The Scout looks at the main things to consider in Fantasy Premier League when planning for the upcoming Festive Fixtures.
Pick players whose minutes won’t be managed
Managers should be pinpointing players who are guaranteed starters for their clubs and who won’t have their pitch time reduced over the upcoming busy period.
Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers (£7.2m) and West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) are prime examples of players who have started every match for their clubs.
Rogers has been subbed off only twice this season. He has recently climbed to joint-fourth in the midfielder standings, having scored twice to earn 15 points in each of the last two Gameweeks.
As a result, he is the second most-bought player player ahead of Friday's 18:30 GMT deadline, with more than 339,000 new owners.
Bowen, meanwhile, is the only forward in Fantasy to have played every minute this season.
Similarly to Rogers, the Hammers’ talisman approaches the festive period in his best form of the campaign.
Bowen has climbed into fourth place in the forwards standings on 75 points after delivering attacking returns in three of the last four Gameweeks. He scored twice and supplied an assist to collect 23 points.
Crucially, West Ham have the best schedule of any side across the next four and six-Gameweek spells.
According to the FDR, FOUR of their next six matches score only two. Those favourable contests are at home to Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, in addition to a visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Judging by their managers’ recent teamsheets, there's an argument that Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£10.4m) and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) are more likely to have their minutes managed over the upcoming four-match spell.
Although Palmer marked his recent return from injury with an appearance off the bench in Gameweek 14, he has played 57 minutes twice and 79 minutes as a starter in the Blues’ subsequent three matches.
Saka, meanwhile, was benched in the first midweek round of matches as recently as Gameweek 14 when Mikel Arteta rotated at home to Brentford, although the England star did emerge as a substitute to score.
While both midfield big-hitters are still expected to feature prominently for their clubs, they do carry a greater degree of risk than the likes of Rogers and Bowen in terms of minutes played over Gameweeks 18-21.
Watch out for suspensions
If you’re looking to bring in AFC Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo (£7.7m) or Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m), you need to be aware that both midfielders are on four bookings for the season, which is just one away from suspension.
All players on four yellow cards would earn a one-match ban if they receive another caution in their club’s first 19 matches.
Providing there are no postponed fixtures, Semenyo and Guimaraes have two more matches across Gameweeks 18-19 to navigate safely in order to avoid being suspended.
Certainly, if you’re an owner, it makes sense to hold for now.
Semenyo has the better form, having scored in each of the last two Gameweeks. He is by far the most-popular Fantasy asset on four yellow cards, with his ownership of 45 per cent second only to the 73 per cent of Erling Haaland (£15.0m) among all players.
Guimaraes has a very favourable run of opponents on the horizon, facing Burnley, Leeds United and Wolves over Gameweeks 19-22.
At the back, Aston Villa's Matty Cash (£4.9m) and Tottenham Hotspur's Pedro Porro (£5.3m) are the most-selected defenders on four yellows, with their ownerships of 13 per cent just one less than the 14 of Guimaraes.
Similarly, Manchester City's Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7m) 10 per cent backers would need to call upon their back-up goalkeeper if he's cautioned in their next two matches.
Have a strong bench
The festive period is the busiest part of the season for Fantasy managers, with four Gameweek deadlines over a 15-day spell.
Ideally, your bench should be filled with budget players who are all starters for their clubs, and who can come into your line-up and replace one of your regulars should they miss out.
Handily, there are good options across all positions in Fantasy.
Burnley’s Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) has given us a rare £4.0m starting goalkeeper after his summer switch from Newcastle.
The introduction of defensive contribution points has already lifted the potential of ultra-low budget defenders from the promoted clubs, with Sunderland’s Omar Alderete (£4.0m) and Nordi Mukiele (£4.2m), along with Leeds' Joe Rodon (£4.0m), all priced under £4.5m.
In midfield, West Ham’s Freddie Potts (£4.4m) now looks a better budget pick than Fulham's Josh King (£4.5m).
Potts has established himself as a key figure under new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, with all seven of his starts this season coming over the last eight Gameweeks.
Up front, meanwhile, Leeds’ Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) has scored in each of the last five Gameweeks, totalling six goals to earn 44 points during that period.
Plan around fixtures
The Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR) are essential to helping you plan your targets around the key players with favourable schedules.
Along with Bowen, Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m), Manchester United's Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) and Everton defender Michael Keane (£4.6m) also have the opponents to reward investment.
Reds forward Ektike has back-to-back home matches against Wolves and Leeds over Gameweeks 18-19, with both fixtures scoring only two in the FDR.
Having been bought by over 1.1 million managers in Gameweek 17, the Frenchman is now the most-transferred in player for Gameweek 18, earning a further 466,000+ new owners. Ekitike has scored five goals in the last three Gameweeks to collect 35 points.
Cunha, meanwhile, could emerge as the go-to Man Utd asset in the absence of injured playmaker Bruno Fernandes (£9.4m). The Brazilian has two goals, an assist and 22 points in the last three Gameweeks since a recent return from his own injury.
Apart from the 15 of Fernandes, Cunha's total of 25 shots in the last four Gameweeks was more or less TWICE the total of any other midfielder, with Rogers and Leeds' Anton Stach (£4.8m) his nearest rivals on 13.
Man Utd embark on a very favourable short-term run over Gameweeks 19-21, facing Wolves, Leeds and Burnley in successive matches.
Toffees centre-back Keane also has two matches in the five-Gameweek spell which score only two, facing Burnley and Wolves in Gameweeks 18 and 21 respectively.
Make planned changes straight after a deadline
If you're worried that you might forget to change your team, you could make some alterations to your team as soon as it refreshes after a deadline, rather than leaving it for a few days.
If you know you intend to change your captain, or bring one of your existing players from your substitutes' bench into your starting line-up, why not do it straight away?
Just be careful of making transfers too early - especially if they haven't played their match yet in a Gameweek - due to the risk of injury or suspension.
Use your chips
The first batch of chips must ALL be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline on Tuesday 30 December at 18:00 GMT. Any unused chips will be lost, as the chips are reset for the second half of the season.
With just TWO Gameweeks until the reset, if you have only used one chip this season, you need to use one in EACH of the next two Gameweeks to avoid losing any of them.
Remember, only ONE chip can be played in each Gameweek.
Triple Captain
Ekitike has home matches against Wolves in Gameweek 18 and Leeds in Gameweek 19 to continue his run of huge returns.
Cunha offers a strong alternative at home to his former club Wolves in Gameweek 19. He is expected to be handed penalty and free-kick duties in the absence of both Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m), who is currently participating for Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)
Bench Boost
In Gameweek 18, Sunderland's home match against Leeds gives the likes of Alderete and Mukiele the chance of a third straight clean sheet.
Man Utd's Ayden Heaven costs a mere £3.8m and has started each of the last four Gameweeks. He is at home to Wolves in Gameweek 19.
Free Hit
Gameweek 18 offers the option of tripling up Liverpool and Arsenal, who host Wolves and Brighton respectively. Elsewhere, West Ham are at home to Fulham and Sunderland entertain Leeds, with the Black Cats' centre-back Dan Ballard (£4.6m) boasting strong all-round potential.
Wildcard
Waiting until Gameweek 19 - the final week you can use the chip - could allow you to exploit both the short term and long-term fixtures.
You could use your free transfers now to target teams like Man City, Brentford, Man Utd and Arsenal, who have strong short-term fixtures.
You could then Wildcard in Gameweek 19 to focus on teams such as Brighton, Everton and West Ham, who all have strong schedules from that point onwards.