Of the ten fixtures scheduled to take place across Gameweek 19, seven went ahead as planned, with three postponed for reasons related to Covid-19. The 3pm Boxing Day fixtures provided plenty of entertainment with the most fun coming at the Etihad Stadium where Man City triumphed over Leicester in a 6-3 thriller that saw Raheem Sterling (£10.6m) score twice and Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) record his third goal across the last three gameweeks. Arsenal thrashed Norwich 0-5 at Carrow Road with a brace from Bukayo Saka (£6.3m) among the highlights whilst Spurs triumphed 3-0 over Crystal Palace with Harry Kane (£10.5m) and Heung-Min Son (£11.1m) both scoring.
Southampton and Brighton both ended lengthy winless runs, beating West Ham and Brentford respectively. Chelsea found themselves behind through a Reece James (£6.4m) own goal away at Aston Villa before Thomas Tuchel’s men bounced back through two Jorginho (£5.8m) penalties either side of a Romelu Lukaku (£11.5m) goal off the bench.
Currently, two matches have already been postponed ahead of Gameweek 20 and as was the case in Gameweek 19, we will update our fixture list below with the latest postponements ahead of the deadline. For now though, we’ve picked up some standout Gameweek 20 fixtures from an FPL perspective and highlighted some key players in the process.
GAMEWEEK 20 FIXTURES
Tuesday 28th December
Crystal Palace vs Norwich (15:00)
Southampton vs Spurs (15:00)
Watford vs West Ham (15:00)
Leicester vs Liverpool (20:00)
Wednesday 29th December
Chelsea vs Brighton (19:30)
Brentford vs Man City (20:15)
Thursday 30th December
Everton vs Newcastle (19:30)
Man Utd vs Burnley (20:15)
LIVERPOOL BACK AND READY TO GO FOX HUNTING!
With Leicester having conceded a minimum of two goals in five of their most recent six league matches and 12 across their last four in all competitions, the Liverpool attackers are expected to fill their boots in Gameweek 20 away against a Foxes backline ravaged by a mixture of injury and Covid-19 cases. An unexpected Boxing Day rest following their Gameweek 19 fixture against Leeds being postponed will have benefitted Liverpool and they’ll likely still be frustrated following their draw against Spurs in Gameweek 18, which saw them on the receiving end of a number of controversial decisions from the officials.
Mo Salah (£13.0m) is on the back of having blanked for the first time since Gameweek 2 and will be looking to add to his 15 goals and 10 assists already accrued in the top flight this season. Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.3m) has racked up 36 FPL points across his last four league games, whilst Diogo Jota (£8.1m) is on the back of goals in successive Premier League fixtures. However, well worth a mention on the Leicester side is midfielder James Maddison (£6.8m) who has quietly been hauling attacking returns and FPL points in bulk, accumulating four goals, five assists and 53 points across his last five league matches.
BEES FACING A SWARM OF MAN CITY ATTACKS!
An astonishing 17 goals over the course of their most recent three games tells its own story in regards to Man City’s offensive prowess at present. Pep Guardiola’s side have been simply sensational going forward and look like scoring in every attack. This does not bode well for Brentford, whom Man City travel to in Gameweek 20.
It would be fair to expect Man City to create plenty of chances and find the net at least more than once against the Bees and whilst predicting Guardiola’s starting line-up is tricky, get it right and you could be on for some big points. Raheem Sterling has acquired five goals and 40 FPL points across his last four league matches, however it would be no surprise to see Kevin De Bruyne rested in this one having started in gameweeks 17, 18 and 19. Gabriel Jesus(£8.7m) was on the bench in Gameweek 19 and could be in line for a start against Brentford, whilst owners of Phil Foden (£8.1m) will be hoping that Guardiola has forgiven him for his off the pitch shenanigans after he was brought off the bench on Boxing Day.
EAGLES TO CLIP CANARIES WINGS?
Defensively, rock bottom Norwich have proven all over the place in recent games, with 11 goals conceded across their last four in the Premier League. They’ve combined this defensive fragility with a chronic lack of cutting edge in front goal, having also not scored in either of those four matches. Crystal Palace could be set to profit with the two sides meeting in Gameweek 20 and FPL managers should seriously consider players from the Eagles who could improve their team ahead of the Gameweek 20 deadline.
Conor Gallagher (£6.1m) already commands a high ownership with over a quarter of FPL managers in possession of the midfielder and with six goals and five assists already this season, they’ll be hoping for more attacking returns from the Chelsea loanee in this one. For those looking to transfer a cheap defender into their FPL side with the potential of keeping a clean sheet in Gameweek 20, left-back Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m) ticks plenty of boxes at an affordable price and having started in every Premier League match for Crystal Palace so far this season. In attack, Odsonne Edouard (£6.3m) is expected to lead the line once again for Patrick Viera’s side and is off the back of two assists in his most recent fixture played at Selhurst Park.