Fantasy Football: Season turns as seasons turn

Getting a bit chilly isn’t it?

If you’ve managed to beat the bug that’s going round while enjoying the cooler temperatures and gloomier skies – then congratulations. If not, then you may well be looking forward to a quieter weekend spent mostly in doors, perhaps in front of Premier League. 

Gameweek six of the Insurance Times Fantasy Football League  kicks off this Saturday with a struggling Manchester United’s visit to Brentford and ending on Monday evening with West Ham’s journey up to Everton’s shiny new stadium. 

The lingering warmth of Summer leaving the UK always indicates the point in the season where teams begin to settle into the routine of weekly fixtures and, for managers playing Fantasy Football, provides a good point to check on which teams are in form. 

Interestingly, this season’s gameweek six also presents the start of some easier fixtures for some of the league’s best teams – potentially presenting an opportunity to capitalise for those that have built up some free transfers or kept their wildcard chip handy. 

Is this your chance to change your season as the seasons change?

Fixture swings

Gameweek six sees Manchester City welcome promoted club Burnley to the Etihad stadium, with striker Erling Haaland seemingly having recaptured his strongest form. 

Haaland represents a strong captain candidate for this week if you can get him into your team, with some even considering using their first half of the season triple captain chip to maximise his likely returns. 

City have had a tought start to the season, but their fixtures now improve, with games against Burnely, Brentford, Everton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth in their next five. 

The same can be said of Arsenal. After some tough games away at Liverpool and Manchester United to start the season, the Gunners now face Newcastle, West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Burnley in their next five. 

Defensive assets like goalkeeper David Raya and central defender Gabriel could be strong bets for this run, with Arsenal having only conceded two goals all season in the Premier League so far – one each against tital rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. 

Liverpool, however, now see their fixtures turn into more difficult games – with matches against Manchester United and Chelsea in the next five.