FPL Fixtures: The Teams With The Easiest Run — 25 Aug
The call — Charting the Opening Terrain: Where the Easy Roads Run, GW1–6 Survey the map for the first six gameweeks and one route stands out in bold ink: a £4.5m Brighton defender projected for roughly 41 points across the window, owned by fewer than 1 in 20 managers. That is De Cuyper, and that is the kind of high ground you build…
Brighton's climate is the mildest of anyone's. Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Leeds (H), Coventry (A), Arsenal (H), Sunderland (A) — kind for goals, kind for clean sheets. De Cuyper is the prize, but note Hinshelwood at £6.0m: our model projects him for around 44 points over the six weeks, the best figure on this entire map, and barely 1 in 10 own even a tenth of him — he's at about 1 in 100. Verbruggen at £4.5m completes a full Brighton corridor for the budget-minded.
City's road is nearly as smooth — Bournemouth, Palace, Coventry, United, Sunderland, then the Anfield pass at the end. Haaland is the toll everyone pays: £15.5m, about 7 in 10 own him, and he remains the default captain armband through this stretch. Guéhi at £6.0m is the quieter value in that defence, projected for a steady return most weeks with only about 2 in 10 aboard.
Arsenal open with Coventry at home and Chelsea at the Emirates in the first three. Saka at £9.5m is the pick there — usually good for a solid haul and capable of going big — and remarkably only about 1 in 10 own him. Gabriel and Raya carry the clean-sheet case.
Two side-routes worth marking. Newcastle's attack has open country ahead despite Liverpool first up: Wissa at £6.0m, projected for 30-odd points over the window, is owned by barely 2 in 100 — a genuine differential. United's run through Hull, Ipswich and Everton makes Fernandes and Mbeumo sound picks, though half the game already has Fernandes. Brentford's Thiago (£8.0m, ~34 projected points) profits from a kind attacking run, but their clean-sheet terrain is rough — attackers only there.
The call for GW1–6: make De Cuyper your first defensive purchase — the best points-per-pound route on the map — pair him with Hinshelwood if you want the boldest line, and give Haaland the armband while City's road stays flat. Buy the Brighton corridor now, before the crowd finds the pass.