FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
MANCHESTER CITY – Fulham (A), Liverpool (H), Crystal Palace (H), Swansea (A)
City certainly put down a marker on Saturday then! As a statement of intent you do not get much more emphatic than scoring six against the league leaders. The potential loss of Sergio Aguero for anything up to two months, depending on which report you read, may on the face of it be a blow but judging by Saturday alone, they may well be ok – they scored three with him and still notched another three once he had departed.
Liverpool looked in rude health at the weekend, dispatching Spurs for five away from home on Sunday and so this sets up the potential fixture of the Christmas period as City host them on Boxing Day in what is sure to be a classic. That fixture aside City go away to Fulham this week and then host Palace and visit Swansea in what should be a very profitable little run of fixtures for them and do not be surprised if they are top of the league once we enter the New Year.
With Aguero potentially out for a couple of months, goal scoring duties may switch more so to Alvaro Negredo who has been viewed largely as a differential by many so far but may become a mainstay for some over the Christmas period. At only 9.4m he may also offer the chance to beef up your midfield as well, especially with the January wildcard looming, which will then in turn allow the opportunity to reassess where Aguero can fit back in once he is fit.
Yaya Toure seems to have replaced his little run of free-kicks with a little run of penalties to delight his owners and with David Silva now back to full fitness and Samir Nasri showing signs of his old self there seems to be no end of choice in their midfield too.
Owners of Man City defenders always seem to run a gauntlet and have to anxiously check the team sheet every week and one who was catching the eye again as of late was Pablo Zabaleta. Sadly for his owners he limped out of Tuesday night’s League Cup game. With Micah Richards already side lined it will be interesting to see what Pellegrini decides to do. Their only remaining recognised right-back is Dedryck Boyata who would be a short term bargain at 4.2m, but having not played a single minute in the FPL this season it might be wise to see what happens first. Costel Pantilimon owners will be hoping that Joe Hart remains on the bench for a good while longer as well as there is very good potential for clean-sheet points in at least three of the next four for City.
EVERTON – Swansea (A), Sunderland (H), Southampton (H), Stoke (A)
Having dispatched Fulham for four at the weekend Everton will be looking to build on their current momentum and the next four fixtures should hold no fear for Martinez’s men. Two home games against lowly Sunderland and a newly inconsistent Saints are sandwiched between away trips to Swansea and Stoke who are both struggling to find their feet. Everton remain unbeaten at home in 2013 and we expect this record will be fiercely defended in the next two at Goodison.
Romelu Lukaku owners will have been disappointed to see him walk away with just a lucky assist from the Fulham game and that is three games now that he has failed to score in but he has kept the points ticking over with three assists in those games. Eight goals in the previous nine games to those three however would suggest that patience may well be rewarded over the Christmas period.
We spoke last week about the emergence of Gerard Deulofeu but Everton will be without their Spanish starlet for a few weeks due to a hamstring injury but that should allow for more certainty of game time for both Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley. Mirallas came off the bench to grab a late goal last weekend, he is Everton’s top scoring midfielder in fantasy terms and with an ownership of only 5% could be a nice differential with the fixtures being fairly kind.
Many expected a clean-sheet last week for Everton but they were to be disappointed. Those who picked up Seamus Coleman were rewarded with another goal from the increasingly consistent full-back. Coleman is the highest scoring defender in the game currently with ninety points and with team-mate Phil Jagielka second, along with Tim Howard leading the goalkeeper rankings then maybe Everton investment at the back might not be such a bad idea!
MANCHESTER UNITED – West Ham (H), Hull (A), Norwich (A), Tottenham (H)
We spoke last week about this being both a crucial period for United and also a great opportunity for them to play catch up and they started off nicely with a solid victory at Villa Park. Those shoots of recovery should still be flourishing this weekend, certainly with West Ham next up at Old Trafford. United then play two games on the road over Christmas visiting Hull and Norwich before returning to Old Trafford on New Year’s Day to face Spurs once more. Not a bad run by any stretch.
With many contemplating where to spend their Sergio Aguero money it is worth noting that whilst he has not been quite as prolific as Aguero or Suarez, Wayne Rooney is still third in the forwards list this season. Despite playing for a mid-table team (!) he has still managed eight goals and eight assists this season and with Robin van Persie now out he should be on nearly all of United’s set plays. He will be the go to man for many and with West Ham at home this week who can blame them?
Unless you hold the cheap Adnan Januzaj then it is probably still wise to look elsewhere for midfield options. Anywhere else. There are fifty five other midfielder’s who have scored more points than United’s highest one and in fact if you add together the three scores of United’s top three in this department they are still six points shy of Aaron Ramsey!
Perhaps at the back there are better options for United investment. Jonny Evans has now started five of the last six and could offer great value at just 5m, should he look like making one of the centre-back spots his own.
THE BEST OF THE REST
Aston Villa host Crystal Palace and Swansea in the next four as well as having trips to Stoke and lowly Sunderland. This should be a good opportunity for them to get some valuable points on the board.
Man Utd at home aside, Norwich do not have a bad few weeks ahead on paper. They travel to Sunderland and Palace and also host Fulham on Boxing Day.
LESS FAVOURABLE FIXTURES
SWANSEA – Everton (H), Chelsea (A), Aston Villa (A), Man City (H)
Swansea are the epitome of a mid-table team this season which befits their position in 10th place. Whether they remain in obscurity come the New Year or get dragged down remains to be seen but their fixtures over Christmas are tough to say the least. They are currently seven points off 6th and seven points off the relegation spots. Three of the next four are Everton, Chelsea and Man City. Their only reprieve if it is one, is a trip to Villa Park.
They certainly haven’t enjoyed the best of luck with strikers this season due to injury after injury, which saw Jonjo Shelvey having to play as their main forward at one point. Michu seems to be suffering from a little bit of second season syndrome but if he was to get two or three goals in a short spell then he could well pique our interest once more but at 8.5m he isn’t the bargain he once was and would have to displace a marquee player in our squads.
WEST HAM – Man Utd (A), Arsenal (H), West Brom (H), Fulham (A)
A bit of a mixed bag for the Hammers this lot, but to start with a trip to Old Trafford and then to have Arsenal on Boxing Day is a tough intro to the Christmas period for anyone but especially when a couple of defeats could well plummet you into the relegation zone. They will hope for better against West Brom at home but then even the trip to Fulham may well prove to be a very tricky local derby on New Year’s Day.
Don’t hope for too much from their defenders this Christmas if you have any. The midfield is shorn of Kevin Nolan this weekend but he will be back on Boxing Day which might be as well as they haven’t got any strikers to speak of really! Much will rest on the shoulders of Andy Carroll should he make a comeback soon which is on the cards, but realistically, stay away from West Ham for a bit.
SOUTHAMPTON – Tottenham (H), Cardiff (A), Everton (A), Chelsea (H)
We can only speculate what sort of Spurs side will show up at the weekend, so that one could go either way but beyond that, Southampton really do not have the kindest festive period. The trips to Cardiff and Everton will be tough and Chelsea is never an easy game for anyone, anywhere. Usually.
Jay Rodriguez is starting to hit some great form and at just 5.9m, could he go on to be this seasons Ricky Lambert? Three goals in the last four games sees him pull level on points with his team-mate and at 1.1m less could be a cunning sideways shift if anyone has Lambert and needs some spare change. In midfield Adam Lallana is continuing to hold his own on 68 points at 7m, whilst at the back Dejan Lovren is outshining the usually more fancied Shaw and Clyne options.
BE WARY OF….
Jose Mourinho has been taking every opportunity recently to remind everyone what a tough run Chelsea have coming up so we thought we had better have a look for ourselves! It’s not horrendous to be fair. They do go to Arsenal and have Liverpool at home which is not ideal but Swansea at home on Boxing Day and a trip to Southampton on New Year’s Day are equally not the worst.
Fixture Fun…
Always plenty of that at Christmas! It’s all FPL for a few weeks now as of this Saturday, and as such there are no League Cup or European games to be considered until the New Year.
The main things to be aware of are the deadlines for each game-week which are as follows – (GMT)
GW17 21 Dec 11:30
GW18 26 Dec 11:30
GW19 28 Dec 11:30
GW20 1 Jan 11:30
Have a great Christmas everyone and as always – good luck!
This article was written by inittowinit
Is Sessegnon -> Hazard for a -4 pointer worth it?