Gaming
Jake Brigstock
Aug 01, 2024
Stats Perform Video / VideoElephant
The best football league in the world starts later this month and now is the time to really start giving Fantasy Premier League (FPL) some attention.
The first game of the Premier League season is on August 16 when Manchester United take on Fulham under the lights at Old Trafford at 8pm.
That means the final deadline for submitting FPL squads and starting XIs for the new season is at 6.30pm the same day.
Still undecided on who to pick? While Indy100 will give its specific picks soon, along with further pointers of who to go for, here is a guide to which teams and players have the easiest and most difficult starts to the season.
Just before diving in, to explain a bit about how this was calculated, on FPL every fixture has a difficulty rating out of five - two is the easiest fixture a team can have and five is the hardest.
Indy100 has looked at the first five fixtures for each team and scored every club's start out of 25.
The lower the score, the easier the start.
Although FPL defaults to the first three fixtures, Indy100 has taken a look at the first five to accommodate a new rule this season that up to five free transfers can stack.
Mohamed Salah may be a very popular choice taking into account Liverpool's start to the season Drew Hallowell, Getty Images
Which teams have the easiest start to the season in Fantasy Premier League?
The team with the easiest start to the season over the opening five fixtures, according to FPL, is Liverpool with an overall rating of 11 out of 25.
The Reds have four fixtures with a difficulty rating of two and one of three.
That makes Liverpool's premium FPL players, like Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson to name a few, very enticing.
Two teams are just behind Liverpool with a rating of 12 and they are Fulham and Newcastle United; both sides have three fixtures with a difficulty rating of two and two with a three rating.
Kieran Trippier, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak could all be good options from the Magpies and Fulham could provide some strong, cheaper alternatives, such as Timothy Castagne, Andreas Pereira and Rodrigo Muniz.
Which teams have the easiest start to the season in Fantasy Premier League?
On the other hand, the club with the most difficult start according to FPL is Brentford with an overall rating of 18 out of 25.
The Bees travel to Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in their opening five fixtures.
Three clubs are just behind that with a difficulty rating of 17 and these are West Ham United, Wolves and a team a lot of FPL players will no doubt have at least one, if not several, from - and that's title contenders Arsenal.
The Gunners have tricky trips to Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in their opening five games.
That might give FPL players something to think about, especially as transfers can be stacked...
How difficult is each team's start to the season?
Here is a full breakdown for every team's start to the season:
- Arsenal - 17/25 (Wolves H, Aston Villa A, Brighton H, Tottenham Hotspur A, Manchester City A)
- Aston Villa - 13/25 (West Ham United A, Arsenal H, Leicester City A, Everton H, Wolves H)
- Bournemouth - 16/25 (Nottingham Forest A, Newcastle United H, Everton A, Chelsea H, Liverpool A)
- Brentford - 18/25 (Crystal Palace H, Liverpool A, Southampton H, Manchester City A, Tottenham Hotspur A)
- Brighton - 15/25 (Everton A, Manchester United H, Arsenal A, Ipswich Town H, Nottingham Forest H)
- Chelsea - 13/25 (Manchester City H, Wolves A, Crystal Palace H, Bournemouth A, West Ham United A)
- Crystal Palace - 13/25 (Brentford A, West Ham United H, Chelsea A, Leicester City H, Manchester United H)
- Everton - 14/25 (Brighton H, Tottenham Hotspur A, Bournemouth H, Aston Villa A, Leicester City A)
- Fulham - 12/25 (Manchester United A, Leicester City H, Ipswich Town A, West Ham United H, Newcastle United H)
- Ipswich Town - 15/25 (Liverpool H, Manchester City A, Fulham H, Brighton A, Southampton A)
- Leicester City - 14/25 (Tottenham Hotspur H, Fulham A, Aston Villa H, Crystal Palace A, Everton H)
- Liverpool - 11/25 (Ipswich Town A, Brentford H, Manchester United A, Nottingham Forest H, Bournemouth H)
- Manchester City - 15/25 (Chelsea A, Ipswich Town H, West Ham United A, Brentford H, Arsenal A)
- Manchester United - 13/25 (Fulham H, Brighton A, Liverpool H, Southampton A, Crystal Palace A)
- Newcastle United - 12/25 (Southampton H, Bournemouth A, Tottenham Hotspur H, Wolves A, Fulham A)
- Nottingham Forest - 13/25 (Bournemouth H, Southampton A, Wolves H, Liverpool A, Brighton A)
- Southampton - 13/25 (Newcastle United A, Nottingham Forest H, Brentford A, Manchester United H, Ipswich Town H)
- Tottenham Hotspur - 15/25 (Leicester City A, Everton H, Newcastle United A, Arsenal H, Brentford H)
- West Ham United - 17/25 (Aston Villa H, Crystal Palace A, Manchester City H, Fulham A, Chelsea H)
- Wolves - 17/25 (Arsenal A, Chelsea H, Nottingham Forest A, Newcastle United H, Aston Villa A)
Need a hand getting started in FPL? Check out Indy100's comprehensive guide of how to do so, what the best name players can give their team is and our guide as to when is the best time to play chips.
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