<p>Which teams should Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers target at the start of the season based on their opening fixtures &#8211; and whose run means they should be avoided?</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker"><strong>customisable fixture ticker</strong></a> is now live, offering Fantasy Football Hub members the chance to easily check the best and worst runs between any two selected gameweeks.</p>
<p>The ticker can be set to focus on fixture difficulty from both an attacking and defensive perspective but for the purposes of this article, we&#8217;ll be looking at the overall picture between Gameweek 1 and 6.</p>
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<h2>Best FPL fixtures: Teams to target in Gameweek 1-6</h2>
<p>Here are the teams with the best runs according to our ticker:</p>
<h3>1st. Liverpool</h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Ipswich (A), Brentford (H), Manchester United (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Bournemouth (H), Wolves (A)</strong></p>
<p>New Liverpool manager Arne Slot has been given a kind start to his Premier League career, with the best first six fixtures.</p>
<p>They will first play at Anfield in Gameweek 2 &#8211; and it&#8217;s their three home games against Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth which look to be the most favourable.</p>
<p>Liverpool had the best home record from an expected goals (xG) perspective last season, while only Manchester City scored more than them on home turf. <strong>Mohamed Salah </strong>was Liverpool&#8217;s standout performer at Anfield, scoring 13 of his 18 goals there.</p>
<p>But despite a good start on paper, FPL managers may wish to see how the Reds perform post-Jurgen Klopp before maxing out on their players.</p>
<p>Their Gameweek 1 match away to Ipswich could be difficult to call too, with the promoted team&#8217;s ability to cope with the step up to the Premier League unknown.</p>
<p>Manchester United away could be another tough test. Liverpool last won at Old Trafford in October 2021, with two losses and a draw in all competitions since.</p>
<div id="attachment_64827" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64827" class="size-full wp-image-64827" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Salah-home-v-away-record-1.jpg" alt="Mohamed Salah's home v away record last season" width="900" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Salah-home-v-away-record-1.jpg 900w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Salah-home-v-away-record-1-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Salah-home-v-away-record-1-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Salah-home-v-away-record-1-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64827" class="wp-caption-text">Mohamed Salah&#8217;s home v away record last season</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>2nd. Fulham</h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Manchester United (A), Leicester (H), Ipswich (A), West Ham (H), Newcastle (H), Nottingham Forest (A)</strong></p>
<p>The Cottagers play two of the three promoted clubs in the first three gameweeks.</p>
<p>Their match against Leicester at Craven Cottage in Gameweek 2 starts a run of three home games in four, with Ipswich away in Gameweek 3.</p>
<p>This could make goalkeeper <strong>Bernd Leno </strong>a good option to start with.</p>
<p>Fulham kept six clean sheets at home last season and conceded 24 goals, the sixth best record in the league.</p>
<p>Leno was the joint-best scorer in home games &#8211; on 69 FPL points &#8211; alongside <strong>Willian</strong>.</p>
<p>But Marco Silva will be without centre-back <strong>Tosin Adarabioyo </strong>this season after his move to Chelsea, which could impact their defensive numbers.</p>
<p><strong>Rodrigo Muniz </strong>meanwhile had a breakthrough season up front. He scored seven times in 13 home games.</p>
<div id="attachment_64828" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64828" class="size-full wp-image-64828" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Muniz-home-v-away-record.jpg" alt="Rodrigo Muniz's home v away record last season" width="900" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Muniz-home-v-away-record.jpg 900w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Muniz-home-v-away-record-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Muniz-home-v-away-record-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Muniz-home-v-away-record-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64828" class="wp-caption-text">Rodrigo Muniz&#8217;s home v away record last season</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>3rd. Southampton</h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Newcastle (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Brentford (A), Manchester United (H), Ipswich (H), Bournemouth (A)</strong></p>
<p>Investment in players from the promoted clubs may be limited in the opening weeks &#8211; but Southampton have the pick of the fixtures from the newest teams in the league.</p>
<p>Newcastle away is about as difficult as it gets in Gameweek 1, however home fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Ipswich look much better.</p>
<p>United are the other side to travel to St Mary&#8217;s in the first six. Erik ten Hag was forced to chop and change his defence last season due to numerous injury issues and they had the fifth worst expected goals conceded (xGC) on the road.</p>
<p>Southampton return to the Premier League under new management, with Russell Martin having transformed the way they play.</p>
<p><strong>Adam Armstrong </strong>is one to consider, having grown to be a talismanic figure under Martin. He recorded the most goals (21) and assists (13) among his teammates.</p>
<div id="attachment_64739" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64739" class="size-full wp-image-64739" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Adam-Armstrong.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Adam-Armstrong.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Adam-Armstrong-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Adam-Armstrong-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Adam-Armstrong-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64739" class="wp-caption-text">Adam Armstrong. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<h2>Worst FPL fixtures: Teams to avoid in Gameweek 1-6</h2>
