The Scout uses the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR) to identify the clubs with the best and worst schedules over the next five Gameweeks in Fantasy Premier League.
Who has the most favourable festive schedule?
West Ham United have the most favourable schedule of any club over the Gameweeks 17-21 festive period in Fantasy.
According to the FDR, where the difficulty of each match is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five the hardest - three of the Hammers' five matches score just two - home matches with Fulham and Nottingham Forest in Gameweeks 18 and 21 respectively, in addition to a visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 20.
In a period where rotation is common among most clubs, Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) is about as risk-free a Fantasy pick as it gets - he is the only forward to play every minute of 2025/26.
Encouragingly, Bowen approaches the upcoming period in his most reliable form of the campaign.
He has produced an attacking return in each of the last three Gameweeks, scoring twice and supplying an assist to collect 22 points.
West Ham's festive fixtures
| GW | Opp. | FDR* |
| 17 | Man City (A) | 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Fulham (H) | 2 |
| 19 | Brighton (H) | 3 |
| 20 | Wolves (A) | 2 |
| 21 | Nottingham Forest (H) | 2 |
*1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
The table below highlights the eight clubs with an average FDR score under 3.0 across Gameweeks 17-21.
Brentford, Manchester United and Newcastle United also have kind runs of opponents, mirroring the Hammers' average FDR of 2.5. All three have two matches which score only two in the FDR in this spell.
Similarly to Bowen, Brentford's Igor Thiago (£7.2m) and Man Utd's Bruno Fernandes (£9.3m) are guaranteed starters.
Thiago is expected to recover from the knock that forced him to miss the Bees' EFL Cup encounter with Manchester City in midweek. The Brazilian, who is the second top-scoring forward in Fantasy on 82 points, faces both Wolves and Sunderland in the upcoming spell.
Fernandes' potential for huge hauls has been very much in evidence recently, with three double-figure scores taking him to the top of the midfielder standings.
He looks a strong armband candidate at home to Wolves in Gameweek 19 and away to Burnley in Gameweek 21.
Although Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m) also has kind fixtures, managers who are looking to invest need to be aware that he is currently on four yellow cards and would earn a one-match ban if he is booked in his club's next three matches.
If you do have a strong enough bench to risk it, it could be worth buying Guimaraes for his Gameweek 19 match against Burnley, if he avoids a yellow card in his next two matches.
If he does get booked, the Brazilian would miss out against Crystal Palace in Gameweek 20 before then being available for very favourable back-to-back matches against Leeds United and Wolves in Gameweeks 21-22.
Elsewhere, Fulham's Harry Wilson (£5.6m) has back-to-back encounters with Nott'm Forest and West Ham in the next two Gameweeks to reward his huge number of new owners.
Three goals and four assists in the last four Gameweeks have made Wilson the priority pick for managers ahead of Saturday's 11:00 GMT deadline, with the Welshman earning over 920,000 transfers in.
Man City's Rayan Cherki (£6.5m) could prove a great overlooked asset, with an ownership of just over five per cent. The Frenchman has four assists in his last three starts and his chances of more starts have been boosted by an injury to his positional rival Jeremy Doku (£6.5m).
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) and defender Michael Keane (£4.6m) have a kind mid-term run of opponents that can bring in more clean sheets.
In a six-match run over over Gameweeks 18-23, David Moyes' men face Burnley, Wolves and Leeds.
Clubs with best FDR Festive Fixtures
| Club | No. of matches score 2 in FDR | Average FDR |
| West Ham | 3 | 2.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Brentford | 2 | 2.6 |
| Man Utd | 2 | 2.6 |
| Newcastle | 2 | 2.6 |
| Everton | 2 | 2.8 |
| Fulham | 2 | 2.8 |
| Nott'm Forest | 2 | 2.8 |
| Man City | 1 | 2.8 |
Although Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool don't feature in the table above (mainly as they each visit Arsenal, a match which scores five in the FDR), both still have a number of favourable fixtures.
Indeed, Brighton and Liverpool have three matches which score only two in the FDR in the next six Gameweeks and both clubs should also be factored into your thinking.
In Brighton's case, all three of those favourable contests are in the next four Gameweeks, with centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.6m) and winger Yankuba Minteh (£6.1m) offering great value against Sunderland, West Ham and Burnley.
Liverpool, meanwhile, welcome Wolves, Leeds and Burnley to Anfield in a five-match run over Gameweeks 18-22.
Over 630,000 managers have brought in the Reds' Hugo Ekitike (£8.6m) for his visit to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend. Playing up front, the Frenchman has scored twice to collect 13 points in each of the last two Gameweeks.
