FPL Fixture Focus: Is it time to remember Chelsea again?
Looking ahead at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) fixture run for Chelsea and their assets from Gameweek 28.
FPL FIXTURE FOCUS
World champions Chelsea have been off the FPL radar for a while, as a result of the winter break and the two Blank Gameweeks caused by the Club World Cup. Yet they make a return following the League Cup final and have a strong run of fixtures:
It’s a glorious set of games that will include Double Gameweeks, with three games-in-hand should they defeat Luton in the FA Cup and therefore miss Gameweek 30. The ‘Fixture Difficulty Rating’ grades eight of their remaining 13 fixtures as a two, with the four ‘three’ ratings all at home.
Their defence was once deemed essential, with seven clean sheets from their first 12 outings. Additionally, defenders scored 13 goals during the first 12 Gameweeks. Reece James (£6.2m) netted four and Ben Chilwell (£5.6m) scored in three consecutive appearances.
They then kept just one clean sheet from 11 league games, something which has been halted with successive shut-outs against Tottenham and Crystal Palace. Maybe this indicates it’s a good time to get back onto Antonio Rudiger (£6.1m). He is the only defender seemingly certain of starts under Thomas Tuchel.
James is about to return from a hamstring injury, although his minutes will be managed. Owners of Marcos Alonso (£5.6m) won’t be pleased to discover he’s still not guaranteed minutes, even though fellow left wing-back Chilwell’s season is over with a knee injury.
UNDERLYING STATS
Further up, the main attacking option is Mason Mount (£7.5m).
None of the Chelsea midfielders rank well for chances created or expected goal involvement (xGI), although Mount is best. He is their top scorer and has most assists, plus the most penalty area touches.
Hakim Ziyech (£7.3m) has scored in Chelsea’s last three league matches. If his midweek injury is minor, he’s probably ahead of Kai Havertz (£7.8m) in the pecking order, not that FPL managers will want to revisit the horrors of Gameweek 9. Deployed up front in place of the injured Romelu Lukaku (£11.5m), he blanked during Chelsea’s 7-0 win over Norwich.
As a result of rotation, blanks and injuries, only Rudiger has an ownership above 12%. It may be tempting to purchase Lukaku for this fixture run but it’s hard to find value-for-money with that premium price tag.
Also, his struggles intensified when making headlines for only touching the ball seven times against Crystal Palace.
COMMUNITY
Whether an FPL manager is using their Wildcard or simply looking for a way to navigate the upcoming Gameweeks, there is noise about getting onboard the Chelsea bandwagon.
