A warm welcome to our weekly fixtures article. We will attempt to dissect the upcoming fixture schedule and give you a guide as to which teams we feel have favourable fixtures ahead and which teams face an uphill struggle over the next few weeks. We will be looking at the next 4 fixtures and identifying 3 teams that fall into each category to help you to plan your team selection and transfers accordingly.
Favourable Fixtures
ARSENAL
Southampton (H), Cardiff (A), Hull (H), Everton (H)
Despite the defeat to Man Utd, Arsenal still find themselves sitting pretty at the top of the table and 3 home games in the next 4 affords them a fantastic opportunity to remain there going into December. Their away fixture in that run sees them visit Cardiff and having won their other 4 away games prior to the trip to Old Trafford the Gunners will be optimistic of taking all 3 points in that game as well.
Southampton will provide a stern test this weekend having themselves already won at Anfield and drawn at Old Trafford this season but Arsenal’s home record of 4 wins on the bounce since the opening day defeat to Villa is looking impressive. Hull and Everton are up next after that with the Hull fixture possibly the stand out game of all 4 in terms of potential fantasy returns.
Olivier Giroud started the season on fire with 4 goals in 4 games and saw his way into plenty of fantasy teams as a result but he has tailed off somewhat recently having only notched 1 goal in the last 7 league games. He has added 3 assists in those 7 though to keep the points ticking over. The imminent return of Theo Walcott gives us another potential conundrum as he competes for a place in the line-up against the likes of Ramsey, Ozil and Cazorla. Not a bad headache for Arsene Wenger to have but it could become a migraine for us fantasy managers!
LIVERPOOL
Everton (A), Hull (A), Norwich (H), West Ham (H)
Whilst a trip to their nearest and dearest this weekend could go either way and is always difficult to predict, Liverpool’s next 3 fixtures after that afford them plenty of opportunity to keep the pressure on Arsenal at the top. Liverpool’s home form has been fantastic as of late with them scoring 11 in the last 3 at Anfield. We expect that may continue as Norwich and West Ham are the next 2 visitors.
Luis Suarez is Liverpool’s man of the moment and fast becoming a must-have fantasy asset. Much debate surrounded whether he was worth the premium over team-mate Daniel Sturridge and whilst Sturridge still leads the points scoring by 71 to 64 it is worth noting that Suarez has managed to amass his total in only 6 games as opposed to 12 for Sturridge! Old fantasy favourite Steven Gerrard has quietly been picking up momentum and with 2 goals and 3 assists in his last 5 games we may see more fantasy investment coming his way. At £8.9m he is definitely in the premium bracket but with so many others in that price range yet to find any consistency or are indeed out injured then he could be a good option going forward.
CHELSEA
West Ham (A), Southampton (H), Sunderland (A), Stoke (A)
Will the real Chelsea please stand up? It’s about time they started to as Mourinho’s men have faltered a little in the last 2 weeks but prior to the defeat at Newcastle in GW10 they had been on a run of 6 consecutive wins in all competitions which included victories against Man City and Arsenal. The next 4 fixtures then are eminently winnable for them despite 3 of them being on the road, so long as they can regain some of that earlier form and consistency.
Samuel Eto’o scored again in GW11, picking up 2 bonus points in the process but it remains to be seen whether he will keep his place or be rotated again once Fernando Torres returns from his injury. It is difficult to justify any Chelsea forward’s inclusion at the moment in your fantasy team so perhaps the best route is via their midfield. Oscar was emerging as an early favourite with 4 goals in the first 8 weeks but has since returned none in the last 3 causing many fantasy managers to be pondering a switch. With 3 goals and 2 assists in the last 4 games as well as picking up maximum bonus in 2 of those Eden Hazard may be the best option.
Difficult Fixtures
SOUTHAMPTON
Arsenal (A), Chelsea (A), Aston Villa (H), Man City (H)
Southampton find themselves in a seemingly unlikely Champions League spot, currently sitting 3rd in the table and only 3 points off the leaders Arsenal. Should they pull off another massive coup this weekend it is entirely plausible that they could actually lead the league come Saturday evening! So why are such an in-form team in this section then I hear you ask? Well, 3 of their next 4 are against Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City. The home game with Villa aside, the next 4 games should tell us whether Southampton are indeed the real deal or not.
