Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 22 – Who do the Fixtures Gods love?

BySiddhant Lazar, SportsCafe Editor

01/10/2020

Another week nearly over and that means that the Premier League is back upon us with the league taking a nine day break after the hectic Festive schedule. For FPL managers that did not make things easier, but with January and February a lot easier, the question is who does the fixtures favour?

Favourites by a long shot

Bournemouth

This one is rather shocking but Bournemouth lead the favour list especially when it comes to nothing but green until the end of February. It’s a brilliant run for the Cherries and if this were any other season, then the FPL world would be telling you to double and maybe even triple up on the likes of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser, Josh King, and even young Aaron Ramsdale.

But it isn’t any other season and with them parked in the relegation zone, it makes things that much harder. And yet, there’s something about them that the fixture gods seem to love as they’ve handed them no “Big Six” side in either January and just the one in February. But the Cherries will also face Watford, Norwich, Brighton and Aston Villa to end January.

Brighton

It’s the run of the century and it really couldn’t have happened to a better team especially given the way Graham Potter has helped them play. The Seagulls look like a team transformed but the results haven’t shown on the table or the statistics board or even on our FPL teams. And yet that might change with them handed a clear run till the end of February.

Unlike Bournemouth, they have “No Big Six” side on their radar till mid-March with a run of games that would help any team in the world survive not just relegation by Y2K. The only problem is that a large majority of them will be played on the road with just three home game against Aston Villa, Watford and Crystal Palace.

Leicester City

With the season the Foxes are having, the world loves them, FPL managers love them and more importantly for said FPL managers, the fixture gods love them. They do have a tougher run as compared to the rest in this favourites column but it’s only because they have two Big Six sides in Chelsea and Manchester City on their radar. Barring that, it’s a clear run till mid-March with nothing but green skies and Jamie Vardy scoring.

In the Danger Zone

Norwich City

They started the season so wonderfully well and everyone wanted a part of the Pukki Party with Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia all playing their parts. But now, 16 odd games into the season and the Canaries are bad, they’re really really really bad and please stay away from them if you want your FPL season to mean anything. Todd Cantwell does look a rather nice option given his 4.9 price tag but barring that, they’re all a shadow of themselves. And the Fixture gods haven’t helped their case with Norwich playing four Big Six sides and Leicester City before the end of February. That includes Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Leicester City and for extra measure a dose of the Wolves.

Burnley

Sean Dyche and his men haven’t been in good form, and their results have proved just that over the last few months if not weeks. The Clarets sit four points above the relegation zone, their best players cannot find the net to save their lives and more importantly, they’ve lost six out of their last ten games and have managed just four wins. That’s relegation form and while they cannot score to save their lives, the goals are flying in at the other side.

Not good days and naturally that means that the fixtures gods have handed them the worst possible run in the history of FPL. It’s four back-to-back fixtures against Chelsea, Leicester City, Manchester United and Arsenal with Tottenham and Manchester City coming three games after that. FPL managers stay away and if you haven’t already, transfer out Nick Pope.

West Ham

The new manager boost might help the Hammers and that’s even when you consider that their new manager is David Moyes. But to make things even harder the gods have handed them a sensationally bad fixture list with five impossibly hard games. And by impossibly hard, we mean really really really hard games including battles against Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester and yes Liverpool yet again. Tough times lay ahead for David Moyes and his side.