Fixtures Game-week 38 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

Regrets, I’ve had a few;
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway
But more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way

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Well, whatever you did, however you did it, be proud. Be proud that you have seen it through, and come what may you have given it your best shot. Be proud that you have contributed and hopefully helped many fellow fantasy managers along the way. Be proud that they have helped you. But most of all be proud that you did it your way. The end is certainly nigh and with it we bring you our final Fixtures article of the season…

For once we can’t advise that you look ahead for your player selections. This is it and as such you can finally pick players based purely on this week and not worry that they may have a nightmare run ahead of them but a beauty of a fixture this week. As such we shall take a look at this weeks fixture list and tell you where we think you should be focusing your attentions and who to avoid.

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Usually when we consider fixtures we look to form, strong against weak, who has a great home fixture etc. This week is probably the one exception though as unfortunately there is so little to play for with the exception of two teams. 4th and 5th places are decided, the relegation places may well all be done already so really it’s just the small matter of the the title itself that is left up for grabs and even that may be a foregone conclusion.

Usually GW38 produces some strange results because there is so little left at stake for so many. Remember Man Utd 5 – 5 West Brom. The big variable this season is that the majority of teams have nothing to play for but also have a lot of players who have a massive World Cup to look forward to. Now if that was me I imagine I would be taking the proverbial stroll in the park this week so as not to get injured ahead of the World Cup and who could blame them. Multiply that thought process out by how many World Cup candidates there are in the PL and that may tell you how many players will be paying lip service to GW38… Yes, lots of them…

So the only two teams that will likely have anything to play for will be Liverpool and Man City. Assuming Man City beat Villa tomorrow night then they have it all to lose on Sunday. Victory at home against West Ham will then see them lift the title. A feat that seemed unlikely a fortnight ago as Liverpool were steam- rollering all before them until they ran into the Chelsea bus. And then the Pulis one. Well ok that one wasn’t so much a bus as a comeback train but either way…

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So putting aside the importance or otherwise of fixtures the obvious candidates this week are the following –

Man City

At home in a must win game. Need we say more? They have been strong all season, especially at the Etihad and we expect this will be no different. In fact should they get an early goal or two then the floodgates may open.

Liverpool

Their only hope now is a City slip-up of Gerrard-esque proportions. They may as well go out on a high regardless and as such we expect they will tonk the hapless Newcastle this week. Load up on Liverpool players this week and share in their glorious failure!

Chelsea

Mourinho et al travel to a relegated Cardiff and the least you would expect would be a clean sheet but perhaps also they will throw off the shackles finally and unleash Hazard upon the doomed Welsh outfit. Perhaps.

Arsenal

The Gunners put on a very typical end of season show last time out with a laboured 1-0 win over West Brom. In fact it was perhaps a lesson in what to expect this weekend – a load of talented players doing just enough to get the win, satisfy the fans and ensure they get on the plane to Rio unscathed.

Sunderland

At the time of writing Sunderland actually come in to the category of a team who has something to play for. They need 1 point out of their 2 remaining fixtures to secure their place in the Premier League next season. The fact is that they may well have done so already come Sunday and as such their game against Swansea will be much like the rest – a dead rubber.

Tottenham

Again a team with nothing to play for but any home game against a team called Villa should be 3 points in the bag you would imagine. That’s the theory anyway but with so little to play for in both camps we could as easily see a 0-0 as a 5-5.

Fixture Fun
There are of course still three games left in GW37 so watch those closely for any injury news, both tonight and tomorrow, but other than that there are no European games left with all of our clubs having exited stage left already.

We sincerely hope that we have been of some assistance this season in helping you to navigate the fixtures and all of their nuances such as the double game-weeks. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read Fixtures this season and commenting on it also. We shall have our usual line-up of articles this week with Tips, Team Talk and Captains Picks to follow but from Fixtures this is the final one and we bid you farewell until GW1 of 2014/15!

Thanks for reading Fixtures Game-week 38, this article was written by Inittowinit