With those Wolves and Leeds home matches coming back-to-back in Gameweeks 18-19, expect the Ekitike interest to escalate.
How busy are their schedules?
Of the eight clubs with the kindest schedules, five of them - Everton, Fulham, Man City, Newcastle and West Ham - have three home matches in this spell, which essentially means less travelling between matches.
Although Man Utd are among the three clubs with three away matches, the same can apply here as they are so geographically close to Leeds and Burnley, who they will visit over Gameweeks 20-21.
When it comes to resting up between fixtures, it's Man Utd and Newcastle who profit the most.
Whereas the other six clubs with favourable fixtures have a three-day break between matches on two occasions, this only applies to the Red Devils and Magpies once.
As the table below shows, Man Utd face Aston Villa on Sunday 21 December, while Newcastle face Chelsea on the previous day - that's a five and six-day break, respectively, before the pair go head-to-head in the first day of Gameweek 18 on Friday 26 December.
Notably, both Man Utd and Newcastle play on the same day across Gameweeks 18-21.
Following their encounter at Old Trafford, they then have a four-day break before their Gameweek 19 matches on Tuesday 30 December, a five-day break before their Gameweek 20 matches on Sunday 4 January, then a three-day break before finishing their festive fixtures on Wednesday 7 January.
Schedule of clubs with best FDR festive fixtures
| Club | GW17 (date, location) | GW18 (date, location) | GW19 (date, location) | GW20 (date, location) | GW21 (date, location) |
| West Ham | Sat 20 Dec, MCI (A) | Sat 27 Dec, FUL (H) | Tue 30 Dec, BHA (H) | Sat 3 Jan, WOL (A) | Tue 6 Jan, NFO (H) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nottingham Forest | Mon 22 Dec, FUL (A) | Sat 27 Dec, MCI (H) | Tue 30 Dec, EVE (H) | Sat 3 Jan, AVL (A) | Tue 6 Jan, WHU (A) |
| Man Utd | Sun 21 Dec, AVL (A) | Fri 26 Dec, NEW (H) | Tue 30 Dec, WOL (H) | Sun 4 Jan, LEE (A) | Wed 7 Jan, BUR (A) |
| Brentford | Sat 20 Dec, WOL (A) | Sat 27 Dec, BOU (H) | Thu 1 Jan, TOT (A) | Sun 4 Jan, EVE (H) | Wed 7 Jan, SUN (A) |
| Newcastle | Sat 20 Dec, CHE (H) | Fri 26 Dec, MUN (A) | Tue 30 Dec, BUR (A) | Sun 4 Jan, CRY (H) | Wed 7 Jan, LEE (H) |
| Everton | Sat 20 Dec, ARS (H) | Sat 27 Dec, BUR (A) | Tue 30 Dec, NFO(A) | Sun 4 Jan, BRE (H) | Wed 7 Jan, WOL (H) |
| Man City | Sat 20 Dec, WHU (H) | Sat 27 Dec, NFO (A) | Thu 1 Jan, SUN (A) | Sun 4 Jan, CHE (H) | Wed 7 Jan, BHA (H) |
| Fulham | Mon 22 Dec, NFO (H) | Sat 27 Dec, WHU (A) | Thu 1 Jan, CRY (A) | Sun 4 Jan, LIV (H) | Wed 7 Jan, CHE (H) |
Scroll across to see the full table
Who has the worst festive schedule?
Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds have the least appealing runs of opponents on the horizon, with an FDR average of 3.5 over Gameweeks 18-21.
Certainly, it's worth noting that three of Arsenal's matches are at home, against Brighton, Aston Villa and Liverpool. Combined with visits to Everton and AFC Bournemouth, it's not advisable to transfer out all of your Gunners' assets.
But if you've tripled up - or maybe even doubled up - on their key picks such as David Raya (£6.0m), Jurrien Timber (£6.5m), Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) and Declan Rice (£7.1m), it could be time for a re-think.
Elsewhere, Villa's Morgan Rogers (£7.1m) could struggle to maintain his upturn in output.
More than 330,000 managers have bought the midfielder after he produced four goals and an assist in the last five Gameweeks.
But Rogers is set to endure a brutal run of away matches, facing three of the top five - Chelsea, Arsenal and Crystal Palace - in the festive period.
Clubs with worst FDR festive fixtures
| Club | No. of matches score 4+ in FDR | Average FDR |
| Arsenal | 2 | 3.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 2 | 3.4 |
| Leeds | 2 | 3.4 |
| Spurs | 2 | 3.2 |
| Aston Villa | 1 | 3.2 |