FPL Fixtures Gameweek 4

Welcome to FPL Fixtures Gameweek 4. I think it’s probably in all of our interests if we just move on from Gameweek 3 like it never happened. Like a petulant child, let’s not give it the attention it so clearly craves.

Last week, Matt trialled Boris’s new rule of three before it gets rolled out to the masses: “Avoid, Avoid, Avoid”. It would probably be more effective, in all honesty. More effective than “Hands, Face, Space”, whose similarity to the popular children’s song with a conflicting message is its problem; it’s only when I get to the third “body part” that I realise I’ve messed up again, having enthusiastically rubbed my germy hands together and slapped them onto my face. No, “Avoid, Avoid, Avoid” conveys a much clearer message and can be applied to all manner of situations. Shake hands with someone at work? Avoid. Pretend you recall the precise date you visited a Pizza Express 19 years ago? Avoid. West Ham in your fantasy team? Avoid? Hmm… taking Boris’s lead, you should absolutely start buying West Ham players now that it is safe to do so but avoid buying West Ham players if you can. Of course, if your fundamental human rights mean that you cannot avoid buying West Ham players then that’s completely fine, so long as you’re in a ‘workplace canteen’.

It’s been a while since I wrote one of these. Before we dive into things though, like Jeremy Clarkson on exam results day but without the thinly-veiled guise of compassion for students who have performed below expectations, I think it’s worth mentioning that I’m writing this on a standing desk. However, before I get chastised for having forgotten my roots, it’s amazing what you can do with a standard desk and a stack of your finest shoe boxes which you have inexplicably hoarded over the years. Patent pending.

FPL FIXTURE TRACKER
But first up that all important Fixture Tracker itself…

FIXTURE TRACKER LINK

FIXTURE TRACKER 20120/21

Favourable Fixtures

Wolves – Fulham (H), Leeds (A), Newcastle (H)
Let’s kick-start things with Wolves. Home ties against newly-promoted Fulham and last season’s 13th place, Newcastle, sandwich an away trip to Championship winners Leeds United. In terms of Wolves’ prospects from a fantasy point of view, I think this string of fixtures certainly favours their attacking assets.

Fulham have already shipped 10 goals across their first three matches and already look like a side to chase around the fixture merry-go-round. Meanwhile, Leeds have clearly decided that defending is overrated this season after finding themselves on either side of a 4-3 scoreline to kick-start their return to the Premier League. Amusingly, and summing up this rollercoaster of a start to the season perfectly, Gameweek 3 saw Leeds follow-up those two results with a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United and a goalkeeping masterclass whilst Wolves, a side that has become synonymous with low-scoring affairs, got pumped by West Ham. As a firm believer ‘hoper’ that things will regress to the norm, I still believe hope there isn’t anything wrong with aggressively attacking Wolves’s awesome fixture run. On paper.

It’s been a mixed start to the season for Newcastle as well. A comprehensive 2-0 victory over West Ham, followed by a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton and a 1-1 draw against Spurs thanks to a very late equaliser (of course, a penalty) from Callum Wilson. Hey, they all count, although with Wilson’s penalty constituting Newcastle’s first and only shot on target of the match against Spurs, Wolves should feel confident about going into the game on the front foot.

Liverpool – Aston Villa (A), Everton (A), Sheffield United (H)
This is what we held onto their assets for. In fairness, they did pick up a clean sheet and pocket a handful of goals and assists between them over their more challenging Gameweek 2 and Gameweek 3 fixtures.

First up is a trip to Villa Park. An as-yet impenetrable fortress, although it has only played host to a rather drab affair against Sheffield United so far, in which the Villains managed to grind out a 1-0 win thanks in no small part to a penalty save from new-boy Emiliano Martinez. Last season, Aston Villa conceded the second most goals in the league (67), and only West Ham conceded more at home out of the non-relegated sides.

The Merseyside derby is up next. It certainly has a different feel to it this year with the numerous midfield additions Ancelotti has made to the Toffees this summer and, in truth, Everton were edged out of this article by their rivals despite two great-looking fixtures against Brighton and Southampton either side of the derby. It really came down to which players I would prefer to own in this one. Can you look past the current champions? Whilst Everton have scored eight already this season (thanks, chiefly, to the five put passed a sleeping West Brom last weekend), Liverpool have more than matched them with 9 goals and have the pedigree to back that up, having scored nine more away than Everton did at home last season, and conceding four fewer for good measure too. Even with Everton’s improvements, they are still, as Matt Berry would say, more than a d*** swing away from Liverpool’s quality.

