The Premier League standings after gameweek 7 (source: livescore.com)
With this season’s second international break coming up after gameweek 8 this coming weekend, we’re taking a look at the list of fixtures for the next 5 weeks. By now you probably have a good idea of what the 18-19 Premier League is going to look like, which teams will be competing for the title, and which players have hit the ground running this season. As the wildcard chip might be used by more managers soon, possibly around the international break, we’re taking a look at the coming run of fixtures for each Premier League outfit in order to determine their difficulty and help you with planning gameweeks 8 to 12 in Fantasy Premier League.
In this article we’re going to look at the fixtures for the current top 10 clubs in the EPL and later this week in our follow-up article we’ll take a look at the bottom 10 teams so you can also see if any more clubs have a run of bonus fixtures.
| Manchester City | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Liverpool (A) | Burnley (H) | Spurs (A) | Southampton (H) | Man United (H) |
| Shaktar Don. (A) | Fulham(H) EFL Cup | Shaktar Don. (H) |
The reigning champions have a tough five weeks coming up, with away games at free-scoring Liverpool and a resurgent Spurs side, as well as a home game against current strugglers Man United. Add to that their important win on 2nd October away to Hoffenheim in the Champions League after their opening loss at home to Lyon, Guardiola’s love for rotation, and the imminent return of midfield maestro Kevin de Bruyne, and suddenly City’s schedule looks like one of the least attractive out of all Premier League teams. If there’s one team who can come out of such a period victoriously, it’s City though, so don’t discard them straight away and keep an eye on rotation.
Rating for FPL: DIFFICULT (but it is Man City!)
| Liverpool | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Man City (H) | Huddersfield (A) | Cardiff (H) | Arsenal (A) | Fulham (H) |
| Red Star Bel. (H) | Red Star Bel. (A) |
Liverpool’s upcoming schedule is of medium difficulty, containing some top games as well as a few plum (home) fixtures. The main complication from an FPL point of view is the club’s participation in the Champions League, where the Reds got off to a great start by beating PSG at Anfield but a last second loss to Napoli last night on the 3rd of October means there is more pressure on both the Red Star Belgrade games, which might not allow manager Jurgen Klopp to limit his rotation when it comes to the Premier League. Like City, Liverpool has the squad depth to rotate a lot, which is rarely a good sign for FPL managers. An upside for FPL managers in regard to Liverpool is that the Reds are no longer participating in the EFL Carabao Cup.
Rating for FPL: REASONABLE
| Chelsea FC | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Southampton (A) | Man United (H) | Burnley (A) | Crystal Palace (H) | Everton (H) |
| Videoton (A) | BATE (H) | Derby (H) EFL Cup | BATE (A) |
Chelsea have a full upcoming schedule, but not necessarily a very difficult one. The Blues, of course, play Europa League football this year, which means considerably weaker opposition compared to the Champions League. Looking at their first game away versus PAOK, there are signs that manager Sarri will take the Europa League seriously, but also that he’ll be offering chances to players who don’t regularly start in the Premier League. The Italian coach is not known for tinkering with his starting eleven a lot, which is good news for FPL managers, as the focus will ultimately be on the domestic league. Chelsea is currently in shape and Eden Hazard is showing why he’s one of the best forwards in the world, so four out of the five next games against teams from the bottom half of the table doesn’t sound too bad at all.
Rating for FPL: GOOD
| Tottenham Hotspur | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Cardiff (H) | West Ham (A) | Man City (H) | Wolves (A) | Crystal Palace (A) |
| PSV (A) | West Ham (A) EFL Cup | PSV (H) |
Besides the 4-2 defeat to Barcelona game in the Champions League last night on the 3rd of October and the Premier League home game against City in gameweek 10, all of the fixtures coming up for Spurs over the next five weeks could (and perhaps should) result in victories. After kind of an ordinary start to the season, Tottenham seem to be finding their form again, with 6 points from the last two games as well as three goals from star player Harry Kane. The current injuries to Eriksen, Alli, Vertonghen, Dembélé and Aurier could become a serious problem for Spurs though, as they have nine games coming up in less than a month. This reduces the risk of rotation for FPL managers, but a lack of freshness could have an effect on the team’s performances after a while, which would lower their FPL appeal.
