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Greetings all, and welcome to our very first Gameweek 17 preview piece. How very exciting!
Hopefully, you’ve still got at least one or two of your five AFCON transfers remaining. Maybe you’ve even got all of them… but, based on the Reddit response to our preview last week, it seems like that’s very unlikely indeed.
Regardless, you should generally always be looking somewhere in the short-to-mid term in FPL, and that’s exactly what we’re going to focus on here.
Here, for your viewing and reading pleasure, are the very best upcoming FPL fixtures, starting in Gameweek 17.
As ever, these FPL fixture runs are generated by our lovely, free fixture ticker. Check out all our FDRs, via the Google Sheet link, right here:
Without further ado, then, here’s what our (not-quite-a) supercomputer generated for this week:
Myself and many others were starting to fear Haaland was washed up, after three blanks in four games. Apparently it was too early to panic.
I think Foden is basically essential right now. He’s hit double digit scores in his last four games, which is ridiculous, and now he plays West Ham at home. It almost certainly won’t last for much longer, but even Pep can’t bench him right now.
I wouldn’t get any Newcastle attackers this week, since Chelsea’s defence is very good. The fixtures get very good after that, though.
Woltemade feels too risky right now. He’s already getting subbed after 70ish minutes, and has now blanked two games in a row. Wissa (not going to AFCON) is a quality striker, who could replace him in the starting lineup any day now.
The winger situation is far too busy to trust any one of them.
I do continue to like Bruno G. They all had a bad day at the office against Sunderland, but he still got a decent 0.17 xGI and 11 DC’s. I don’t actually hate getting him this week either – he should get plenty of DefCons against high-possession Chelsea – but he’s definitely back on the menu thereafter.
If you haven’t already gotten rid of Mateta, I’d actually be quite tempted to hang onto him.
Apart from Ekitike, it’s not like any of the other non-Haaland forwards are lighting it up right now. His minutes are worrying, but Leeds away then Spurs at home are both excellent fixtures. Unless you’re specifically moving him for Ekitike, I’d just hold him.
The big man aside, Yeremy Pino is the only other player I’d consider right now.
He’s a nice budget option, at only 5.8, has had excellent underlying stats recently, and – again – I really like these next two fixtures (and Fulham at home, after those, is also pretty tasty, per their defensive debacle against Burnley).
Ekitike is just fantastic, and I’m tempted to get him myself this week.
He’s in great form, Spurs are rubbish, and he then gets Wolves and Leeds at home after that. I don’t think he’s a particular ‘risk’ right now – he’s Liverpool’s best attacker by an absolute mile, and there’s no way Slot benches him after back-to-back braces.
Apart from that, the landscape is pretty bare.
Wirtz has at least shown flashes of life recently. I’d definitely want to see one more good game out of him, however, before I’d consider hopping on board for those dream Wolves/Leeds fixtures.
We’re not getting any Everton attackers before they play Arsenal.
After that, though, they’ve got several very nice fixtures in a row. As such, I’d bench any Everton attackers you’ve got this week, but hold them for the better games thereafter.
Dewsbury-Hall’s injury didn’t look good at the weekend. If it’s not as bad as first feared, however, he’s an excellent – and startable – budget midfielder heading into this nice run. Hold him until you hear (bad) injury news!
I wouldn’t get any Man U players at all this week, before they play Villa away. Newcastle at home is a bit better… then they get Wolves, Leeds, and Burnley in a row, which is just a dream.
If you haven’t got Bruno already, you’ll definitely feel tempted to after another good game. Again though, I’d just wait a week, since Villa away is definitely one of the toughest matchups in the league right now.
At the risk of repeating myself, this is another ‘wait a week’ situation. Everton away is a tough attacking matchup.
If you’ve got Saka, you’re starting him anyway. As with Bruno though, I’d wait a week to actually buy him in, even though he’s obviously playing very well right now.
Mmm… Burnley at home. Delicious.
