Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 33

Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 33

The topsy-turvy nature of this season’s Premier League campaign continued in GW32, as changing fortunes at both ends of the table affect fantasy managers en masse. Man of the moment Harry Kane was kept quiet for once, by Villa of all teams, as Spurs were humbled at the Lane. The Pardew-led revolution at Crystal Palace continued as they won their fifth game in six with a drubbing of hapless Sunderland. Those who took a punt on Murray or Bolasie were payed off handsomely. Sergio Aguero got back to scoring ways at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon but his brace wasn’t enough to gain a result as United romped to a 4-2 victory. Oh how the tides have changed. Whether all this meant you climbed the rankings or extended leads, or left your team lingering in the chasing pack, it’s time to put it aside and look to the coming GWs. GW33 sees six teams sit out, with Arsenal, Villa, QPR, Sunderland, Liverpool and Hull all out of action. Straight off the back off it is DGW34, another bumper GW in which there is the possibility to reap the rewards of Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Hull’s doubles. These are key weeks in the world of fantasy and could provide make or break moments for some. Let’s look ahead to a handful of teams that are worth looking at for the coming weeks and then some who may be worth avoiding or even losing as the fixture schedule takes a twist.

Dates for your diary

It’s well and truly DGW season now and those who have still got their wildcard should be quids in if they play it right! Let’s go through all the dates you need to be aware of.

GW33 – GW33 sees 6 teams with a blank week so be sure to make your transfers with this in mind and set your team up accordingly. The game week begins on Saturday with a deadline of 11.30am GMT.

The 6 teams who have a blank game-week in 33 are –
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Hull
Liverpool
QPR
Sunderland

GW34 –  The next confirmed DGW sees Chelsea, Hull, Leicester and Liverpool feature twice –

Hull play Crystal Palace (a) and Liverpool (h)
Leicester play Burnley (a) and Chelsea (h)
Liverpool play West Brom (a) and Hull (a)
Chelsea play Arsenal (a) and Leicester (a)

GW37 – Arsenal and Sunderland go into the penultimate game-week of the season with a double –

Arsenal play Man United (a) and Sunderland (h)
Sunderland play Leicester (h) and Arsenal (a)

[divider_1px]

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.

[divider_1px]

FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
And so onto our usual analysis of which teams we feel have the best run of fixtures ahead of them…

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Leicester – GW33 Swansea (h), DGW34 Burnley (a), Chelsea (h), GW35 Newcastle (h)

It’s safe to say that Leicester don’t make it to this section too often, having been basement dwellers for quite a while now. However, recent results and performances may suggest that Nigel Pearson’s men aren’t finished yet and although still bottom, they have managed to avoid defeat in 4 of the last 6, whilst picking up eight points for their efforts. Not bad for a team who had lost the previous four, scoring twice in those games! If form can stay good then Leicester may just crawl out, and we feel they have the fixtures to do it. A double week sandwiched between two home games, providing three winnable (you would imagine) fixtures is just what the doctor ordered for the Foxes.

Leicester welcome Swansea to the King Power Stadium for a game that could well prove to be a high scoring one. Swansea have seen an upturn in their fortunes recently as they adapt to life after Bony, and will come looking for all three points. They’ll probably score, but will they score enough? Leicester have put the ball in the net on eight occasions in the last three matches, with James Vardy and David Nugent of all people doing some substantial damage. At the other end of the field, however, Leicester have looked far from tight, making their attackers or maybe even a cheeky Cambiasso punt look like the favourable options over defenders.

The DGW begins with a proverbial six-pointer against 2nd bottom Burnley. Both sides have shown that they can play a bit on occasions so this seemingly unfashionable game may just prove to be a belter, especially considering the value of the points at stake. Pearson’s men then entertain league leaders Chelsea and you would imagine that getting anything from this game would be seen as a plus as Jose’s men march toward the inevitable. Having gotten Chelsea out of the way, it’s Newcastle’s turn for a visit in a game the Leicester players will be looking at and licking their lips. Toon Army are faltering, as their season fizzles out and in all honesty may end in disaster if they’re not too careful.

