Fantasy Premier League tips: Approaching the FPLs upcoming fixture crunch
We are heading into a very congested phase of the Premier League calendar, with the usual two full weekend slates sandwiching a midweek round of fixtures in the next fortnight. With the deadlines for these three gameweeks following one another so quickly, managing your Fantasy Premier League team effectively through this period can make or break your whole season.
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So, who are the best picks through the next couple of weeks, and what mistakes should you avoid making?
Frisking the fixtures
It’s key to take note of the fixtures for Gameweek 14 through Gameweek 16, with three matches each for the 20 clubs to navigate across only nine days.
According to the Fantasy Football Hub Fixture Ticker, Wolves have the best run of matches across the three rounds.

From the in-form sides, assets from Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal could be useful over this section of the season. Targeting nailed-on starters who regularly complete the 90 minutes will be a key strategy for these three gameweeks. It’s also important to avoid players who are prone to injury.
Fitness concerns at Brighton mean their assets are a challenge to invest in right now, with the status of Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) for the Gameweek 14 trip to Chelsea currently unknown. Arsenal are a much easier call. Mikel Arteta, particularly with a fit squad, rarely tinkers with his side from one gameweek to another. Bukayo Saka (£8.7m) should be a key target, and not just because of his four assists in the last five gameweeks. He completed 90 minutes in three of those five games, and is still their first-choice penalty-taker.
The Arsenal defence remains a key area to be invested in, as they have a league-leading six clean sheets, including four in the last seven gameweeks. Arteta’s full-backs occasionally see some rotation and early substitutions. Gabriel (£4.9m) remains prone to missing the odd game too, so William Saliba (£5.5m) is perhaps worth the additional outlay. On top of the clean sheets, Saliba has a goal and an assist and has played the maximum 1,170 minutes.
At the opposite end of the fixture ticker, we find Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, clubs whose assets all see significant ownership in our squads.
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One positive from a challenging fixture list is that managers are forced to go full strength in this period, which should lend itself to less rotation. And in the case of Newcastle, their squad is somewhat threadbare at the moment — they were struggling for numbers for last night’s Champions League away game against Paris Saint-Germain.
Anthony Gordon (£5.9m) and Kieran Trippier (£7.0m) remain sound fantasy picks from Eddie Howe’s side, given their form.
Gordon is a cheap option (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)We do need to be mindful that their midweek trip to Everton in Gameweek 15 is the easier game of Newcastle’s three, sandwiched between Manchester United at home and Spurs away. We could see more rotation for that Everton match. The same could be said for Tottenham, who entertain West Ham in the midweek Gameweek 15 round, which falls between a visit to Manchester City and that meeting with Newcastle.
Plenty of fantasy managers are looking to sell Son Heung-min (£9.7m) this week after three successive attacking blanks, with injuries now slowing Spurs’ early-season momentum. While the fixtures remain tough, Son should play almost every game over the festive period and as a Golden Boot winner, he could still be a sound fantasy option. I’m holding onto him for now.
Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) is another hold for Villa’s tough spell, which includes matches against Manchester City and Arsenal in Gameweek 15 and Gameweek 16. He will have the home advantage for those two fixtures and can be relied upon to complete 90 minutes. Two-thirds of his attacking returns this season (10 of 15) have come at Villa Park.
Mistakes to avoid
During the busy festive period, it’s important to keep pace with the pack, so playing safe with the captaincy decision is wise.
Provided they can stay fit, Erling Haaland (£14.0m) of Manchester City and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) should be considered each week: they are the best goalscorers in the Premier League and both take penalties for their club.
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Managers should also actively avoid those players who are prone to rotation, such as Salah’s team-mate Darwin Nunez (£7.6m). Nunez may appear to be a tempting option, having started the last four league games, but he should still be swerved.
Matty Cash (£5.1m) may now be on the sell list after being substituted at half-time of Villa’s win against Spurs on Sunday, leading to a sixth straight attacking blank and ninth in his last 10 games. He also picked up his fourth yellow card of the season, so his next booking of the calendar year will result in a one-match ban.
There are almost 30 players walking that same suspension tightrope, including Cash’s team-mate Douglas Luiz (£5.6m), Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling (£7.0m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) of Manchester United and Trippier.
Sterling is one more booking away from a ban (Stu Forster/Getty Images)Inevitably, we will need to use our fantasy benches over this period.
Making upgrades to starting players if you have no other issues could also be useful.
Caoimhin Kelleher (£3.9m) could be set for a spell in the Liverpool side after Alisson picked up an injury against Manchester City last weekend. Jamaal Lascelles (£4.1m) has proven his worth deputising for the injured Sven Botman in the heart of Newcastle’s defence, but we do need to be mindful that Botman could be back soon. The cheaper attacking options are more difficult to find, but Sheffield United’s Cameron Archer (£4.6m) is a worthy third forward for your bench in a 3-5-2 formation.
It is also worth keeping in the back of your mind that Manchester City and Brentford both blank in Gameweek 18, due to City’s involvement in the Club World Cup that pre-Christmas weekend.
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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