Soon after this international break, the UEFA Champions League (UCL) returns with its new format – one with even more midweek matches for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to consider.

Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa will have eight group games, rather than six. This could have the knock-on effect of squad rotation for FPL, perhaps more than Europa League and Europa Conference League competitors Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea.

With that in mind, we thought it’d be worth checking out the congested schedules of those teams up until the end of October. In the next week or so, November TV fixtures should be announced.

OVERVIEW

GW = FPL Gameweek – UCL = Champions League – EFL = League Cup

ARSENAL

• Sunday 15 Sept (14:00 BST) | GW4 vs Tottenham Hotspur (a)
• Thursday 19 Sept (20:00) | UCL vs Atalanta (a)
• Sunday 22 Sept (16:30) | GW5 vs Manchester City (a)
• Wednesday 25 Sept (19:45) | EFL vs Bolton Wanderers (h)
• Saturday 28 Sept (15:00) | GW6 vs Leicester City (h)
• Tuesday 1 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Paris Saint-Germain (h)
• Saturday 5 Oct (15:00) | GW7 vs Southampton (h)
• Saturday 19 Oct (17:30) | GW8 vs Bournemouth (a)
• Tuesday 22 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Shakhtar Donetsk (h)
• Sunday 27 Oct (16:30) | GW9 vs Liverpool (h)

Mikel Arteta will be praying for his international players to return in one piece, as Arsenal immediately have a gruelling seven-day journey that visits each of Spurs, Atalanta and Man City. That trip to Italy is an immediate example of the new UCL format introducing Thursday night matches.

Things ease up after that, with four successive Emirates Stadium outings starting with Bolton Wanderers in the cup.

All this does is emphasise that it might be worth refraining from Gunners assets until their Gameweek 6 fixture swing. Hosting newly promoted sides before and after Paris Saint-Germain could be a worry for Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) owners but on either side of those is the EFL Cup and October internationals.

Maybe Kai Havertz (£8.1m) or their highly-owned defenders see minutes carefully managed.

ASTON VILLA

• Saturday 14 Sept (17:30 BST) | GW4 vs Everton (h)
• Tuesday 17 Sept (17:45) | UCL vs Young Boys (a)
• Saturday 21 Sept (15:00) | GW5 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)
• Tuesday 24 Sept (20:00) | EFL vs Wycombe Wanderers (a)
• Sunday 29 Sept (14:00) | GW6 vs Ipswich Town (a)
• Wednesday 2 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Bayern Munich (h)
• Sunday 6 Oct (14:00) | GW7 vs Manchester United (h)
• Saturday 19 Oct (15:00) | GW8 vs Fulham (a)
• Tuesday 22 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Bologna (h)
• Saturday 26 Oct (15:00) | GW9 vs Bournemouth (h)

It’s an exciting time for Aston Villa fans, ready to dine at the top table for the first time since 1983.

However, the initial gap between Gameweek 4 and Young Boys is tight. Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) is already being taken off around the hour mark, so there’s a chance that Jhon Duran (£6.0m) gets a start. Popular midfield enabler Morgan Rogers (£5.1m) has played every minute so far but that streak could soon end.

Their cup clash with Wycombe Wanderers is a chance to rest some tired legs, before the Ipswich trip that precedes Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

LIVERPOOL

• Saturday 14 Sept (15:00 BST) | GW4 vs Nottingham Forest (h)
• Tuesday 17 Sept (20:00) | UCL vs AC Milan (a)
• Saturday 21 Sept (15:00) | GW5 vs Bournemouth (h)
• Wednesday 25 Sept (20:00) | EFL vs West Ham United (h)
• Saturday 28 Sept (17:30) | GW6 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
• Wednesday 2 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Bologna (h)
• Saturday 5 Oct (12:30) | GW7 vs Crystal Palace (a)
• Sunday 20 Oct (16:30) | GW8 vs Chelsea (h)
• Wednesday 23 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs RB Leipzig (a)
• Sunday 27 Oct (16:30) | GW9 vs Arsenal (a)

Things have started well for new boss Arne Slot, winning all three matches without conceding. Should a similarly comfortable lead be built against Nottingham Forest next Saturday, there’s a chance that star names get substituted for AC Milan.

But they’ve been handed a tricky EFL Cup tie versus West Ham United, which could affect the surrounding Bournemouth and Wolves outings.

Diogo Jota‘s (£7.6m) upcoming minutes are already under threat with Darwin Nunez (£7.3m) around and this will intensify. Yet Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) might be ok.

Meanwhile, the gap between Bologna and Crystal Palace is a bit small, coming right before a nasty run against Chelsea, RB Leipzig and Arsenal.

MANCHESTER CITY

• Saturday 14 Sept (15:00 BST) | GW4 vs Brentford (h)
• Wednesday 18 Sept (20:00) | UCL vs Inter Milan (h)
• Sunday 22 Sept (16:30) | GW5 vs Arsenal (h)
• Tuesday 24 Sept (19:45) | EFL vs Watford (h)
• Saturday 28 Sept (12:30) | GW6 vs Newcastle United (a)
• Tuesday 1 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Slovan Bratislava (a)
• Saturday 5 Oct (15:00) | GW7 vs Fulham (h)
• Sunday 20 Oct (14:00) | GW8 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
• Wednesday 23 Oct (20:00) | UCL vs Sparta Prague (h)
• Saturday 26 Oct (15:00) | GW9 vs Southampton (h)

Finally, the four-in-a-row league champions are hunting for a fifth and will be pleased with their UCL draw.

Generous pairings with Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague offer a chance for European rotation, possibly boosting Erling Haaland‘s (£15.2m) domestic minutes. With Julian Alvarez not replaced, Man City’s only other option up front would be to use a midfielder as a false nine.

Their next four matches are all at home and the first few have decent gaps in between. Instead, the problem is that Watford in the EFL Cup takes place just 48 hours after the crunch clash with Arsenal. You’d assume that’s the game being sacrificed with a weaker line-up, considering the trip to Newcastle United straight after.

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