Fantasy Premier League: How the teams with the busiest winter schedules affect your plans

This full midweek round of Premier League fixtures has brought plenty of challenges for Fantasy Premier League managers — and that state of affairs looks set to continue across December.

Next midweek, we’ve got another round of fixtures in the three UEFA competitions and the midweek after that brings the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, with the eight sides still standing all being from the Premier League, and both could have a knock-on effect when it comes to FPL gameweeks.

So, which clubs have got the most congested schedules over the next few gameweeks, how will that affect our teams, and who are assets we should be most concerned about when it comes to potential rotation?

Four clubs are in the process of tackling nine fixtures in December.

Chelsea have two European midweeks in among seven league games, while Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are all in Europe and have also progressed to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

Arsenal should effectively join them as another club with a packed winter schedule including Europe and the Carabao’s last eight, but their fixtures are a little more spread out, with their Gameweek 13 match having fallen on the final night of November and their Gameweek 19 one coming on New Year’s Day.

Liverpool

League leaders Liverpool have one of the most demanding winter schedules in the Premier League, with nine fixtures in three competitions spread across 29 days this month. Following the Gameweek 14 win against Manchester City in the first of those nine, only two of the rest are at Anfield and their next is an away trip to local rivals Everton (Gameweek 15).

However, they currently sit top of the Champions League, winning all five of their fixtures to date in that competition, before travelling to Spain to meet a Girona side only 30th of 36 in that table and eighth in La Liga. Liverpool also have a favourable draw in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals away at Southampton, who are bottom of the Premier League. Both of these games provide opportunities for Arne Slot to rest key players.

With this in mind, I’d still consider Liverpool assets to be wise buys in FPL, with a defender a key target in the short term to add to the essential Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) in midfield.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham are also navigating nine fixtures in 29 days across December. Half of their remaining eight of those are at home, which should help them. Next midweek, they have a pretty short trip in the Europa League to face Rangers in Glasgow. Then, their Carabao Cup quarter-final at home against Manchester United is a significant fixture, with Spurs hungry to progress to the latter stages as they seek their first trophy since winning that competition in 2008.

The demands of the schedule, plus the importance of their games in all three competitions, means rotation will be inevitable in this period. We’ve seen in recent matches that midfielders James Maddison (£7.6m), Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) and Brennan Johnson (£6.7m) have interchanged, although all of them can do damage off the bench, too. Son Heung-min (£9.9m) and Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) have also missed out with various issues in recent weeks.

Having a strong first substitute is key here, with investment in the Tottenham attack still an exciting strategy.

Manchester United

United have nine December fixtures too, but spread over 30 days, with three of their remaining seven coming at Old Trafford. They travel to the Czech Republic to face Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League next midweek in a 12th vs 13th fixture and are the away side against Spurs in the Carabao Cup’s last eight the following Thursday.

With two wins and three draws in Europe so far, there’s still work to do over their final three league-phase matches in that competition, meaning little opportunity for Ruben Amorim to rest key players, such as midfielder and attacking talisman Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) in particular.

With this in mind, I’m personally a bit reluctant to invest in United assets at this early point of the Amorim era. There are plenty of attacking players at the club to fit into his front three and it remains unclear who his first-choice options will be.

Chelsea

Chelsea’s own demanding nine-in-29 December schedule is less of a concern, with their European line-ups so far usually looking like more of a B team; a benefit of head coach Enzo Maresca having so many players to pick his sides from.

Crucially, talismanic midfielder Cole Palmer (£11.0m) wasn’t even included in their Conference League squad, so should be well rested to play in every Premier League game. Forward Nicolas Jackson (£8.2m) is another attractive fantasy investment if you’re looking to double-up on the Chelsea attack, given Palmer is such a template pick. He is one yellow card away from a suspension, though.

With Chelsea’s longer-term fixtures also attractive, buying one of their defensive assets isn’t the worst idea for December, with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (£4.8m) and defender Malo Gusto (£4.9m) worth considering, although the former was rested for his team’s win at Southampton on Wednesday.

Arsenal

Arsenal have a kinder schedule than some of the clubs who will be busy during this winter period, with nine fixtures taking place over 33 days and only seven of those falling in December. Having five home games in this spell adds to the positive outlook.

Their cup commitments have fallen nicely, with Monaco visiting next midweek in the Champions League before they then play Crystal Palace at home in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

With Arsenal taking 10 points from their first five Champions League games, these two midweeks could give them the opportunity to rest players or bring starters off early. Also, their home Premier League matches against Everton in Gameweek 16 and Ipswich Town in Gameweek 18 are particularly attractive in FPL terms.

Given some slack in the schedule, plus their favourable fixtures, I’m comfortable tripling up on Arsenal assets for this period.

Midfielder Bukayo Saka (£10.4m) and defender Gabriel (£6.2m) are well established in the current template, although the latter missed his side’s win over Manchester United on Wednesday night. The key decision here is whether to look to double up on attackers or defenders, with forward Kai Havertz (£7.9m) and midfielder Martin Odegaard (£8.3m) making a strong case in recent weeks to choose the former.

We do have some cheaper options to consider in a defensive double-up, including goalkeeper David Raya (£5.5m) and defender Jurrien Timber (£5.6m), the latter with Ben White (£6.1m) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.8m) both being long-term absentees at right-back.

The other teams to be aware of

Two other clubs have eight games in December, including a European midweek but not a Carabao Cup quarter-final: City and Aston Villa. Both come into this period in a rut of form, which makes them challenging to invest in, but they do have the fixtures to turn things around.

Villa host Southampton next, in Gameweek 15 — one of three home games they have left this month. They do travel to RB Leipzig next midweek in the Champions League, where they are in good shape to reach the knockout rounds with three league-phase matches to go, but then have an important midweek off, having been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Palace in the previous round. City’s progression in the Champions League is far from secure, with eight points from their five matches and a trip to Italy to play Juventus next midweek. They only have two more home games in December, but can rest players between Gameweeks 16 and 17.

With City out of the Carabao Cup too, that competition is wide open, with Pep Guardiola’s side having won it on four occasions during his eight completed seasons as their manager. That means we’re likely to see these teams go full-strength for their quarter-final: Palace (at Arsenal), Newcastle United, Brentford (who face each other at St James’ Park) and Southampton (who host Liverpool).

These clubs are not ordinarily subjected to the demands of midweek and weekend fixtures in this busiest period of the season, so some rotation could be expected from them in the Premier League. Newcastle striker Alexander Isak (£8.4m) could be rested at some point, for example, now Callum Wilson (£6.9m) is back to full fitness after missing the first three months of the season.

Palace’s key attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze (£6.6m) has also just returned from injury, so expect his minutes to be carefully managed during December.

(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)