nigel Pearson in his teamtalk will be saying to his side, “You’ve beaten Man Utd here and you’ve beaten West Ham here. Go and beat Swansea here”.
And then for the double gameweek. Firstly Burnley away is certainly the easiest fixture and may well be a relegation six-pointer and one that Pearson will certainly have his team up for. The second match of DGW34 is Chelsea at home. Ouch. But you never know. Remember Sunderland going to Stamford Bridge last season and winning? It’s not impossible that the league may be as good as over by the time of the match and with motivation seeming to be a problem with some of the Blues, well, you just never know.
Now, understand this, we are not suggesting you go and visit the Pound shop and load up on Leicester players, but maybe a cheeky punt on a cheap midfielder (Esteban Cambiasso 4.7mln) or even a defender (Jeffrey Schlupp 4.5mln).
LESS FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
Aston Villa – Spurs (a), NO GAME, Man City (a)
They may have had a DGW in 31, but for the next few weeks Villa may find things pretty tough. A visit to Spurs may not be as scary as a couple of months ago, but Pochettino will want to re-energise his team to one last effort for European qualification. After that, Villa blank in GW33 and then they probably wish GW34 was a blank also as they then travel to the Champions to face Aguero, Silva and co.
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Burnley – Arsenal (h), Everton (a), Leicester (h)
Firmly entrenched in a relegation battle and then Arsenal come to town – on the back of seven wins in a row! And they’ll be fired up thinking they can catch Chelsea – you know what those Goonies are like! Even so, they’re playing great, scoring goals and no doubt they’ll perform better than their North London rivals did last week. Burnley then travel to a resurgent Everton before the huge relegation battle with fellow strugglers, Leicester. Mr Ings, it’s time you found some form again!
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Hull – Southampton (a), NO GAME, DGW34 – Crystal Palace (a), Liverpool (h)
Things are gonna get really sticky for Steve Bruce and Hull. It’s a huge few weeks for them and this week they go to the defensive wall that is Southampton. After a blank in gameweek 33, GW34 sees a trip to Crystal Palace, which is the last place you want to go at the end of the season when you need a result. Then they welcome in Liverpool in the second part of the double, who will be looking to bury the tigers using the shovel that they themselves were buried with in their champions league attempt.
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Newcastle – Liverpool (a), Spurs (h), Swansea (h)
Oh dear oh dear. I think the best we can say about Le Toon is that they must be so grateful they already have 35pts as their recent form of four straight losses is certainly relegation form, especially when you bear in mind the fight those below are starting to show. The season really can’t come soon enough for Newcastle – this week they go to Liverpool, who as we have already alluded to will surely be intent on getting back to winning ways. Next up is a visit from Spurs and the HurriKane – we all know what he can do. Another home match follows in GW34 as the inform Swans come to town. If you’re crazy enough to have any Newcastle players in your side, we suggest you get rid. And then go see the doctor!
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Fixture Fun
Clearly as we speak the current game week (GW31) is still under way with Aston Villa and QPR playing on Tuesday evening.
Other than that Liverpool have an FA Cup replay with Blackburn on Wednesday evening. As ever be sure to check for any injury or suspension updates once these fixtures are completed ahead of the weekend.
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i’m a little late to the party but that’s a great read Cookie. Thanks mate. I guess its time to loud up on Leicester players then. Anyone remember Ulloa? Surely he’s due…