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Liverpool – GW33 No Game, DGW34 West Brom (a), Hull (a), GW35 QPR (h)

Okay, so they don’t have a game this week and they’ve been royally spanked by United and Arsenal recently. Talks of crisis meetings, contract situations ongoing, Mario Balotelli seemingly more interested in social media than kicking a ball, and things appear to be coming apart very quickly at Anfield. Brendan Rodgers will be all too aware that things need to get back on track, and quickly, to the form that had seen his team surge back into a genuine top four challenging team. Brenda and the Liverpool players will surely view their next three as 9 points in the bag, and the perfect opportunity to move on from recent disappointments and regain their rhythm, and hopefully welcome back Adam Lallana from injury, who had been instrumental in their good form.

With the blank week up first, it may not be the best of times to buy Liverpool players, but by all means we feel that it could be worth holding the ones you may have, if possible. DGW34 provides two games that have breeze written all over them. The Red Army first travel to a Pulis-led WBA who have lost their way over recent weeks, suffering some poor defeats and conceding a shed load of goals while they were at it. We see this as an excellent game for Liverpool to get some much needed points as lets face it, if QPR and Leicester can go to the Hawthorns and score four and three respectively, then Liverpool should really have no problem in brushing them aside. We have been fooled before, though.

Hull then open the gates to the KC Stadium and welcome Liverpool for the 2nd of their DGW fixtures, and you would have to imagine that this game is only going one way. Hull are teetering on the edge of the bottom three and are currently bottom of the form table with a paltry two points from the last eighteen! Ouch. Quite clearly they are in big trouble and the likes of Coutinho, Sterling and Sturridge should prove to be more than enough to see them off. Lastly, it’s back to the Anfield faithful for a home tie against Charlie Austin and his trusty sidekick, Matty Philips. 11 v 2 is never a good start really, but they are quite a capable two and both have been in good form of late. Still, you’d again have to fancy Liverpool here but it may prove to be a bit more slippery than expected, still we fancy someone will eventually stamp out the Austin fire.

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Chelsea – GW33 Manchester United (h), DGW34 Arsenal (a), Leicester (a), GW35 Palace (h)

Can anyone stop The Special One? It certainly doesn’t look like it as Chelsea are in pole position, as they have been all season, to snatch the title from City’s grasp. Although performances have slid a little recently, along with some more Costa injury worries, Chelsea maintain a steady pace on the run in to the season. The consistency of players like Hazard, Willian, Ivanovic and Matic have seen them through, with young Eden being the main focal point once again. The lightning quick Belgian is the tail that wags the whole dog, and we are confident he will remain a regular source of fantasy points for us all to feast on. A couple of tricky fixtures lie ahead for Jose and his team to navigate, but we all know what he’s like by now. The job usually gets done!

A tasty encounter against a resurgent United starts us off. It only took 29 GWs for Van Gaal to get the team going, yet United find themselves in a good position having dispatched Spurs, Liverpool and City with ease, as well as a breeze against Villa. Chelsea are in for a tough game here but at home, even against the better, or at least more in form teams, they still rarely lose. The Special One does have that annoying habit of managing to nick these games through whatever means possible, so we feel Chelsea will go into this one as the favorites to win, but maybe with a scare or two along the way.

The 2nd of the tricky ones comes straight away in the DGW for Chelsea as they travel to the Emirates for a battle with Arsenal, who are bang in form. The win against Burnley last time out was the Gunners eighth in a row since the derby loss, so another tough evening lies ahead for The Blues. A trip to Leicester rounds off the double week and it looks like a banker. As mentioned earlier, Leicester have been doing better but Chelsea should be a step too far, in theory. Palace then arrive at The Bridge for a GW35 clash with Hazard and co, in a game again should bring a straightforward victory for Chelsea. The writing is on the wall in this one, with Palace having beaten Chelsea just three times stretching back to 1990! Banker home win.

