The 2023/24 Premier League season is beginning for millions of Fantasy Premier League managers across the world.
Planning can now start after the fixtures for the new campaign were released on premierleague.com.
See: Fixtures for the 2023/24 season
Analysing the schedule was a big part of 2022/23 champion Ali Jahangirov’s winning strategy.
“At the start of the season, fixtures are the only known aspect of the game that you have to rely on," he says. "Once you have the fixtures, then just try to pick the players in form."
Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers both had favourable early runs of opponents last campaign, persuading Jahangirov to opt for their in-form midfielders Leon Bailey and Pedro Neto.
By selecting both of those cut-price players, Jahangirov was able to balance the budget across his squad. This allowed him to pick the highly-owned premiums, ensuring a risk-free start to the season.
See: FPL champion's tips on picking a Gameweek 1 squad
Gameweek 1 is often the most significant weekend of the campaign for Fantasy managers, with the opening round of matches offering insight into the key players to target.
There was no better example than Fantasy’s top-scoring player last season, Erling Haaland.
Arriving from Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City’s forward immediately showed his potential for huge hauls by scoring twice to claim 13 points against West Ham United.
By the time Gameweek 6 had ended, Haaland had already established a 22-point advantage at the top of the player standings.
The Norwegian’s 10 goals, one assist and 67 points in that period showed just why he became the go-to captain for millions of managers in Fantasy in each Gameweek.
Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier also took advantage of a kind opening run of opponents.
Trippier faced Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion in the first two Gameweeks of 2022/23.
The right-back was quick to show the consistent form that made him the top-scoring defender in Fantasy, producing a clean sheet and a bonus point in each of those outings.
He extended that form for many matches to follow, blanking in only two of his first 11 appearances over the first 12 Gameweeks.
Having started the season at a cost of £5.0m, Trippier had already risen to £5.9m by Gameweek 13.
Download the calendar
The Premier League action may still be nearly two months away, but using the fixtures to plan ahead now can help build an early platform for success in 2023/24.
Remember, you can get the 2023/24 fixtures by downloading the Premier League's digital calendar at pl.ecal.com.
The calendar also allows FPL managers to sync the Gameweek deadlines to their devices.
Next: The Scout reacts to the 2023/24 fixtures