The release of the 2024/25 Premier League fixtures on Tuesday morning allows managers in Fantasy Premier League to begin their planning for the campaign ahead.
At 09:00 BST, all 38 Gameweeks for the new season will be available on premierleague.com.
Study the schedule
When building his opening squad at the start of last season, 2023/24 champion Jonas Sand Labakk was quick to pinpoint the clubs and key players with kind early schedules.
“I always look at the fixtures,” says Labakk. “When we have a new season, we don't have much form to rely on. So I think the best way to go then is the fixtures.
“For friendlies I try not to get blinded by them. You can, of course, see some players that are in form but I try not to look too much at pre-season apart from the last game, because the last game they often play their best team.”
Key targets
Brentford’s three home matches in the first four Gameweeks of last season – combined with a visit to Fulham – ensured Labakk immediately found a place for Bryan Mbeumo in his starting line-up.
By the time Gameweek 4 had finished, Mbeumo was the top-scoring midfielder in Fantasy on 33 points, just behind the 39 of Erling Haaland at the summit.
Pairing Haaland with his Manchester City team-mate Julian Alvarez proved a profitable tactic for many other managers early on.
Pep Guardiola’s side had a very kind opening schedule, which included encounters with Burnley, Sheffield United, Fulham, West Ham United and Nottingham Forest in the first six Gameweeks.
Kevin De Bruyne’s absence through injury allowed Alvarez to make his mark as Man City’s key creator. The Argentinian supplied five of his 11 assists for the season in the first five Gameweeks alone, in addition to scoring twice.
Having started the campaign at a cost of £6.5m, Alvarez had risen to £6.9m by Gameweek 6 and was the second top-scoring forward in Fantasy, with his total of 38 points bettered only by the 51 of Haaland.
Identifying trends
The early success of a number of midfielders last season made the 3-5-2 formation a popular pick for millions of managers.
After the first six Gameweeks, as many as seven of the nine top-scoring players were midfielders, with Haaland and Alvarez the only exceptions.
Bukayo Saka was among the best-performing midfielders thanks to Arsenal’s own kind schedule – Mikel Arteta’s side had four home matches combined with visits to Crystal Palace and Everton in the first six Gameweeks.
Saka blanked just once in that run, scoring three goals and assisting another three to amass 44 points, level with Son Heung-min at the top of the midfielder standings.
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 2024/25.
Remember, you can get the 2024/25 fixtures by downloading the Premier League's digital calendar.
This allows FPL managers to sync the Gameweek deadlines to their devices.