Brentford have the easiest opening five fixtures of the new Premier League season, according to Fantasy Football Hub's fixture ticker, with Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United also enjoying favourable starts.
Brentford lead the fixture rankings
Brentford top the Fantasy Football Hub fixture ticker as the side with the best fixtures for the opening five gameweeks, before a two-week enforced break for internationals. They benefit from three home fixtures in this period, against Spurs, Sunderland and Chelsea, and they avoid all of last season's top five.
Their star man is striker Igor Thiago (£8.0m), who had a remarkable 2025/26 campaign, scoring 22 goals. He is predicted to be the fourth highest scoring forward in the game over this period according to Fantasy Football Hub's fixture analyser, although Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin is ahead of him, and crucially £2.0 million cheaper.
A Bees defender is also an appealing prospect, with ten shut-outs last campaign. A settled manager and narrowly missing out on European football for this season helps their appeal. With Sepp van den Berg set to miss the start of the season through injury, it is Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) who could benefit, earning defensive contribution bonus in nine of his 20 starts.
Nottingham Forest and Arsenal follow
Nottingham Forest have a favourable start with three home games in the opening five gameweeks. The visitors are Leeds, Spurs and promoted Coventry City, sandwiching trips to Liverpool and Aston Villa. Defender Neco Williams (£5.5m) is among their favoured fantasy assets, with over 10% of managers backing him in their Gameweek 1 teams. With Oliver Glasner set to begin the campaign in a 3-4-3 formation, Williams will play the wing-back role that Daniel Munoz succeeded in at Crystal Palace last season, with eight goal involvements.
Arsenal's early-season schedule is punctuated by home games against promoted Coventry City and Chelsea, but there are tougher matchups with trips to Aston Villa, Sunderland and Brighton. With Arsenal favourites to keep a clean sheet on the opening weekend, investment in their defence is key for FPL managers. Gabriel (£8.0m) was the highest scoring defender in the game last season, with only Erling Haaland and Bruno Fernandes scoring more fantasy points. However, a £2.0 million price hike is deterring many from buying him.
Manchester City and Manchester United round out the top five
Manchester City have an attractive run of fixtures over the opening five gameweeks, with three home games, including the visit of Championship winners Coventry City in Gameweek 3, with the Manchester derby in Gameweek 4 the big hurdle. Erling Haaland (£15.5m) is the most expensive player in Fantasy Premier League history, but a short pre-season following seven goals at the World Cup this summer could be significant.
Manchester United face two of the Premier League's three promoted teams in the opening two gameweeks, travelling to Championship play-off winners Hull City in Gameweek 1, following a nine-year absence from the top flight, then hosting Ipswich Town in Gameweek 2. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) is predicted to be the top-performing player in FPL across these two fixtures, according to Fantasy Football Hub's AI points predictions. He has been selected by 48% of managers given his routes to points, being on penalties and dominating on set pieces.