Given that mini run of fixtures it may be wise to avoid the Saints back-line for a bit. Many doubled up early doors in this respect and it paid dividends in some cases but we would possibly suggest a re-think on that strategy for now. Adam Lallana is the runaway point’s scorer in the Saints midfield with 61 points thus far whilst Rickie Lambert is continuing where he left off last year as Mr consistent with 4 goals and 3 assists to his name.
CARDIFF
Man United (H), Arsenal (H), Stoke (A), Palace (A)
Whilst on the face of it Cardiff sit in a respectable 14th place in the league it is worth noting that they are only 2 points above the relegation zone and so their next few fixtures may cause a furrowed brow for some of their fans and in particular their manager Malky Mackay. The next 2 may be at home but it’s Man United and Arsenal rolling up to the City Stadium. Following this are 2 difficult and crucial away trips to Stoke and Palace. They will do well to maintain 14th spot with that little lot.
Steven Caulker has proved a canny buy for many fantasy managers so far as he has returned 49 points courtesy in part to his 2 goals, 2 assists and 9 bonus points but you may have to rely on his attacking returns if you stick with him for the next 4 games. Further up the pitch Pete Whittingham is Cardiff’s highest scoring midfielder from a fantasy point of view with 37 points but even he is by no means prolific with just 1 goal and 2 assists so far this season.
EVERTON
Liverpool (H), Stoke (H), Man Utd (A), Arsenal (A)
Roberto Martinez has got off to a good start to his Everton career with some impressive results whist still trying to mould his chargers into a slick passing outfit as is his way. A home game against Liverpool will be a test of that progress though as a rampant Suarez visits Goodison this week. Another home game against Stoke may be more fruitful before Everton embark on an unenviable road trip going to both Old Trafford and the Emirates.
Romelu Lukaku started off with a bang with 5 goals in 5 games but has failed to find the net in his last 2 causing fantasy owners to evaluate his position on their team. He has proven in the past to be capable of scoring against the best so it will be interesting to see how he emerges from these 4 fixtures as a fantasy prospect. Elsewhere it is Everton’s backline that has proved to be the most fruitful route to fantasy points so far with Leighton Baines leading the way on 64 whilst the more budget friendly Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard are not far behind on 59 each.
Of Note
Whilst all of the teams feature and there are no DGWs to consider it may be worth noting that there are Champions League and Europa League games between GW12 and GW13. With Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and Swansea all in action just be aware of any injury or rotation issues that may arise as a result.
Good luck everyone!
This article was written by inittowinit
Morning all,are we getting used to our surroundings yes??
I like how I asked it better.
; )
It’s too early for me James haha
Morning NIN, sorry I missed your grand arrival last night – welcome onboard my friend, great to see you here !
Haha,i don’t know about grand but how and ever,yes it’s good to see everyone here,yourself included,covert operations ay…ha,site is great!
NIN – yes it did feel about like that, but only with good & honourable intentions in mind – didn’t want to be seen as starting a coup, so it had to be that way rather than shoving stuff in people’s faces – sure you understand !
Plus – we wanted everything it be “A-ok” before you all came on.
Cookie – Yeah it makes sense man,as Eddy was saying last night,respect for FFC too, a great job has been done by all of you..kudos!! Okay lads,t’was just a quick visit,have to go now i’ll be back later i’m sure..have two job interviews today so hopefully something good happens..laters!
Best of luck NIN !
Appreciated Cookster,cheers.
So. We are approaching the re-start.
The two week break has given time for reflection, introspection, recrimination and in some cases self-doubt.
But, like Ant and Dec, we were always going to be back again.
So…
Carry on where you left off?
Major rethink?
WC?!
Personally, I’m too stupid / stuborn to change my ways…
I’ve already WC’ed :/
Going to re assess after the internationals this week, think I’m injury free so far!
Why change a winning team?
It’s a case of carry on where you left off for me, having already WC’d and not being capable of thinking..
I vowed to not take another hit until I caught my league leader but I’m considering a -4 already..
Hits just never seem to work out for me
i’ve no issue with the occasional hit for strategic reasons.
knee-jerk / impatience hits are different.
Well this is a strategic hit imo.. not really a knee jerk..
I have 2 FT and to get the player I need I and get rid of the 3 I don’t will take a hit.
I think it’s exactly the same move as you are considering too James mate if my memory serves me correctly
Mate, if its the same as mine then it’s definitely strategic.
