I follow all the finer tactical details and changes for each Premier League team, and I am very driven by fixtures in FPL. Here is my preview for the first six matches using the tools from Fantasy Football Hub.

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Fixture Analyzer*

Different players will perform better or worse, depending on how easy or difficult the fixture is. If the opposition defends deep, Manchester City will need someone like Rodri pulling the strings, or Liverpool will have Mohamed Salah stuck to the touchline.

If the game is more even, Tottenham might benefit because they need space to attack the box. Brentford is the most counterintuitive. They benefit the most against tougher teams because they generate a lot of chances on the counter.

Shout-out to FPL Blackbox who go into far more detail regarding this topic of who performs best against different strength opposition.

Arsenal and Liverpool are the clear targets out of the gate. I don’t buy into Manchester City’s numbers. They usually start seasons slowly, and they are without half their squad. The season starts for them against Arsenal at home, and Arsenal will have most of their main players up to speed by that point. Every game before that is a make-shift preseason game to get players like Phil Foden and Rodri, but both should get the majority of the minutes this season as they did last season.

Of note, Chelsea will be playing Conference League Qualification matches on Thursday between GW1 and GW2, then GW2 and GW3. It is hard to predict who will play, and if they rotate the lineup, then it should take them several weeks to get into a rhythm. The European competitions will start after GW4.

Crystal Palace is now without Michael Olise because he was sold and Jean-Philippe Mateta because he is coming back from the Olympics. Eberechi Eze didn’t have a full preseason. I am unsure how they will perform, but Jeffrey Schlupp, Odsonne Edouard, and Tyrick Mitchell have looked great in preseason.

Aston Villa and Manchester United are the biggest wildcards.

Aston Villa’s fixtures are tough, they will be playing in the Champions League, and Ollie Watkins hasn’t featured in any preseason matches. We’ll soon find out how important Douglas Luiz was to their chance creation and if Amadou Onana can replicate it.

Erik Ten Hag has his full focus on coaching and less on recruitment, how much will that benefit Manchester United? Their training intensity is higher than others, and I expect their players to be sharper in the in the short term.

Brighton are a fun team to watch, and I want them to succeed. I am unsure who will benefit within the team the most from their more fluid approach as compared to last season.

It is hard to bet against Arsenal when it comes to defending. They are a class above everyone else.

I do think Arne Slot will make Liverpool more defensively secure initially, but with the way they build up short, it’s new. They may be prone to errors in the short term if they are passing out of their own penalty area.

The clean sheet odds seem to indicate that Manchester City might need to score two goals in each of their games to win, so they’ll be pushing for a lead. Who will benefit from that?

Brighton are a sneaky team to watch. They shouldn’t be as defensively aloof under new management.

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Opta Stats*

I want to target players that get the most shots on target, and with Fantasy Football Hub, I can do that using their data provided by Opta.

Fantasy Premier League made a big change to bonus points. Now, for each shot on target, two points will be awarded towards bonus. To me, that is a bit overpowered.

For every cross, you get one point. Think about how we target players specifically for crossing. Now imagine Manchester City have Brentford pinned back, and they are taking endless pot shots at goal. One shot on target equals two crosses.

I like the change because it will now disproportionately reward attackers, and they’ll have at least a chance to win the bonus points battle against the defenders in a goalless draw.

Whether you like that £15m price point or not, Erling Haaland should lead the league in shots on target totals. Darwin Nunez is someone I am very interested in, especially since Arne Slot is known to help improve his attacker’s output. Mr. Reliable Mohamad Salah is inevitable and has looked sharper.

My advice, and I might be wrong, is to go down the list and try to fill your team with the players that you think will have the most shots on target. Favoring those who put in a lot of crosses seems like a smart play.

Other sites have similar features, but I specifically like the opposition strength per start filter.

The opposition strength filter is incredibly important and influential in decisions for the reasons I stated above about the fixtures. Certain players perform better against better teams or worse teams.

When picking my team, I’ll be going down the list of players who take a ton of shots on target either per start or per 90 minutes.

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Free AI Team Rating*

Of course, the main attraction for most is the artificial intelligence (AI) features. You can get your team rated for free.

What I highlighted in this post is a fraction of the features they offer.

If you want full access to help prepare and make those key decisions before the Premier League starts this weekend, you should consider signing up. Memberships are 50% off until the gameweek 1 deadline. Sign up here*.