Over recent weeks we’ve seen the importance of looking ahead to upcoming fixtures. This helps us make informed decisions on transfers based on the number of upcoming games and fixture ease for any given player. Both can help gain a significant advantage over other managers, as we saw last month with Man Utd players both performing particularly well with additional Europa League fixtures. Below I’ve examined the top 7 clubs in the Premier League and sorted them in terms of teams with the best fixtures:
Man Utd (5 games)
Bournemouth (H)
FC Rostov (A) – Europa League
Chelsea (A) – FA Cup
FC Rostov (H) – Europa League
Middlesbrough (A)
Ibrahimovic – a hat trick in the first leg of the Europa League in February proved why looking ahead at fixtures is vital for picking up additional points. Ibrahimovic will once again have two Europa League fixtures in March. From team selection in the previous round it looks as though Man Utd are taking the competition seriously. These extra games could give Ibrahimovic a real advantage over other strikers for the month.
Pogba – with additional Europa League fixtures it’s hard to overlook any Man Utd player. Pogba has been their highest point scoring midfielder to date. With these additional fixtures he could pick up a good amount of points during March.
Man City (5 games)
Huddersfield (H) – FA Cup Replay
Sunderland (A)
Middlesbrough) – FA Cup (If they get past Huddersfield)
Monaco (A) – Champions League
Liverpool (H)
Aguero – it looked as though Aguero would be the second choice striker at Man City for the rest of the season. However with Jesus picking up a potentially season ending injury, Aguero is now likely to start most games. He had already scored well this season and looks set to continue this form with two goals against Monaco. City have this return leg during March, along with two Premier League fixtures, an FA cup replay and potentially another FA cup tie. It would be a risky move for any manager to exclude Aguero from their team.
Arsenal (4 games)
Liverpool (A)
Bayern Munich (H) – Champions League
Lincoln (H) – FA Cup
West Brom (A)
Sanchez – with well over 200 points for the season to date Sanchez is a difficult player to ignore. However Arsenal start the month with a tricky game at Liverpool and then follow it up with the return leg of the Champions League against Bayern. They then face Lincoln in the FA cup, a game in which Sanchez could be rested and then travel to West Brom. It could be a slow month for points for Sanchez.
Tottenham (3 games)
Everton (H)
Millwall (H) – FA Cup
Southampton (H)
Kane – it was very disappointing to see Tottenham crash out of the Europa League during February. They now have two less fixtures during March. However they do seem to now be taking the FA cup seriously. I’d imagine Kane will play against Millwall and will obviously feature against Everton and Southampton. He is looking like a slightly less appealing option without the additional Europa League fixtures. Having said that, with two hat tricks in the space of a week he would be a very dangerous player to exclude.
Chelsea (3 games)
West Ham (A)
Man Utd (H) – FA Cup
Stoke (A)
Costa – despite only having 3 fixtures during the month it’s hard to ignore Chelsea’s Premier League form. They will continue to push towards winning the title during March and Costa seems to pick up a goal in most games. It’s no surprise to see him as one of the top point scoring strikers this season. However I’d question if he will score more points across three games than the likes of Aguero, Ibrahimovic or Sanchez with their additional fixtures.
Everton (3 games)
Tottenham (A)
West Brom (H)
Hull (H)
With only 3 games during March, starting with a difficult away fixture at Tottenham, I’d personally avoid Everton players. I’d be looking towards players from Man Utd and Man City who all have additional fixtures and a bigger opportunity to pick up points.
Liverpool (3 games)
Arsenal (H)
Burnley (H)
Man City (A)
Personally I’ll be staying away from Liverpool players during March with only 3 games including two tricky fixtures at home to Arsenal and away at Man City. However if I were to pick a Liverpool player I’d have to go for Mane. Liverpool really struggled without him and he made an instant impact with a couple of goals against Spurs.
I’m hoping to go for a front 6 of something like this for the majority of the month:
De Bruyne, Eriksen, Pogba
Aguero, Kane or Sanchez, Ibrahimovic
This will ensure good coverage from teams with the most fixtures during the month.
As always, share your thoughts/ideas in the comments below.
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Looking to maybe get a Man Utd defender in for March; who do you think would get the most games out of Bailly and Rojo?
And I currently have De Bruyne and Hazard, considering swapping them for someone at a similar price, maybe sterling and Aguero? Would you do this transfer or recommend someone different?
Hi Jeremy, thanks for the comment. It’s difficult to say who would get the most game time – Bailly is suspended for the first leg of the Europa League but he was my choice.
I’ve got De Bruyne as well and he’s not been in great point scoring form. But swapping him for Sterling may only return a similar amount of points so could be a waste. I’m personally going to stick with De Bruyne for now. I’ve built my team around Man Utd players for this month as they have those extra Europa League fixtures. I’m also transferring Aguero in as we speak hoping that he will play tonight.
I’m personally going with De Bruyne, Eriksen, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Aguero and Kane for the start of March at least.