With the first month of the new season approaching, it’s the perfect time to look at fixtures for September in advance for planning an initial team and any transfers to be made in September. Below I’ve focused on the top eight teams from last year’s Premier League season and sorted them in terms of teams with the best fixtures:
Spurs (3-5 games)
Everton (H)
Southampton (A)
Newcastle (H)
Potential Europa League playoff round
Spurs and Man Utd are the only teams on this list who avoid playing another one of the top eight teams during September. However, the advantage Spurs have over Man Utd is that they aren’t missing the first week of the season and could have two Europa League playoff games to play. This obviously draws my attention to the likes of Kane in my initial team but I’m also not ruling out some of their defensive assets if they are a good price.
Arsenal (3 games)
Fulham (A)
West Ham (H)
Liverpool (A)
I like the fact that Arsenal have two easier games straight off the bat. I don’t fancy them against Liverpool later in the month but they could start well against Fulham and West Ham. The obvious players to consider for me are Aubameyang. I’m also liking the look of Willian at only 3.5m – he’s consistently scored well over recent years and looks a bargain.
Leicester (3 games)
West Brom (A)
Burnley (H)
Man City (A)
Leicester are in a similar position to Arsenal. They start with two good fixtures and then have a very difficult one to end the month. I must admit, I rarely considered their players last season despite how well they did in the league and I can’t see me starting with any this season despite the fixtures being in their favour.
Chelsea (3 games)
Brighton (A)
Liverpool (H)
West Brom (A)
The unfortunate thing for Chelsea is having a home game against Liverpool bang in the middle of the month. Otherwise their fixtures look appealing and this runs into the start of October as well. It will depend on price points but I’ll be looking at players like Pulisic, Werner (bargain at 4m) and possibly some of their defenders.
Wolves (3 games)
Sheff Utd (A)
Man City (H)
West Ham (A)
Wolves are in the same position as Chelsea. They have two decent fixtures but a very difficult one inbetween. I can’t say I see the value in their players as much as I did last season when they had the Europa League. However, it’s still hard to overlook completely players like Doherty and Traore. Vinagre also looks like he could be a bargain. Worth noting they’ve got very nice fixtures in October as well.
Man Utd (2 games) unless the postponed fixture is rearranged in September
Palace (H)
Brighton (A)
Had Man Utd not had their opening fixture postponed they would probably top this list. I’m not sure when this will be rearranged but I doubt it will fall in September. I’m not sure if I’ll start with any of their players given how many transfers we’ve got and them not playing in game week one. When I am looking at their players Fernandes stands out as being massively under priced. It’s also hard not to consider Maguire – although I can’t see him scoring as well as he did last season with Man Utd being in the Champions League rather than the Europa League.
Liverpool (3 games)
Leeds (H)
Chelsea (A)
Arsenal (H)
I’ve placed Liverpool below Man Utd despite having three fixtures as two of these are against other clubs within the top 8. I like their opening fixture against Leeds and I’d probably fancy them to beat Chelsea and Arsenal but these are by no means easy fixtures. There’s a whole host of players to consider including Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Allisson, Mane and Salah. Despite the difficult fixtures, I’ll probably start with quite a few of these names.
Man City (2 games) unless the postponed fixture is rearranged in September
Wolves (A)
Leicester (H)
Man City only have two fixtures as they also miss game week one and both fixtures are against teams also within the top 8. As a result they come bottom of the list if we are working the fixtures. This doesn’t mean I’ll be leaving their players out though. I might not start with them but I’ll be looking to bring them in. I may stay clear of the defence as they rotate so much but we can’t ignore De Bruyne, Sterling and Aguero.
With regards to fixtures overall, you’ll probably know by now that I love a spreadsheet. This is the best way for me to spot patterns in fixtures. As a result, if you’d like to browse the spreadsheet I use, it can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t8-J8t2NKmHWDepR-Sf4Dqbd7oo7KcCkzR3ij4Fi3FU/
Worth noting I put this together manually for my own use so it could be subject to mistakes. But it does go up until end of November with the fixtures that have currently been released.
As always, share your thoughts/ideas in the comments below.
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Great fixtures for spurs but continually let me down kane a definite Ali a maybe and possibly Aurier
I’ve heard Aurier could be on his way out Ian with Max Aarons coming in. A situation worth keeping an eye on.
If Aurier did stay though, he posted some good numbers last season from an attacking perspective.
Ben Davies a good alternative – as you mentioned on another thread Chris. Certainly on my radar.
Yer my current thoughts are to start with three of the following four up top; Kane, Salah, Werner & Aubamayang and then use transfers to target City/Utd when the time is right.
With Kane in quarantine, I might avoid him for now.
That’s another problem I’d rather not have – Kane likely to miss the preseason now?
looks like I will bang in with spurs to start
a must is Abamayang and William
looking at WB goal keeper not sure yet though.
this year looks tough for selecting the front three.
I’m certainly struggling this year. Not got a draft I’m happy with yet
its up and running folks
Never confident with Spurs players, especially with the dinosaur Mourinho in charge. Kane is always tempting, but too many better options for me.
Does anyone think 4-3-3 could be the way forward this season?
Yep, I think 4-3-3 may be a good one to start with I think Steve. Maybe it can evolve into a 3-4-3 as and when those top performing midfielders make themselves known. 4-4-2 is surely dead now this season though?
Shame there’s no 4-2-4…
4-4-2 certainly dead for me. I don’t trust Spurs either but fixtures stand out. Tough one to call.
One of the reasons I’m considering looking at Davies (apart from fixtures and price) is the acquisition of Højbjerg from Southampton. He protects the back line very effectively and was one of the reasons Southampton were so solid towards the back end of last season. Bargain at £15m also and he was the captain at Southampton so hopefully he can keep them organised defensively.
Useful to know Chris – Davies does look a bargain and I think we’re going to need a few of them this season.
What I’ve done is picked the team I want for week 2, then I will replace the Utd and City players for week 1 only.
But whatever happens I will move them out.
That’s pretty much what I did as well Steve. It’s a pain them not playing in game week 1 though