Fixtures Scan 444 - September

To those who are visiting here for the 1st time due to the Today interview, welcome to my humble blog. This blog is still under renovation, as I rather be focusing on articles on Today Fantasy League before the game begin, so the layout is pretty...simple. Hope you guys find the past articles useful! :)

Now let's go on to this monthly column which I call Fixtures Scan 444, whereby we look ahead at the next FOUR gameweek to see which FOUR teams have easy fixtures, and which FOUR teams might have a tough month ahead.

One may think "Bah, who need to check fixtures, when XXX can score against anyone?" True, but for every top-notch XXX player you might have in the team, you will be force to choose a cheaper YYY player...and you might need to rotate them out when the fixtures get tougher. Surely you do not wish to choose a cheap defender that faces Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal in consecutive games?

So, who might be the lucky & unlucky teams in September?

Best FOUR fixtures

1) WBA (@ful, RED, @avl, QPR)

Despite facing Liverpool, Tottenham & Everton, Steve Clarke made a great start to his managerial debut by grabbing 7 out of 9 available points. With easier home fixtures against Reading & QPR, and away fixtures against Aston Villa & a Fulham team requiring a change in tactics, WBA looks likely to continue with their good form. Ben Foster (3.2), Liam Ridgewell (3.5), Gareth McAuley (3.4) and James Morison (3.9) are some of the cheapies one might consider from the Baggies.

2) Swansea (@avl, EVE, @sto, RED)

Under the guidance of Michael Laundrup, the Swans are flying high after 3 games, with the league best of +8 goal difference. The 2nd and 3rd game might provide some resistance, but games against Aston Villa & Reading are likely to be high scoring, which makes Swansea's assets like Michu (3.9), Nathan Dyer (3.8) and Danny Graham (5.9) enticing.

3) Everton (NEW, @swa, SOT, @wig)

With Newcastle facing an injury crisis, Everton might be in luck to start September 15 with a weakened opponent. The toughest game of the lot looks to be Swansea away, which they might grab some points. The Blues have plenty of mid-price gems to choose, from Defence [Tim Howard (3.7), Leighton Baines (4.5)] to attack [Marouane Fellaini (4.0), Nikica Jelavic (6.6)]

4) Chelsea (@qpr, STO, @ars, NOR)

Stoke & Norwich have yet to deny Chelsea full points at Stamford Bridge in Premier League, so these would be 2 enticing home fixtures for fantasy managers to load up on Eden Hazard (6.8) or Fernando Torres (7.2). It's the 2 away London derbies that might prove to be too much of a risk for some....especially when they see Chelsea's October fixtures.

Worst FOUR fixtures

1) Stoke (MCI, @che, SWA, @liv)

The 12/13 season doesn't get any easier for Stoke, innit? Home games against defending champions Man City and on-form Swansea, away to Stamford Bridge & Anfield. Fantasy managers might want to keep Robert Huth & Ryan Shawcross (3.6 each) away from their 1st 11 till their fixtures gets easier.

2) Arsenal (SOT, @mci, CHE, @whm)

Home game against Southampton might be enticing for fantasy managers to pick Thomas Vermaelen (4.6), Santi Cazorla (4.4) and Lukas Podolski (6.0), but then comes the 3 tricky games: away to Man City, followed by 2 London derbies against Chelsea and West Ham.

3) Norwich (WHM, @new, LIV, @che)

Norwich faces tough road trips at St Jam...I mean Sports Direct Arena and Stamford Bridge, while there isn't much home comfort entertaining long-ball technicians West Ham & who-knows-what's-gonna-happen Liverpool. They have been resilient since their 0-5 trashing by Fulham, but Norwich will need the likes of Grant Holt (6.0) to start scoring soon to stay in Premier League.

4) QPR (CHE, @tot, WHM, @wba)

Trying to gel the 123,112,645 newcomers which QPR has bought throughout this summer has been tough for Mark Hughes. Trying to record his 1st win might take some more time, with West Ham at home being the likeliest among the 4. With a leaky backline of 9 goals conceded, one might want to stay away from defensive players such as Rob Green [if he's still 1st choice] (3.1), Fabio (3.3) and Anton Ferdinand (3.3).



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