Let’s just say I’m very glad that I kept the faith in Semenyo. Between this matchup, Brentford next, and Spurs at home not that far away… and him just being a quality player (particularly in FPL, because he’s so selfish), I’d be fine buying Semenyo back in, even if you sold him recently.
I’m definitely not falling for Evanlison again. No way.
Tavernier is a solid, cheap midfield option though – particularly now that Dewsbury-Hall might be injured. I’d have him right there with Pino as my high-upside, attacking budget midfielders.
Ugh.
There I was, with my Arsenal triple clean sheet seemingly in the bag, until stupid Mosquera beat stupid Hincapie and scored his stupid 90th-minute equaliser.
Grumble grumble.
Anyway. Arsenal’s defence is clearly suffering without Gabriel. He’s not only a quality defender, but the emotional and vocal leader of the back line, and seems to often drive them on towards keeping cleans.
All that said, I still think they’re the best and most reliable defence in the league.
I wouldn’t triple up on them right now (between Raya and the defenders), but I remain fine with a double, and think at least one is pretty essential.
The fixtures aren’t ideal, but I don’t think it really matters that much – we’ve seen them clean against everyone in recent years.
Arsenal’s attack isn’t great, but I still wouldn’t buy an Everton defender this week.
I’d start the centre-backs, however, with DefCons almost guaranteed.
After that, I absolutely love getting at least one of them in. I’ll probably use my wildcard in GW18, and am currently strongly considering a double-up, likely between Tarkowski and Pickford.
Burnley, Forest, Brentford home and Wolves home? It doesn’t get much better than that.
I wish I’d got a City defender last week, instead of stupid Anderson at stupid Fulham who let in two goals to stupid Burnley.
Grumble grumble.
City have now kept back-to-back cleans in the league, and against solid teams in Sunderland and Palace.
They now get West Ham at home, then Forest and Sunderland again. That feels like at least one or two cleans to me, and Pep – for once – seems pretty set on his Nunes/Ruben/Gvardiol/O’Reilly back line.
Out of those, I’d just take one of the full-backs, since the centre-backs don’t get DC’s anyway. Nunes is probably slightly more nailed, since Ake (or Gvards) could slot in at left-back.
I wouldn’t buy any Newcastle defenders for the Chelsea home matchup, but I would start them. Chelsea’s attack isn’t that good, and their possession-heavy style gives you plenty of DefCon potential.
After that, I like basically all of the matchups. Man U away isn’t great, but Burnley away, Palace (currently) at home, then Leeds at home looks like a very tasty run indeed.
I’d take Thiaw as my actual pick, even if Burn isn’t injured. He’s a bit cheaper, also nailed, averages over one more DefCon per 90 (9.65 vs 8.68), and has a better xGI/90 (0.13 vs 0.03).
Hmm.
Personally, I still wouldn’t trust Liverpool yet.
Fine, they cleaned against Brighton and Inter, but they also conceded three goals to Leeds just before that.
I’d sit out the Spurs away game. After that, the Wolves-Leeds-Fulham is good enough to at least warrant consideration… but I still probably won’t bother. I just trust the likes of Arsenal, City, and Everton more right now.
They’ve kept two cleans all season – one against pre-Nuno West Ham back in October, and one against Villa in August before Emery sorted them out.
No thanks!
I was definitely surprised by the City result, but it hasn’t put me off Palace in general. They remain a quality team, and I like all three of these upcoming fixtures.
Guehi would still be right near the top of my list, if I needed a defender right now.
Richards is a fine, much cheaper alternative, still often getting above or around 10 DC’s.
If I had the money, however, I would spend the extra on Guehi for the latter’s newfound attacking prowess this season.
Right, that’ll just about wrap things up for this wee look at the best upcoming FPL fixtures, as of Gameweek 17.
Hopefully it’s helped all your pondering and ruminating at least a little bit. As ever, if you’ve got any questions, just hit us up on Reddit and James or I (Joe) will get back to you.
Thanks for reading, everyone, and we’ll be back with more Gameweek 17 preview goodness in no time!
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