Rounding off the fixtures is a visit from Sheffield United, the only side in the league without a goal to their name and therefore lifting our hopes of another defensive return from the expensive Liverpool trio. From a defensive point of view, it’s three defeats from three for the Blades, despite a relatively ‘easy’ start to the season facing Aston Villa and Leeds, who would probably prefer not to be playing Salah and co any time soon as they look to regain some defensive solidity.

Leicester – West Ham (H), Aston Villa (H), Arsenal (A)
This final spot was a toss-up between Leicester and Chelsea. They both have similar fixture difficulty over the next three – two good, one bad – although it is Chelsea’s initial tie against Crystal Palace, a side who have seemingly found some defensive solidity to start the season, that has persuaded me to turn to Leicester for results. It also helps that Leicester have scored a table-topping 12 goals so far and smashed Manchester City 5-2 this weekend (although Rodri said they didn’t deserve it, which will hopefully help him sleep, this week).

Two home games back-to-back is always good news for Leicester, and the next two home games are excellent. Brendan Rodgers’ side picked up 37 of their 62 points at home last season, winning 11 and losing just four (against United, Liverpool, City and, umm, Southampton).

West Ham arrive at the King Power after somehow conjuring up a 4-0 victory over Wolves after two defeats. Before that result, I had pencilled in that the sale of Grady Diangana shows the trouble the club is in and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them battling at the bottom again this season. Yep, let’s roll with that.

Gameweek 5 sees a visit from Aston Villa, a side who were the (joint) second-worst defence on the road last year, conceding almost two goals a game on average and scoring just 19 goals, a stat hugely propped up by their 5-1 drubbing of Norwich. It feels like tonight’s 3-0 victory over Fulham was a similar sort of game for Dean Smith’s men.

Rounding up the trio of games is a trip to the Emirates. Arsenal are another side who have started the season relatively well, with two fairly comfortable wins over Fulham and West Ham and a possibly forgivable defeat away at Anfield. I’ve been sleeping on Arsenal since Arteta took to the helm. 11 clean sheets in 24 Premier League fixtures is remarkable, especially for a side that had just two in the first 17 fixtures of the 2019/20 season before Arteta’s appointment. With that in mind, then, I wouldn’t expect as much from your Leicester assets in this one.

Unfavourable Fixtures
Newcastle – Burnley (H), Manchester United (H), Wolves (A)
Newcastle faces Burnley next. Sean Dyche’s men were in imperious form towards the end of the last season, losing just two of their final 16 games (against Manchester City and Brighton) and notching up eight wins. Whilst they did lose to Leicester in their opening game of the season and followed that up with a 1-0 defeat to Southampton, I fully expect Burnley to be solid again this year. During Project Restart, they kept four clean sheets, conceding just one goal in a further three matches and managing to score against every opponent bar Manchester City.

That testing encounter is followed by a visit from Manchester United, who will be hoping to make the most of a relatively ‘easy’ fixture in the midst of a series of home ties against tougher opposition. Ole’s men bounced back from their 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace with a 3-2 victory over Brighton. I say ‘bounced’, ‘fluked’ would have been more appropriate as they continue to try and find their form from the backend of last season where they were unbeaten since the start of February, keeping nine clean sheets and scoring 2+ on ten occasions (in 14 matches).

Finally, the Magpies visit Wolves who have just made a shrewd acquisition in Nelson Semedo and shouldn’t be too concerned about looking to the talented Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto to replace Diogo Jota, who recently joined Liverpool’s B Team. The 4-0 defeat at the hands of West Ham can only be seen as an anomaly for this typically defensively-solid side.

West Ham – Leicester (A), Tottenham (A), Manchester City (H), Liverpool (A)
I’ve broken the rule of three to give you West Ham’s fixtures so I do hope you remember them. Maybe that’s why Matt screeched “Avoid, Avoid, Avoid” at you last week. I don’t think I need to bore you with a stats bomb on this one. The Hammers start off with a difficult away fixture against home-specialists Leicester (as discussed above) and they don’t get any easier from there with a further two away fixtures against a Spurs side re-united with Gareth Bale and a Liverpool side who are, well, Liverpool. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Premier League have thrown a visit from Manchester City in there too, just for good measure. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them not pick up any points across the board here. Then again, the way this season is going I wouldn’t be surprised to see West Ham put five past Liverpool either.

Thanks for reading FPL Fixtures Gameweek 4. This article was written by AT.

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