THE upcoming Gameweek is a crucial one in the Dream Team calendar.
For last time this season, all 20 teams are due to play twice with an additional round of Premier League fixtures scheduled for midweek after the usual weekend allotment.
Double Gameweeks of this nature are usually high-scoring affairs and therefore demand considered analysis.
The fixture list should always be a determining influence when making important decisions regarding transfers and captaincy.
And so, ahead of Friday’s deadline, the question of which teams have the most favourable match-ups must be answered.
There is no exact science to figuring out which games will yield the most points as there are a number of factors to consider: form, home vs away records, previous meetings, etc.
For this exercise, we are going to determine which teams have the most favourable double headers based on the league positions of their opponents.
We have assigned a numerical value to each team that corresponds to their current position (Arsenal = 1, Manchester City = 2, etc) to quantify the Gameweek 26 double headers — the higher the number the more favourable the fixtures.
With that in mind, here are the five most favourable double headers of the lot:
- LIVERPOOL vs West Ham (h) & Wolves (a) – 38
- FULHAM vs Spurs (h) & West Ham (h) – 34
- MANCHESTER CITY vs Leeds (a) & Nott’m Forest (h) – 32
- EVERTON vs Newcastle (a) & Burnley (h) – 30
- BRENTFORD vs Burnley (a) & Bournemouth (a) – 27
Arne Slot’s side have the luxury of taking on two of the bottom three this coming Gameweek.
The Hammers have shown more fight of late but there’s no doubt the Reds’ double header is one to target.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£5.5m), Hugo Ekitike (£4.5m) and Virgil van Dijk (£4.7m) are the club’s three best performers this season in terms of total points.
Marco Silva will be happy the schedule has gifted him back-to-back home fixtures against vulnerable opponents.
It will be interesting to see how many Dream Team bosses take a punt on the likes of Harry Wilson (£3.6m), Raul Jimenez (£3.6m) and Alex Iwobi (£3m) in search of short-term gains.
A trip to Elland Road is a potential banana skin but gaffers backing Pep Guardiola’s regulars will be hopeful of healthy returns.
Erling Haaland (£7.2m) and Antoine Semenyo (£4.9m) are essentially must-have assets and it’s telling that Nico O’Reilly (£3.4m) is currently the most popular recruit this week after his match-winning brace against Newcastle.
Igor Thiago (£3.6m) is very much in the spotlight again ahead of a rare double header for the Bees.
The 22.9%-owned striker will fancy his chances of adding to his impressive tally of 18 goals in all competitions this campaign.
Score Predictor
Play Score Predictor with Dream Team this season
- Free to play
- Every correct prediction earns you one entry into the end-of-season £10,000 prize draw
- Play in Mini Leagues against your mates
- PLAY NOW!
For what it’s worth, these are the most difficult double headers:
- CHELSEA vs Arsenal (a) & Aston Villa (a) – 4
- WOLVES vs Aston Villa (h) & Liverpool (h) – 9
- NEWCASTLE vs Everton (h) & Man Utd (h) – 13
The Blues face a seriously tough test in Gameweek 26.
This explains why Enzo Fernandez (£4.4m), Joao Pedro (£4.5m) and Cole Palmer (£5.7m) are all among the most transferred-out players at this stage.
Dream Team in association with Midnite
BET £10 GET £20 +50 free spins – CLAIM HERE
*18+ New UK customers. Bet £10 on accas with 4+ legs, min odds 3/1 (4.0). Get 4x £5 Free Bets and 50 Free Spins, valid for 7 days on selected bets and games only. T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
