Which teams have the easiest August fixtures? Smart Dream Team bosses will target favourable match-ups

WITH £5,000 up for grabs in Gameweek 1, many Dream Team managers will understandably be focused on the first round of Premier League games when locking in their selections.

However, it’s also wise to consider the first few weeks of the new campaign as a whole when choosing players.

Two transfers per Gameweek allows for a certain degree of flexibility but smart gaffers will always look ahead when devising their strategies.

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Start the new season in style by checking the fixtures ahead of time

With that in mind, let’s look at the fixtures for the first three Gameweeks of the season, covering August, for all 20 Premier League clubs.

ARSENAL

• Wolves (h)
• Aston Villa (a)
• Brighton (h)

A moderate start for last season’s runners-up.

The Villains are the only team to beat the Gunners in the league since the turn of the year – in fact, Unai Emery’s side did the double over them last season.

ASTON VILLA

• West Ham (a)
• Arsenal (h)
• Leicester (a)

Villa’s pre-season wasn’t the most convincing and it remains to be seen to what extent key man Ollie Watkins (£6m) will be thrown straight in having been given an extended rest after Euro 2024.

As already mentioned, they took six points off Arsenal in 2023/24 but a trip to the Emirates is a daunting prospect nonetheless – a difficult match-up to predict this early.

BOURNEMOUTH

• Nottingham Forest (a)
• Newcastle (h)
• West Ham (a)
• Everton (a)

The thing to note here is that the Cherries’ trip to the London Stadium is a Carabao Cup second round fixture.

All the top-flight clubs not participating in Europe have two fixtures to fulfil in Gameweek 2.

Andoni Iraola will have to adapt to life without Dominic Solanke (£4m), who scored 21 goals in all competitions last time out.

Rex

Solanke is a big miss for Bournemouth[/caption]

BRENTFORD

• Crystal Palace (h)
• Liverpool (a)
• Colchester (a)
• Southampton (h)

The Bees have a few injuries to contend with and the uncertainty over Ivan Toney’s (£4m) future probably isn’t doing their preparations much good either.

If the Eagles pick up where they left off then Thomas Frank’s side could find life hard going to begin with as they travel to Anfield for their second outing.

The second half of the month looks considerably more friendly.

BRIGHTON

• Everton (a)
• Manchester United (h)
• Crawley (h)
• Arsenal (a)

The Seagulls have looked good in pre-season and will hope to take advantage of the injury-ravaged hosts at Goodison Park this weekend.

A perfect cup draw against local rivals from League One is offset by meetings with two of the Premier League’s biggest clubs either side of it – although Brighton have a decent record against the Red Devils in recent years.

CHELSEA

• Manchester City (h)
• Wolves (a)
• Crystal Palace (h)

A visit from the defending champions represents a tough start for the Blues, especially as Pep Guardiola’s beat them in a friendly just a few weeks ago.

It’s difficult to get a read on Chelsea amid the constant whirlwind of transfer activity and managerial changes but Cole Palmer (£6m) is set to start the campaign as the second-most popular player in Dream Team.

CRYSTAL PALACE

• Brentford (a)
• West Ham (h)
• Norwich (h)
• Chelsea (a)

Oliver Glasner’s men finished last season with six wins from the last seven games and while they’ve lost Michael Olise, the likes of Eberechi Eze (£4.5m), Marc Guehi (£3.5m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£3.5m) remain… for now at least.

Palace don’t have the easiest set of fixtures this month but they won’t be too fearful either.

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Palace fans are desperate to hold onto Eze[/caption]

EVERTON

• Brighton (h)
• Tottenham (a)
• Doncaster (h)
• Bournemouth (h)

The Toffees have the benefit of three home games out of their first four, which might offset their injury absentees to some degree.

Sean Dyche’s side kept things tight at the back last season but lacked firepower up top.

A trip to Spurs might be hard work but games against Brighton and Bournemouth should provide an indication of where Everton are at right now.

FULHAM

• Manchester United (a)
• Leicester (h)
• Birmingham (a)
• Ipswich (a)

The Cottagers help get the new season underway at 8pm this evening.

After that, they’ve got two newly-promoted teams and a Carabao Cup game against a second-tier outfit – rather friendly all things considered.

