Fantasy FPL Fixtures – the first 6 weeks
Welcome back! The good people at FPL towers teased us a little yesterday by releasing a player list and they did not disappoint by then launching the game we love in it’s entirety a few hours later. And so we have about a month to pick, re-pick, swear, curse and laugh at our at our teams until the deadline. Having seen many a gallant attempt at a feasible team yesterday we felt that the main thing missing, and the one thing that would be of the most immediate help to managers, was a quick fixtures overview for the first few weeks. As ever we are happy to oblige and so here is how the land lies for the initial 6 GW’s and our take on who has a favorable start and who may find life rough to begin with…
Let’s begin with the tracker itself…
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 initial 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 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.
FAVOURABLE
Chelsea
Any established Premier League team that starts the campaign against two newly promoted teams has to be deemed to have a good chance of getting off the mark well but given Chelsea’s pedigree allied to some fantastic summer business with the purchases of Costa, Fabregras and Filipe we feel that Chelsea investment will be near vital given their opening fixtures. They face a couple of toughies in GW’s 3 and 5 with trips to Everton and City but the other four are definitely winnable as they face Burnley, Leicester, Swansea and Villa.
Manchester United
David Moyes had a right moan about United’s opening fixtures last season. We don’t expect you will be hearing such nonsense from Van Gaal this time around though for two reasons – he’s too smart to give the players any excuses and quite frankly their start is glorious! They begin with Swansea at home and then travel to Sunderland and that’s about as tough as it gets in the first six as they then have all three newly promoted sides back to back and end the sequence with a home game against West Ham. If LVG had hand picked his start he couldn’t have done it any better himself.
UNFAVOURABLE
Aston Villa
To be fair Villa’s first three games aren’t all too bad facing Stoke, Newcastle and Hull and it would be hard to pick a winner from all of those but it is GW’s 4 to 6 that worry us. Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea on the bounce smacks of zero points in that period.
Leicester
New boys Leicester are actually the bookies favourites to go straight back down and their opening schedule will do nothing to help them in that respect. Everton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd in the first six will probably see them languishing at the foot of the table come the end of August we feel.
There’s plenty to ponder given the fixtures so be sure to post your teams and your comments below as ever as we build toward the first game.
Thanks for reading Fantasy FPL Fixtures – the first 6 weeks – This article was written by Inittowinit
If Costa is 10.5m or less then I’ll be in decent shape and a happy manager.
i hope he is too expensive. not planning to take him as i doubt he will have a huge impact immediately. and if he is expensive, i am sure a lot of managers will still take him and waste their money on him.
could blow up on my face though. 😛
If he’s over 11.0m I may have to pass… and get Fabregas instead.
I’m thinking the same mate. Unless he’s well cheap, like 9m or some shit then i think i’m staying away. Risky business though.
It’s almost like a straight choice for me:
Costa + Eriksen vs Adebayor + Fabregas + ((some cash))
I guess it all depends on Cesc’s role and Costa’s price.
Fabregas is an absolute banker, for me. The only way i’d end up not picking him for my squad is if he was injured. There’s a good chance he ends up the highest scoring mid in FPL this season.
Big call NIN, you think he will be that good?
Na-na-na-na! I’m not listening NIN
As an Arsenal fan, I won’t be able to cope with Fabregas doing well for Chelsea.
Sanchez – Tadic – Silva – a Eriksen
This is my current midfield and I don’t know how I could axe any of them, unless I went for a 3-5-2 or did that Adebayor / Costa swap, so I’m not sure what to do about Fabregas really…
Definitely. Check this link out. Scroll down to his season history for goals/assists etc. Cesc is FF gold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesc_F%C3%A0bregas
Compare those stats to FPL midfield bosses. Cesc will be a gem. Sorry Bihom.
hello again , can those playing banterburyleagues please check your e mail inbox for your code,
oooooohhhh am i in with a chance of promotion :big-lol:
as it goes only 3 have join prem , and i am one lol , so maybe
Bench, i finished 4th in the championship, 3 were promoted, so if there was a space would i be upgraded ?
yes elle your 1st on list tho its started yo fill nice now
Oakeydoakey Bench, cheers mate.
@Bench, I was in one of the divisions last year and i’m yet to receive an email.
As i explained yesterday , you have to have a active e-mail to take part in the leagues, in-case for any reason i need to contact you, your e-mail address from last year was inactive or you chose not to reply to numerous e-mail i send you, mean you was firstly expelled from The Banterbury Shield last year, this also resulted in you been expelled from the Leagues,after several more e-mails with no response, if you wish to take a place in a qualification leagues , i am willing to offer you a place, but you must have a active e-mail address
Yeah, i just noticed a backlog of messages from you to which i never responded, i’m sorry for this, However, i now have a smart phone with which i can go to my e-mails with relative ease so this should no longer be a problem.
