The Scout picks players to invest in – and to avoid – based on their teams’ next six Gameweeks
The Scout uses the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR) to identify the clubs with the best and worst schedules over the next six Gameweeks in Fantasy Premier League.
Who has the best fixtures?
Chelsea
Chelsea’s key players have the schedule to immediately make their mark in Fantasy under their new head coach Liam Rosenior.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each match is ranked from one to five – with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest – four of the Blues’ next six matches score only two.
All four of those kind contests take place over Gameweeks 24-27. The Blues have three home matches against West Ham United, Leeds United and Burnley, while also visiting Wolverhampton Wanderers.
There’s hope among Fantasy managers that Cole Palmer (£10.4m) can finally re-establish himself as a must-have in the premium bracket after he struggled to produce his best under Enzo Maresca.
Rosenior’s tactics will dictate where the value lies and it may well be Enzo Fernandez (£6.4m) who emerges as the star here if he is paired in a central advanced role alongside Palmer.
There’s also the prospect of Rosenior utilising a wing-back system but with so much uncertainty surrounding his preferred XI, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (£4.9m) seems the safest option in you’re looking to investment at the back right now.
Up front, Liam Delap (£6.2m) has the physical attributes and pressing style of play that Rosenior demands of his forwards and the pair have already worked together previously at Hull City. If Delap can nail down the lone forward role ahead of Joao Pedro (£7.1m), he’s likely to be a big favourite in Fantasy at such a low cost.
Chelsea’s next six matches
*1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
Leeds, West Ham and Crystal Palace
The table below also shows that Leeds’ Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) have two matches in the next four Gameweeks which score only two in the FDR.
Calvert-Lewin has scored eight of his nine goals, and supplied one of his two assists, over the last nine Gameweeks.
His favourable matches are both at home, against Fulham and Nottingham Forest in Gameweeks 22 and 25 respectively.
Bowen’s kind contests are at home to Sunderland in Gameweek 23 and away to Burnley in Gameweek 25, suggesting his remaining nine per cent backers might consider holding for the short-term.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, have one of the very best mid-term schedules to invest in.
Oliver Glasner’s side face only one of the current top nine in the next six Gameweeks, with their FDR average of 2.7 across that run the second-best in the league.
The imminent return from injury of Daniel Munoz (£5.8m) can hand us a low-owned heavy-hitter in defence. If the Colombian returns in time to face Sunderland in Gameweek 22, he is a great option to own alongside Arsenal‘s Gabriel (£6.7m) in your backline.
Palace winger Ismaila Sarr (£6.3m) is now down to two per cent ownership and is one to consider when he returns from the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) later this month.
Everton and Brighton
Elsewhere, Everton’s James Tarkowski (£5.7m) and Brighton & Hove Albion‘s Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) are names to consider if you’re investing at the back.
Tarkowski is the fifth top-scoring defender on 100 points, combining eight clean sheets with 30 defensive contribution points. Only one of the Toffees’ next eight matches scores more than three in the FDR.
Verbruggen has three home matches in the next four Gameweeks, against AFC Bournemouth, Everton and Palace. He has amassed 18 points over his last two matches at Amex Stadium.
A final word here for Sunderland, who don’t make the table below as they visit Arsenal and host Liverpool in this spell.
Three of the Black Cats’ six matches score two, which makes the likes of Nordi Mukiele (£4.4m) or Omar Alderete (£4.1m) great rotation assets for your bench in the sub £4.5m category.
Clubs with the best fixtures, GW22-27
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Who has the worst fixtures in Fantasy?
Man Utd
Manchester United lead the way among those with the worst runs of opponents, with an FDR average of 3.5 across the next four Gameweeks.
In truth, it’s the next two Gameweeks that heavily weight the numbers here, with a home clash against Manchester City and visit to Arsenal scoring a combined nine alone.
This indicates that managers are best to wait until Gameweek 24 before considering Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m) or Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m), although the former’s penalty duties and defensive contribution potential makes him more of a fixture-proof pick.
Liverpool and Brentford
Elsewhere, two of the most-popular forwards in Fantasy, Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike (£8.9m) and Brentford‘s Igor Thiago (£7.1m), are set to embark on runs which could limit their attacking output.
After the Reds’ home clash with Burnley this weekend, Ekitike is set to visit to Bournemouth and Sunderland on either side of back-to-back Anfield encounters with Newcastle United and Man City.
Thiago, meanwhile, is the most-bought player ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 GMT deadline, with more than 440,000 managers bringing him in.
His 34 per cent ownership will be hoping he can prevail over a schedule which includes visits to Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle, as well as a home clash with Arsenal, in his upcoming five fixtures.
Clubs with the worst fixtures, GW22-27
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile