The 5 Premier League clubs with the easiest starting fixtures including Man Utd and Arsenal

A new Premier League season is fast approaching and with form a tricky indicator at the beginning of the season, assessing the upcoming fixtures over the first five gameweeks makes for important planning for FPL managers.

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It doesn’t get much better for Manchester United in the opening two gameweeks of the season, facing two of the Premier League’s three promoted teams. In Gameweek 1 they travel to Championship play-off winners Hull City , following a nine year absence from the top flight. They then host 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’s been selected by 48% of managers given his routes to points. He’s on penalties, converting from the spot on four occasions last season, while also dominating on set pieces.

There’s an argument to double up on United attackers, with Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) likely to start the campaign out of position as the number nine. He produced 11 goals and three assists last season.

Another option is to invest in United’s defence, with defenders Harry Maguire (£5.0m) and Luke Shaw (£4.5m) friendly on the budget, or through goalkeeper Senne Lammens (£5.0m). They kept six clean sheets in 17 games under Michael Carrick last season.

Manchester City also have an attractive run of fixtures over the opening five gameweeks, with three home games in this time. Their key highlight is 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, of course, their star man, but in fantasy terms, he’s the most expensive player in Fantasy Premier League history. With 140 goal involvements across four seasons with the club, he’s considered a must-have by around 75% of managers. However, a short pre-season following seven goals at the World Cup this summer could be significant.

Due to Haaland’s sheer popularity and captain potential, if you do back City to prosper in their early fixtures, it might be worth doubling up on their attack by adding a midfielder. Enzo Maresca has described Phil Foden (£7.0m) as a pillar of his squad, but it’s Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m) who has impressed during pre-season, with five assists.

Predicting the Manchester City defence in the early part of the campaign is a challenge, following the late return of Marc Guehi (£6.0m) and Nico O’Reilly (£6.5m) from the World Cup. Josko Gvardiol (£5.5m) has seen significant pre-season minutes. They are a defence worth investment, ranking second behind Arsenal last season with 16 shut-outs.

Speaking of the Gunners, their early-season schedule is punctuated by home games against promoted Coventry City and Chelsea . There are some tougher matchups in their early-season schedule, though, 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.