<h3>20th. Wolves</h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Newcastle (H), Aston Villa (A), Liverpool (H)</strong></p>
<p>It&#8217;s a horrible start for Wolves, with none of their games looking appealing.</p>
<p>Nottingham Forest look to be the easiest opponents, however Wolves will be away for this Gameweek 3 fixture and Forest had the fifth best home xGC last season.</p>
<p>Their other opponents all finished in the top seven &#8211; and with Arsenal away up first, Wolves players are ones to avoid until the fixtures improve.</p>
<div id="attachment_64829" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64829" class="size-full wp-image-64829" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wolves-players.jpg" alt="Wolves players - off the table for now? " width="900" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wolves-players.jpg 900w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wolves-players-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wolves-players-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wolves-players-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64829" class="wp-caption-text">Wolves players &#8211; off the table for now?</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>19th. West Ham</h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Aston Villa (H), Crystal Palace (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A), Chelsea (H), Brentford (A)</strong></p>
<p>West Ham are one of several teams under new management, with former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui having taken over from David Moyes.</p>
<p>Unlike Slot at Liverpool though, Lopetegui will not have it as easy.</p>
<p>The Hammers have three home games in their first six &#8211; but all against strong opposition.</p>
<p>Villa finished fourth, while champions City visit in Gameweek 3. City beat West Ham on the final day of the season to win the title, albeit that match was at the Etihad.</p>
<p>City are unbeaten in the league against the Hammers since 2015. <strong>Erling Haaland </strong>has four goals in four games against the London side.</p>
<div id="attachment_64830" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64830" class="size-full wp-image-64830" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/West-Ham-players-2.jpg" alt="West Ham players could be a wait and see" width="900" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/West-Ham-players-2.jpg 900w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/West-Ham-players-2-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/West-Ham-players-2-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/West-Ham-players-2-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64830" class="wp-caption-text">West Ham players could be a wait and see</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>18th. Brentford</h3>
<p><strong>Fixtures: Crystal Palace (H), Liverpool (A), Southampton (H), Manchester City (A), Spurs (A), West Ham (H)</strong></p>
<p>With or without <strong>Ivan </strong><strong>Toney</strong>, Brentford have a challenging start to the 2024/25 campaign.</p>
<p>Liverpool, City and Spurs away heavily contribute to them ranking 18th worst, with their home games more encouraging.</p>
<p>Palace, Southampton and West Ham look more winnable, with Gameweek 1 opponents Palace without <strong>Michael Olise </strong>after his move to Bayern.</p>
<div id="attachment_64831" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64831" class="size-full wp-image-64831" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brentford-players.jpg" alt="Brentford have a difficult run of games to start" width="900" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brentford-players.jpg 900w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brentford-players-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brentford-players-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brentford-players-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64831" class="wp-caption-text">Brentford have a difficult run of games to start</p></div>
<h2>Mixed fixtures: City and Arsenal games vary</h2>
<p>Some teams&#8217; players will be popular regardless of their opening fixtures &#8211; and last season&#8217;s title contenders fit into this category.</p>
<p>City rank 12th and Arsenal 14th, with a mixed bag of games to begin with.</p>
<p>Chelsea v City is an eye-catching Gameweek 1 fixture, while the Gunners open against Wolves at home.</p>
<p>Arsenal&#8217;s away games against Villa, Spurs and City don&#8217;t look ideal, however their home matches &#8211; Wolves, Brighton and Leicester &#8211; look better.</p>
<p>And while City&#8217;s Gameweek 1 match-up is hard to call, Ipswich at home in Gameweek 2 will be one FPL managers will look to cover well. Haaland is likely to be the most popular captain then, although his <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-price-reveals-2024-25">£15.0m price tag</a> may put some people off.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, Newcastle, Spurs and United all rank in midtable for fixture difficulty and Enzo Maresca&#8217;s Chelsea are 16th.</p>
<div id="attachment_64832" style="width: 907px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64832" class="size-full wp-image-64832" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Haaaland-GW1-38.jpg" alt="Erling Haaland's season stats" width="897" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Haaaland-GW1-38.jpg 897w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Haaaland-GW1-38-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Haaaland-GW1-38-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Haaaland-GW1-38-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 897px) 100vw, 897px" /><p id="caption-attachment-64832" class="wp-caption-text">Erling Haaland&#8217;s season <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Check out our fantasy football ultimate guides</h2>
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<p>We also have ultimate guides for <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/dream-team-fantasy-football-tips-the-ultimate-guide">Dream Team</a> and <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/telegraph-fantasy-football-tips-the-ultimate-guide">Telegraph Fantasy Football</a>, which are also home to tips and regular articles from experts in these formats.</p>
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