THE fixtures will come thick and fast once the international break is done and dusted.
FA Cup semi-finals, European knockout ties and some Premier League double game weeks make for an April ripe with Dream Team points.
In the spirit of helping gaffers devise an optimised strategy, we’ve laid out next month’s fixtures for each team in the top half in one convenient location.
ARSENAL
- Leeds (h)
- Liverpool (a)
- West Ham (a)
- Southampton (h)
- Manchester City (a)
- Chelsea (h)
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At the risk of oversimplifying things, the Gunners’ six fixtures can be divided in two: three favourable match-ups, three tough tests.
Leeds, West Ham and Southampton are all threatened by relegation and while they’ll be scrapping for points, the gulf in class should benefit Mikel Arteta’s troops.
Elsewhere, the trips to Anfield and the Etihad look massive in the context of the title race with the latter likely to be an emotionally and physically taxing game – getting back up for a London derby against the Blues three days later will be a challenge.
MANCHESTER CITY
- Liverpool (h)
- Southampton (a)
- Bayern Munich (h)
- Leicester (h)
- Bayern Munich (a)
- Sheffield United (n)
- Arsenal (h)
- Fulham (a)
Pep Guardiola’s side remain active in the FA Cup and the Champions League so, unlike Arsenal, they won’t be able to focus solely on the league run-in.
Naturally, the two legs against the Bundesliga giants stick out like a sore thumb but at least they have the luxury of relatively favourable fixtures around the quarter-final tie: rotated teams will still be heavy favourites over Saints, Leicester and Sheffield United.
The fact City’s two biggest domestic fixtures, Liverpool and Arsenal, are home games will be seen as a positive and, generally speaking, it once again looks like a good time to back Kevin De Bruyne (£7.7m).
MANCHESTER UNITED
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- Newcastle (a)
- Brentford (h)
- Everton (h)
- Sevilla (h)
- Nottingham Forest (a)
- Sevilla (a)
- Brighton (n)
- Spurs (a)
- Aston Villa (h)
The Red Devils have no fewer than NINE fixtures to fulfil next month and that alone should make their players immensely popular in the world of Dream Team.
At the time of writing, Erik ten Hag’s side are the bookies’ favourites to win the Europa League but in Sevilla they will come up against the modern masters of the competition in the quarter-finals.
Away days to Newcastle and Spurs will go some way to determining who finishes third and fourth this season and they’ll feel confident of positive results at home throughout the month.
Bruno Fernandes (£6.5m), Marcus Rashford (£6.5m), Luke Shaw (£4.6m) and David de Gea (£4.1m) are all either first or second in the their respective positions in the Dream Team rankings currently and a busy April should help them solidify their placings.
TOTTENHAM
- Everton (a)
- Brighton (h)
- Bournemouth (h)
- Newcastle (a)
- Man United (h)
- Liverpool (a)
It’s hard to know what to make of the north Londoners now that Antonio Conte has officially departed.
Will the players feels as if a weight has been lifted off their shoulders or will they simply be thinking of getting to the end of the campaign and a summer reset?
Harry Kane (£8.1m) can be relied upon at least, England’s all-time top scorer seems to bang in the goals no matter how bleak the outlook at Spurs – he’s on 205 points currently.
If things aren’t going well then the second half of April could be rough.
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NEWCASTLE
- Man United (h)
- West Ham (a)
- Brentford (a)
- Aston Villa (a)
- Spurs (h)
- Everton (a)
- Southampton (h)
Four away days, including three in a row, will ask questions of the Magpies’ endurance at the back end of this unique season.
However, the St James’ Park faithful will surely play their part when Man United and Spurs come to town as part of the top four merry-go-round.
The main thing Dream Team bosses are interested in is whether Eddie Howe’s side can rediscover their clean sheet habit – they haven’t kept one since January having provided bucket-loads throughout the first two thirds of the campaign.
LIVERPOOL
- Man City (a)
- Chelsea (a)
- Arsenal (h)
- Leeds (a)
- Nottingham Forest (h)
- West Ham (a)
- Spurs (h)
Which version of the Reds will turn up in April?
If they’re at their swashbuckling best then they could have a major say in who wins the title but if their defensive problems persist then City and Arsenal could inflict defeats similar to those suffered at the hands of Real Madrid, Wolves and Bournemouth in recent weeks.
In fairness, Jurgen Klopp’s men have scored their fair share of goals despite their struggles so Mohamed Salah (£8.7m) and Darwin Nunez (£5.2m) are likely to provide more returns for their backers but the first half of the month could mean minus points for the likes of Virgil van Dijk (£5.1m) and Andy Robertson (£3.9m).
BRIGHTON
- Brentford (h)
- Bournemouth (a)
- Spurs (a)
- Chelsea (a)
- Man United (n)
- Nottingham Forest (a)
- Wolves (h)
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Such is the enterprising nature of the Seagulls under Roberto De Zerbi that fans and neutrals alike will expect them to be ultra competitive in every game for the remainder of the campaign.
The FA Cup semi-final against Man United represents a massive opportunity for a club that wouldn’t have even dreamed of domestic glory just a few years ago.
When everything clicks there’s usually enough points to share around between Kaoru Mitoma (£4.5m), Solly March (£4.1m), Alexis Mac Allister (£3.5m) and Evan Ferguson (£3.3m).
BRENTFORD
- Brighton (a)
- Man United (a)
- Newcastle (h)
- Wolves (a)
- Aston Villa (h)
- Chelsea (a)
- Nottingham Forest (h)
The Bees have only lost one Premier League game since the start of November so it’s taken for granted that they’ll give any opponent a stiff game.
Once again it’s seemingly a month of two halves as their first three opponents are all above them in the table while the latter quartet are all comfortably below them.
Ivan Toney (£6.2m) averages 5.7 points-per-game this term so expect more returns from him after the international break so long as he’s not slapped with a lengthy suspension.
FULHAM
- Bournemouth (a)
- West Ham (h)
- Everton (a)
- Leeds (h)
- Aston Villa (a)
- Man City (h)
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Marco Silva’s side have run out of steam somewhat in recent weeks and Aleksandar Mitrovic’s (£3.8m) suspension means their assets aren’t as viable as they were.
Saying that, barring City’s visit to Craven Cottage, it’s a relatively favourable run for Fulham that starts with four consecutive match-ups against teams in the relegation dogfight.
CHELSEA
- Aston Villa (h)
- Liverpool (h)
- Wolves (a)
- Real Madrid (a)
- Brighton (h)
- Real Madrid (h)
- Brentford (h)
- Arsenal (a)
A busy month for the Blues but a testing one that features two legs against Champions League specialists Real Madrid and a trip to the league leaders.
In fact, Wolves are the only one of Chelsea’s opponents with fewer points at the time of writing.
Graham Potter’s side improved considerably in March, registering three wins and a draw, including an impressive 2-0 victory over Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.
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That’s your lot for the top half but we feel it’s worth including one more team because of their jam-packed schedule…
WEST HAM
- Southampton (h)
- Newcastle (h)
- Fulham (a)
- Gent (a)
- Arsenal (h)
- Gent (h)
- Bournemouth (a)
- Liverpool (h)
- Crystal Palace (a)
The Hammers play nine games in the space of 27 days in April and while they’ve underwhelmed this season, this flurry of fixtures is ripe with potential.
Take Jarrod Bowen (£3.9m) for example, a top ten midfielder with so many double Game Weeks is surely worthy of consideration?