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Manchester City – GW33 West Ham (h), GW34 Villa (h), GW Spurs (a)

Well, well, well. What can be said about the Champions and their shocking demise? There were signs of their best form a few months back but that has all but gone out the window. Still, we feel that City will surely, surely end this bad spell and their next couple of fixtures provide the opportunity to get it going again. Sergio Aguero has looked a very frustrated figure in recent weeks and it’s not hard to see why. The goals haven’t been flowing as they normally would and Yaya seems to already be in Italy. No DGW’s lie ahead for Manuel Pellegrini and his slipping team, but three poor defences do give them some hope of keeping their season alive further.

Big Sam’s West Ham visit the Etihad in GW33 for a game which they will no doubt not be fancying their chances in. No wins in six away games for West Ham tells it’s own story, as well as their abysmal record away to City. The last five games away at City have brought five defeats, just three goals for, and whopping 15 against. Aguero, Silva and co will be hoping to finish the season strong, starting with the Hammers. Things then get a touch easier again for the blue half as Timmy arrives with his Villa team. A back in form Benteke could prove a handful but again City are huge favorites in this game and should win comfortably. If ever Sergio had a fixture to go bananas in, then this is it. A huge game against Spurs follows as City travel to London for a game that has usually brought goals and lots of them in recent years. The last eight meetings between these two sides has brought 36 goals (29 scored by City) and with both sides looking shaky at the back to say the least, we fancy history may repeat itself here. City to nick a high scoring affair, or just simply hammer Spurs looks a fair assumption.

LESS FAVOURABLE FIXTURES

West Brom – GW33 Palace (a), GW34 Liverpool (h), GW35 Manchester United (a)

The wheels have really come off at the Hawthorns recently. Big Tony must be scratching his head wondering just what has happened to his rock solid defence, and team in general. Back-to-back home defeats against QPR and Leicester, games in which seven goals were conceded, does not bode well for what is ahead. Palace are seemingly in good form so a trip there will be tough, and Liverpool and United should easily outgun them. The one positive for West Brom is the points they managed to bank after Pulis took over, otherwise their situation could have been a whole lot worse.

Aston Villa – GW33 No Game, GW34 Manchester City (a), GW35 Everton (h)

Results have picked up for Villa of late, with three wins and one draw in the last six. The return to goal scoring form of Christian Benteke has helped them along but it’s not looking too bright from a fantasy perspective from this week onwards. The inevitable blank gameweek post DGW is followed by a daunting trip to the Etihad to face City. A hungry David Silva and Sergio Aguero will be looking to this fixture as one to have a feast in and build the squads confidence back up. Everton are next up for Villa in what is likely to be another tough game for them. The Toffees seem to have shaken off the Thursday night fever and found some results and performances, which looked a long way away very recently.

Arsenal – GW33 No Game, GW34 Chelsea (h), GW35 Hull (a)

The frustrating blank gameweek bites again and this time takes away some of the most popular fantasy picks. Giroud, Sanchez, Cazorla, Ozil etc are all off duty for a week, causing havoc in the FPL world. GW34 sees their return and all will be good again, right? Nope. It’s back to the toughest of the lot, the champions elect, Chelsea. The Blues have a habit of roughing up Wenger’s teams and we wouldn’t be surprised if that was again the case. GW35 actually begins a spell of better match-ups, though. As alluded to earlier, Hull are in trouble so this should really be a walkover. Arsenal’s fixtures remain good with all the top teams out of the way, bar United. A strong finish for the Gooners is on.

Sunderland – GW33 No Game, GW34 Stoke (a), GW35 Southampton (h)

Where to begin with Sunderland? Cant keep a clean sheet to save their lives, goal scoring has dried up big time, new manager thrown in at the deep end… It makes for shocking viewing and the Black Cats may have had their fill of top flight football. A fierce trip to the Brittania follows the blank week, for a game that we can see Sunderland getting easily pushed around in by Stoke. Arguably the team/manager of the season follows as Koeman’s Southampton arrive at the Stadium of Light for what is surely an easy win. Moving on your Sunderland players looks the way to go as their games after Southampton are close to being as bad as it gets.

[divider_1px]

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixtures Gameweek 33 – Fantasy Premier League 2014-15. This article was written by NIN

Don’t forget to vote in this week’s Captain Poll

[polldaddy poll=8519165]