FulhamFC

Gameweek 1 starts with Fulham away to Manchester United[/caption]

IPSWICH

• Liverpool (h)
• Manchester City (a)
• AFC Wimbledon (a)
• Fulham (h)

Talk about a baptism of fire!

The Tractor Boys will have to fight tooth and nail to avoid a pair of shellackings first up.

LEICESTER

• Tottenham (h)
• Fulham (a)
• Tranmere (h)
• Aston Villa (h)

Like Everton, the Foxes only have one away day across their first four fixtures.

Most pundits aren’t expecting much from the Championship winners, especially with a potential points deduction looming, but they have some talented players in their ranks.

Having to play two of last season’s top five early doors isn’t ideal.

LIVERPOOL

• Ipswich (a)
• Brentford (h)
• Manchester United (a)

Many Dream Team bosses will be expecting big things from Mohamed Salah (£7m) and company this Saturday.

The Reds’ fixtures look relatively favourable until mid-October if truth be told but it’s worth noting they’ve only won twice at Old Trafford in the league in the last ten seasons.

Alamy

Salah is always among the best Dream Team performers[/caption]

MANCHESTER CITY

• Chelsea (a)
• Ipswich (h)
• West Ham (a)

Is there such a thing as a hard fixture for a team that has won the league four times in a row?

Gaffers will be expecting a massive haul from Erling Haaland at home to Ipswich in Gameweek 2.

MANCHESTER UNITED

• Fulham (h)
• Brighton (a)
• Liverpool (h)

Erik ten Hag admitted that his side were “not ready” for the new season in his press conference, which hardly breeds confidence.

Liverpool is clearly the first ‘big’ fixture but Man United fans will know not to underestimate Fulham or Brighton, two teams that won at Old Trafford last season.

NEWCASTLE

• Southampton (h)
• Bournemouth (a)
• Nottingham Forest (a)
• Tottenham (h)

Both Alexander Isak (£5m) and Anthony Gordon (£4.5m) are among the eight most-selected assets in Dream Team at the time of writing – that’s a solid indication of what’s expected of the Magpies out the gate.

Eddie Howe will be quietly confident of a fast start, especially as Spurs lost 4-0 and 6-1 upon their last two visits to St James’ Park.

Popular selectionsReuters

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

• Bournemouth (h)
• Southampton (a)
• Newcastle (h)
• Wolves (h)

Given the match-up with Newcastle is a Carabao Cup fixture, this has to be considered a favourable start for Forest.

That being said, Nuno Espirito Santo’s troops finished 17th last season so expectations have to be realistic.

Managers taking a punt on Morgan Gibbs-White (£3.5m) will be hopeful of healthy returns this month.

SOUTHAMPTON

• Newcastle (a)
• Nottingham Forest (h)
• Cardiff (a)
• Brentford (a)

As play-off winners who shipped 63 goals during the regular Championship campaign, expectations in the top flight aren’t all that high for Saints among neutrals for 2024/25.

However, once the long journey to Newcastle is done, their next three games aren’t particularly intimidating and the outlook would change quickly with some positive results.

TOTTENHAM

• Leicester (a)
• Everton (h)
• Newcastle (a)

Ange Postecoglou’s men stormed out of the blocks last season and they couldn’t have asked much more from the fixture computer than a newly-promoted team first up this time around.

Five Spurs players have an ownership of at least 10% prior to Gameweek 1, suggesting gaffers have high hopes.

As previously mentioned, Newcastle away has been a bogey fixture of late.

Reuters

Pedro Porro is a widely-selected defender ahead of Gamdweek 1[/caption]

WEST HAM

• Aston Villa (h)
• Crystal Palace (a)
• Bournemouth (h)
• Manchester City (h)

The Hammers have seemingly recruited well this summer but their first few league fixtures are relatively tricky.

Villa finished fourth in 2023/24, Palace have shown signs of immense improvement, and City are the dominant multi-champions.

How Julen Lopetegui would love a win in front of the home fans this Saturday…

WOLVES

• Arsenal (a)
• Chelsea (h)
• Burnley (h)
• Nottingham Forest (a)

It’s a rough start for Wolves too, made even harder by the sale of Pedro Neto (£3.5m).

The second half of the month evens out but they may have to suffer first.

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