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With a couple of days to go for the start of the Premier League 2019/20, it is not just Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp or Eddie Howe tinkering with their gameweek squads right now. A plethora of virtual managers playing the Fantasy Premier League is making changes to their teams more than Claudio Ranieri ever did at Stamford Bridge.
As Bruce Banner’s Hulk proclaims these are confusing times, and hence it is important to remind ourselves about one of the basic thumb rules of the game; prioritize teams with good fixtures. In this article, we will look at 5 teams who have exceptional fixtures to begin the season with and also their potentially high scoring players. It should be noted that even though easy fixtures do not guarantee fantasy points, they are a safe parameter to choose your initial drafts.
#5 West Ham United (MCI, BHA, WAT, NOR, AVL)
West Ham has been handed a decent opening set of fixtures. FPL managers would have been rather pleased if Manchester City, the defending champions were not on their way to the London Stadium on the opening weekend.
But if we look past Gameweek 1, West Ham's attacking assets should throw up quite a few returns. With the additions of Sebastian Haller (£7.5m) upfront and Pablo Fornals (£6.5m) on the wings, their attack will not miss the now-departed Marko Arnautovic.
FPL managers should also keep their tabs on the explosive Felipe Anderson (£7.0m) and attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini (£6.5m) from Gameweek 2 onwards. However, managers should alert themselves about West Ham's inconsistent performances during the pre-season.
Last season's star goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has been priced relatively premium at £5.0m. Having also picked up a groin injury and the Man City fixture in gameweek 1, it is advised to avoid the Polish goalkeeper to start the season.
#4 Brighton and Hove Albion (WAT, WHU, SOU, MCI, BUR)
Brighton travel to Vicarage Road on Premier League's first Saturday. It is a tricky fixture, however with speculation over Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu's playing time due to injury concerns, this fixture could go either way.
The next two home matches against West Ham United and Southampton have one potential clean sheet written all over it. FPL managers not willing to spend the bucks on premium goalkeepers could look at Matt Ryan (£4.5m) as a cheap alternative to get home a couple of clean sheets.
The FPL community is licking its lips with the signing of Leandro Trossard (£6.0m), a Belgian winger who scored 14 goals and registered 7 assists for Genk in 2018/19. With ownership of 0.6% at the time of writing, this Brighton differential could be your ticket to the top of mini-leagues as well as overall leaderboards
A safer route into the Seagull's attack could be the tried and tested Glenn Murray (£6.0m) and the 2017/18 season's wonderboy Pascal Gross (£6.5m).
#3 Bournemouth (SHU, AVL, MCI, LEI, EVE)
With ownership of over 20% each, Bournemouth's attacking assets have been plunged on by FPL managers. And why not? With their opening two fixtures against two promoted sides, the Cherries are a no brainer. However, Callum Wilson (£8.0m), Ryan Fraser (£7.5m) and Joshua King (£6.5m) have given bosses the biggest headaches as well.
In my opinion, going with two if not one Bournemouth attacker for the first two games is necessary to safeguard yourself against rank falls. Wilson at this point offers the greatest value even though the English striker comes at a premium. Wilson scored a goal and registered 2 assists in a 3-0 win over Lyon in Bournemouth's last pre-season game. I would even say that he is a decent shout for a differential captaincy option.
At the back Nathan Ake (£5.0m) also attracts 18.8% ownership but there is no clarity over which of the four £4.5m priced goalkeeping option could start against Sheffield United. Do keep an eye new Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson (FPL price not revealed yet) who could shine in the absence of David Brooks who is ruled out for at least 12-14 weeks.
#2 Liverpool (NOR, SOU, ARS, BUR, NEW)
Last season's almost-men are runners up in our list of teams with the best opening fixtures. To be fair, regardless of the fixtures, the Liverpool stalwarts were certainly going to be the core of FPL manager's teams. Home games against Norwich, Arsenal & Newcastle have Captain-Salah written all over it. It is surprising to see Mo Salah (£12.5m) being owned by only 38.8% of the managers. With Sadio Mane (£11.5m) a certain absentee from Friday night's starting line-up, captaining Salah could be a huge rank pusher.
At least one of Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m), Trent Alexander Arnold (£7.0m) and Andrew Roberston (£7.0m) must guard a place in your team. As it stands, Alisson is the most owned goalkeeper in the game with 32.6% ownership. It would be much wiser to invest in one of the mentioned defenders who offer much more attacking points with bonus potential. Alisson has looked rather dodgy in pre-season with a couple of uncharacteristic errors against Lyon.
Roberto Firmino (£9.5m) has quietly gone under the radar with just 10.04% ownership. With Mane set to miss Friday night's fixture, the Brazilian forward is a cheaper route into the scouser's attacking front.
#1 Everton (CRY, WAT, AVL, WOL, BOU)
The top of our fixture ranking is Liverpool's Merseyside neighbor, Everton. With only one top 6 sides in the first 10 fixtures, Everton certainly is on the luckier side of Premier League's fixture listing. The Toffies have signed 19-year-old Italian wonderboy Moise Kean (£7.0m) from Juventus. His addition, however, has put the brakes on the Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) bandwagon which was developing in the pre-season. It would be ideal to hold the move on Kean, bringing him in only after assessing his minutes and attacking form.
One player who is not being held back a bit is Lucas Digne (£6.0m). Sharing set-piece duties with Gylfi Sigurdsson (£8.0m), the French left-back is a nailed on asset who offers clean sheets and assist potential. Do not be surprised if Digne pulls off double-digit hauls to start the season. FPL's veteran Seamus Coleman (£5.5m) is lurking close on Digne's heels having been priced half a million cheaper. Coleman has also been more explosive than Digne in the calendar year and has already notched up a goal in the pre-season friendly against Monaco.
Last season Richarlison (£8.0m) was an out-of-position asset in the first half of the season. However, having failed to carry on early-season heroics deep into the year, his ownership has taken a hit with managers preferring the more consistent Sigurdsson.
