Fantasy Premier League: Teams with the best and worst starting fixtures
With pre-season also around the corner and each team's fixtures readily available to dissect, FPL managers now have a growing pool of information well before they can create their initial drafts.
And to help hone your squad selection, we look at which sides have the most favourable or not-so-favourable opening schedules to give you the best possible chance of starting off on the right foot.
Best opening fixtures
Manchester City
Burnley (A), Newcastle (H), Sheffield United (A), Fulham (H), West Ham (A), Nottingham Forest (H)
Manchester City assets are often some of the first to enter managers' squads to start the season and with a tasty-looking opening run, that statement looks to be no different.
The reigning champions' first seven fixtures look kind on paper with games against Burnley, Sheffield United, Fulham and Nottingham Forest included - teams which were promoted over the last two seasons.
A game against Newcastle in Gameweek 2 does seem to be the trickiest test for City, but even that comes in the home comforts of the Etihad Stadium.
They do have the UEFA Super Cup to contend with between Gameweek 1 and 2, but their opening game being on a Friday should mean there is ample time for rest.
Arsenal
Nottingham Forest (H), Crystal Palace (A), Fulham (H), Manchester United (H), Everton (A), Tottenham (H)
Arsenal appear to have a tidy opening to proceedings with four home games in six, despite two of them being against Manchester United and Tottenham.
That won't necessarily concern the Gunners given they will want to kick off their campaign in a similar fashion to last season's five-game winning run.
And games against Forest, Crystal Palace and Fulham to get started could be just the formula for them to do so.
Chelsea
Liverpool (H), West Ham (A), Luton (H), Nottingham Forest (H), Bournemouth (A), Aston Villa (H)
If you look beyond a not-so-nice looking Gameweek 1 fixture against Liverpool, Chelsea have an encouraging set to begin with.
The Blues - now under the tutelage of Mauricio Pochettino - could be a good team to invest in with games against West Ham, Luton, Forest and Bournemouth in one stretch.
The biggest question, though, is how Chelsea will perform given how last season panned out for them, and which players to invest in with a number of names at Pochettino's disposal.
Worst opening fixtures
Newcastle
Aston Villa (H), Manchester City (A), Liverpool (H), Brighton (A), Brentford (H), Sheffield United (A)
Popular among managers last season, Newcastle look to be one of the teams to avoid selecting from to start the new campaign due to their off-putting schedule.
After hosting Aston Villa in their opener, they face Man City, Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford.
All five sides finished in the top half of the table last time out and although it is a fresh slate for every team, it looks to be a less-than-ideal start for the Magpies.
Nottingham Forest
Arsenal (A), Sheffield United (H), Manchester United (A), Chelsea (A), Burnley (H), Manchester City (A)
After staving off relegation last season, Forest assets weren't likely to have been too popular to begin with and their opening run of fixtures will cement that claim.
The Tricky Trees face all of last season's top three in their first six along with Chelsea, who are expected to make significant strides this time around.
There are some positives in that they face promoted sides Sheffield United and Burnley at home, but the blotchy nature of their schedule may prove to be the tipping point for managers.
West Ham
Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H), Brighton (A), Luton (A), Manchester City (H), Liverpool (A)
While West Ham players could be a target for Gameweek 1, the Hammers' schedule takes a quick turn after that.
After a visit to Bournemouth and a home clash against Chelsea, West Ham have games against three of last season's top six in the next four.
The Europa Conference League winners will also play a number of their games on Sundays like last season due to their competition in the Europa League.