Rating for FPL: GOOD
| Arsenal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Fulham (A) | Leicester (H) | Crystal Palace (A) | Liverpool (H) | Wolves (H) |
| FK Qarabag (A) | Sporting Lisbon (A) | Blackpool (H) EFL Cup | Sporting Lisbon (H) |
After a difficult start to the season, Arsenal have found their way. The last five games in the Premier League were won and the club’s Europa League opener against Vorskla was converted into three points as well. That game showed that new manager Unai Emery will be using a lot of players who don’t start in the Premier League for the international games, such as Lichtsteiner, Mkhitaryan and Welbeck, which hopefully means good news for FPL managers. Arsenal’s domestic league schedule certainly shows potential, though the European games against a strong side like Sporting Lisbon could mean that some of the usual starting players don’t appear for the domestic kick-offs in those weeks. The national and international results in gameweeks 8 and 9 will shed some more light on this topic.
Rating for FPL: GOOD
| Watford | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Bournemouth (H) | Wolves (A) | Huddersfield (H) | Newcastle (A) | Southampton (A) |
Watford’s sixth place in the league after seven gameweeks is one this campaign’s biggest surprises so far. The Hornets no longer compete for the EFL Carabao Cup after losing to Spurs after penalties, so their full focus is on the Premier League for the coming gameweeks. First up is another one of this season’s outstanding performers as Watford hosts Bournemouth, which, like the Huddersfield game at home in gameweek 10, looks promising in terms of goals and FPL points. With Newcastle and Southampton currently ranked among the worst five home sides, the away game at Molineux in gameweek 9 seems to be Watford’s most difficult fixture over the coming five weeks.
Rating for FPL: VERY GOOD
| AFC Bournemouth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Watford (A) | Southampton (H) | Fulham (A) | Man United (H) | Newcastle (A) |
| Norwich City (H) EFL Cup |
With their victory over Crystal Palace last gameweek, Bournemouth have settled into 7th in the Premier League for the moment, which is impressive. With three wins and a draw out of four, the Cherries are especially comfortable in front of their own fans this season, while the three points from three away games so far is nothing extraordinary. Bournemouth are still active in the Carabao League Cup, which means gameweek 11 will be their toughest week out of the coming five, as they face United at home in the League and Norwich at home in the Cup. Three of their opponents until gameweek 12 are currently in the bottom half of the table (Southampton 16th, Fulham 17th, and Newcastle 18th) and their confidence is high enough to get a result against Watford coming weekend.
Rating for FPL: GOOD
| Leicester City | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Everton (H) | Arsenal (A) | West Ham (H) | Cardiff (A) | Burnley (H) |
| Southampton (H) EFL Cup |
It looks like manager Claude Puel got his team back on the rails just in time. The last two Premier League were won comfortably, against Huddersfield at home (3-1) and Newcastle away (0-2), and Wolves were eliminated from the League Cup after penalties in between. The return from suspension of Jamie Vardy in gameweek 6 has had the desired effect and the Foxes will be looking at the coming fixtures with confidence. Home games against Everton, West Ham and Burnley could well turn up plenty of goals, while at least one of the away games against Arsenal and Cardiff could be theirs for the taking as well.
Rating for FPL: VERY GOOD
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Crystal Palace (A) | Watford (H) | Brighton (A) | Spurs (H) | Arsenal (A) |
Out of the three promoted sides this season, Wolves are definitely the best-performing one over the first seven gameweeks, with a 9th place as a result. As a matter of fact, the team hasn’t looked out of place in the Premier League for a second so far this campaign. They were eliminated from the League Cup by Leicester, which means they can fully focus on the league now. While gameweeks 11 and 12 offer up some difficult opposition, the three upcoming games against Palace, Watford, and Brighton show some potential. Palace aren’t quite comfortable at home yet (1 draw from 3 games and no goals scored), Watford perform well away from home (4 points from 3 games), and Brighton aren’t bad at home (4 points from 3 games), so these mid-table clashes could go either way.
Rating for FPL: REASONABLE
| Manchester United | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 |
| Newcastle (H) | Chelsea (A) | Everton (H) | Bournemouth (A) | Man City (A) |
| Juventus (H) | Juventus (A) |
Manchester United are in disarray and their upcoming fixture list isn’t exactly forgiving. The Red Devils were kicked out of the Carabao League Cup by Frank Lampard’s Derby County, so FPL managers can at least forget about that as far as United is concerned, but the remaining schedule is still far from easy. After beating Young Boys in the first Champions League game followed by an away 0-0 draw on 2nd October against Valencia leaves a double meeting with favourites Juventus next. United will need to field their strongest eleven in Europe, which could have effects on their line-ups and performances in the Premier League, where they’re currently 10th. There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the club and manager José Mourinho might not be at Old Trafford anymore by the time we get to gameweek 12. All of these factors make United’s immediate future hard to predict. The coming gameweeks could be the perfect way for United to avoid a complete crisis situation, or to plunge them right into it.
Rating for FPL: DIFFICULT
Later this week we will publish our review of the fixture list for the bottom 10 clubs in the current EPL table.