Anything else, knee-jerk IMO.
So lukaku / bark / terry out?
Roon plus a couple of others in?
haha.. Fair play. Strategic it is..
Just have to make it through to Sat morning then I can hit the big red button
Yup pretty much the same for me it’s:
Lukaku, Ivan, Ozil out
Ronney + 2 undecide’s in..
I’ll probably go for it before sat.
I’d expect some price changes are possible after the intl games are done mate.
Yeah obviously price change pending..I just like to wait as long as possible as you can sometimes get an injury news on sat morning
Hi guys how are we?
My name on ffc was AniJ but ive moved on and am currently trying to work out how to get a grav… do i really need to sign up for wordpress???
Need some help for this week boys… am in areal dillemma!!!
Current team for GW 12 is:
Harper (Boruc)
Chico, CLyne, Vlaar (Coleman, Turner)
Hazard, Oscar, Ozil, Townsend (Amalfitano)
Suarez, Aguero, Lukaku
Obiously need to get rid of Oscar, but i really dont have any idea who to replace him with… so i have a few options and any help picking from them would be greatly appreciated: Also should I play Coleman or Clyne? Hard to know who is more likely to succeed?
1)Oscar –> Gerrard
2)Oscar –> Coutinho
3)Oscar –> Yaya Toure
4) Oscar –> Cabaye and Lukaku –> Rooney (am strongly leaning towards this option)) Good move?
5) Keep Oscar and do Lukaku –> Remy
I really want to get a strikeforce of Rooney, Suarez, Aguero and i feel option 4 is my best way of tetting it.. Im not worried about a hit guys… so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!
Oscar to gerrard, lukaku to remy imo
hhmmm yeh not bad, this week? or wait on the other one?
you dont think that rooney is going to be a dangerous option, a good captain choice for this week and the fact that Cabayes fixtures are anazing?
Well i am sorry, i did not even read ur post completely. Well i am using rooney aguero suarez too and i think its best u go with 4.
Although after signing cabaye, start looking at the form of players like ravel and brady. Especially ravel, he might do better than cabaye cos he is a goal threat and has had attacking returns everytime west ham has scored since he broke into their starting line up.
I am also captaining shrek this week
ah right thanks aguerrooo, good to see you on this wite too!!
SO should I go with Ravel or Cabaye? Both been in pretty good form but Cabaye has dream fixtures coming up imo so I think he could be some good Newcastle coverae? Thanks for your input anyway!!!
Thanks. its people like u that keep me going after all these false accusations of being smb else
I would go with ravel for his 2 decent fixtures with fulham and palace, then swap to cabaye if i am not impressed by ravel if i were u
Innit.. Great article mate.. Kinda feels almost like home now, all we need is the “around the grounds” on a Friday and my life will be complete..
How boring was this intl break? Where u able to keep ur hands away from the transfer button?
Morning Agueroooo..
Yea resisted temtation…those pesky internationals, who needs em..
Anyway what do u tihink of this place…?
Its kind of better. There are more articles, news and stuff. I like it
Demsie…………. youre going to be a happy boy come friday then mate
I literally cannot wait Eddy.. If I was chopper I’d probably mention something about shooting my bolt, but i’m not, so I won’t
Morning All…
…
It is the 1st time this year to say “good morning all” on this site
Ok, once again – the 4 of u guys have done some nice work, here !!!
…
“Fantastic Four” – I’d say
…
…
Morning Doc, welcome onboard !!
Glad you like the site mate, something to get your teeth into ?
Hey Cookie…
!
The site is fabulous ;)…impressive work !
God – I missed those articles
Already feels good to be here and to see all of you in one place again…
Everything looks great so far, so no comments from my side…
I’m sure things will get even better with time, so…I’m not even gonna go there ;)….
Ideas will come as we go …the bunch of FF addicts here is extraordinary…
We appreciate ur efforts and I can say on everyone’s behalf that for sure we will contribute to this awesome site, mate !
p.s. sorry for the “……” comments :/
…
was checking if my Gravatar will work…as far as I can see -it does now
Gave the site a thorough check….went through all details/articles/etc…
Once again —– > Tremendous work guys !
Cheers !
HL
Flirt.
Good looking site guys and off to a great start with the articles, good work!
Looking forward to future fpl musings and sharing opinions with the community.