With the Premier League fixtures now released for 2022/23, we can begin assessing which teams we should invest in and which we should avoid.
Here, we take a look at those sides with less favourable schedules.
The primary focus in this article will be on a six-Gameweek lookahead but we will scrutinise the shorter and longer-term prospects where appropriate.
Our Season Ticker was updated almost immediately after the fixtures were released at 9am BST on Thursday, with the opening six Gameweeks sorted by difficulty below:
Subscribers to Fantasy Football Scout can use this helpful tool to pick out the best and worst runs of matches for each club, sort by rotation pairings, use their own customised difficulty ratings and more.
You can see a tutorial on the Season Ticker below:
WORST FIXTURES
BOURNEMOUTH
After their opening day clash at home to Aston Villa, Bournemouth face three of last season’s top five between Gameweeks 2 and 4.
The away trips look particularly daunting, as the Championship runners-up visit Manchester City and Liverpool, while the home tie against Arsenal in Gameweek 3 is hardly appetising either.
As a result, the Cherries sit rock bottom of our Season Ticker across the opening six rounds.
Fantasy investment in 29-goal striker Dominic Solanke and co may have to wait, then, although goalkeeper Mark Travers could potentially rack up some save points: the 23-year-old’s save percentage of 76.9% was the fourth-best in the Championship last term.
Scott Parker’s troops do at least have some respite from Gameweeks 6-13, however, with fellow new boys Nottingham Forest and Fulham to come as well as Brighton and Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Brentford and Southampton.
CRYSTAL PALACE
There is unlikely to be much interest in Crystal Palace assets at the start of the season given their tough opening fixtures.
In the first four Gameweeks, they too face Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City, while also doing battle with Aston Villa.
Matches against Brentford, Newcastle, Manchester United, Brighton and Chelsea follow, which unsurprisingly sees the Eagles drop to the bottom of our Season Ticker when extending the lookahead to Gameweek 9.
The only positive from the above schedule is that kinder fixtures follow, with successive clashes against promoted trio Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth between Gameweeks 16-18 a particular highlight.
FULHAM
The case for Aleksandar Mitrovic took a hit with the release of 2022/23’s Premier League fixtures.
The Serbian, of course, returns to the top flight having hit a whopping 43 goals in 44 appearances throughout Fulham’s title-winning season, breaking all sorts of goalscoring records along the way.
Marco Silva’s side begin their Premier League campaign at home to Liverpool, before they face five of last season’s top 10 between Gameweeks 2-7.
That includes matches against London trio Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, which all arrive before mid-September.
However, beyond Gameweek 7, the fixtures ease, with a swathe of blue on our Season Ticker prior to the World Cup break.
SOUTHAMPTON
Only Leeds United kept fewer clean sheets than Southampton in 2022 and shut-out opportunities may be thin on the ground in August.
In the opening month, they face Spurs, Leicester City, Man Utd and Chelsea, all of whom ranked in the top eight sides for goals scored in 2021/22.
Gameweek 2 might give the best insight into how Saints will play in a sustained period of favourable matches, but they won’t get one of those till later in the season.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, meanwhile, finished 15th with their worst Premier League points tally (40) in three seasons last term.
WEST HAM UNITED
West Ham United open their 2022/23 Premier League season at home to Man City.
The Hammers, of course, ended their home campaign last season with a 2-2 draw against Pep Guardiola’s side, with Jarrod Bowen netting a brace of goals.
In truth, it’s only really the clash with the champions that should be off-putting in the first four Gameweeks. Nottingham Forest are an unknown quantity at this stage, with games against Brighton and Aston Villa to follow.
However, Gameweeks 5 and 6 look particularly tricky, with David Moyes’ side taking on rivals Spurs and Chelsea.
These fixtures will surely go a long way in tempering any interest in Bowen and Michail Antonio, but they might prove more useful between Gameweeks 7 and 11, which is when West Ham’s fixtures improve.
ALSO BE AWARE OF…
Newcastle United’s (NFO | bha | MCI | wol | liv | CRY) initial start to the campaign is a favourable one, pitting Eddie Howe’s men against newly promoted Nottingham Forest and Brighton.
However, with those two games out of the way, the Magpies’ fixtures take a turn for the worse in Gameweek 3, as they host champions Man City and Crystal Palace between then and Gameweek 6, while the away matches are at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool.
There is not much to like about Manchester United‘s (BHA | bre | LIV | sou | lei | ARS) opening set of matches, either, although it does at least give us time to assess Erik ten Hag’s impact before the fixtures turn in Gameweek 7.
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