Sorry :/
Who is the best Hull defender: with position, price and points considered?
Davies, for me. I have Chester in my squad but only because i haven’t found a way to get the extra 0.5m for Davies yet.
Cheers, that’s good, I have him in at the moment. Was Bruce before but I needed to be confident that they’re a starter.
james
The best way into the defence is McGregor, Davies, Figueroa, Chester in that order I would say.
james
I agree Davies if you can afford him. I currently have him.
Thanks TGP, he fits well in my 3-5-2 squad, can I have your thoughts?
James
Where is your team?
Right here:
Begovic
Davies – Vlaar – Shaw
Sanchez – Fabregas – Eriksen – Silva – Tadic
RVP – Long
Subs: Krul || Zamora | Duff | Upson
Tadic could be benched for Zamora on the first week. If he’s a starter for QPR?
Darling Gp
You have mail x
Potty
james
I like this team. GKS are sound.
I can see the point in Vlaar for GWs1-3, although talkSPORT were reporting tonight that QPR were preparing a bid? The only thing with Villa is that from WK4 it gets tough so you may need to call on and really hope Duff plays (as Leicester (Upson) have the worst opening in the league). Wouldn’t like to have to rely on Upson or Vlaar in GWS 4-6.
I have Sanchez, Fabregas and Eriksen currently so can’t fault those players! Tadic interests me and he might be a ‘Michu’. I think Nasri offers better pound for pound value than Silva and this saving could bolster your defensive reserves.
I have Jelavic for the same price as Long. I prefer him and like his chances of being the main striker and with Snodgrass, Ince and Long asthe supply line, I think he could score big early.
Cheers mate, as for Vlaar I know what you mean but my plan is to WC in gameweek 4 so I’ll be able to sort that out then.
Right – Long or Jelavic both viable – I’ll keep that in mind!
I know Zamora is just the cheap bench player in this 3-5-2, but when Tadic plays Liverpool first, is it possible Zamora will start?
james
I’m sure Tadic will start but unsure on Zamora. Austin will be the main man for R’s.
Nothing to say Tadic can’t perform just because it is Liverpool. View carefully QPR this pre-season.
Yeah that’s true – I have plenty of time to decide haha – and if Bobby doesn’t play I’ll have Tadic either way! Not bad…
…it’ll just be Costa that I agonise now!
How’s your squad shaping up?
GP talk to me about Austin…
james/Init
Charlie Austin – did me proud in my Football League dream team last season. Goal every two games exactly at Burnley in the Championship over his time there and then bettered that last season with 17 in 31 inhis first season at QPR. Foe some reason, don’t know if you’ll remember, he failed a medical at Hull whilst at Burnley so he’ll feel he’ll be making up for lost time finally in the top league. He has good goalscoring stats but just not yet in amongst the big boys. I see him getting a lot of gametime even with Remy back. If Remy leaves, he will be Harry’s first choice I’m sure.
I like him but being untested, I’ll stick with Jelavic for the same money as my lesser third striker.
He looks a good prospect. I’ve switched to Jelavic too by the way GP. Just looks are feel better – so yeah – thanks for the tip. Sounds like Zamora won’t be getting much gametime then.
Thanks GP good info. We need someone to do the write up for QPR by the way if you are interested? We’ve got Leicester and Burnley in the bag already I believe courtesy of Alex and Eddy but for some reason I said I’d do the other apparently but I know sweet FA about them! Yours if you want it? Or anyone else if you don’t for that matter…
Hmmm what about Figueroa?
That’s it Cookie – Spam that bad boy until I have enough for a new car!! 😉
I’m just wondering what people think of my team and any suggestions
Krul (Mannone)
Terry, Huth, Walker (Targett, Dummett)
Sanchez, Hazard, Sigurdsson, Lallana (Albrighton)
Rooney, Dzeko, Jelavic
I’ve got a spare 1m in the bank
Hi dlynton, straight in with Siggy, good work, think I’ll be doing likewise. Personally I’d prefer Bardsley to Huth at the same price (double his output last season), I’d reserve judgement on Dzeko and I know he’s only your 5th mid and a lot are picking Albrighton but Leicester really do have a nightmare of a fixture list. Appreciate he may be the best of a bad bunch at that price though.
Is it winner takes all Cookie, or maybe a payout for 1st 2nd and 3rd?
Haven’t decided yet Mutts, depends on the number of entries, bearing in mind I’ve guaranteed the winner £200!!!
Fir enough, let’s hope it’s well subscribed.