Which teams have the most favourable Dream Team fixtures this May? Manchester City twice as busy as other teams

IT’S coronation season here in the United Kingdom and there’s a crown poised above Pep Guardiola’s head.

Manchester City have finally overtaken Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and the Etihad residents have a game a hand on their title rivals as well.

Not only that, City remain active in the Champions League and the FA Cup as they chase an historic treble.

Naturally, Dream Team gaffers will want to stack their teams full of Guardiola’s troops this month but it’s always wise to analyse the schedule before committing to a strategy.

With that in mind, let’s run through May’s fixtures for the current top eight teams…

MANCHESTER CITY

• West Ham (h)
• Leeds (h)
• Real Madrid (a)
• Everton (a)
• Real Madrid (h)
• Chelsea (h)
• Brighton (a)
• Brentford (a)

On current form there’s no possible match-up that will intimidate Erling Haaland (£10.2m) and company but a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, the undisputed masters of the competition, promises to be highly competitive.

It’s worth noting that the Hammers’ visit to Manchester takes place on Wednesday night as part of Game Week 32, prior to May’s transfer refresh.

Brace yourself for gargantuan returns for those fixtures against Leeds and Everton, those encounters could get very messy for the relegation candidates.

ARSENAL

• Chelsea (h)
• Newcastle (a)
• Brighton (h)
• Nottingham Forest (a)
• Wolves (h)

Once again, the Gunners take on the Blues tonight in their first Game Week 32 fixture meaning they will have just four games remaining after this month’s transfer refresh.

An away day at St James’ Park followed by a game against the free-scoring Seagulls represents a tricky double header for Mikel Arteta’s men but they should finish strong against Forest and Wolves.

Many Dream Team bosses will be swapping their Arsenal assets for City equivalents this coming Friday.

NEWCASTLE

• Arsenal (h)
• Leeds (a)
• Brighton (h)
• Leicester (h)
• Chelsea (a)

The Magpies’ testing fixtures against Arsenal and Brighton are offset by games against three teams who have desperately struggled in recent weeks.

Eddie Howe’s men have scored 20 goals in their last six outings with the likes of Callum Wilson (£4.1m) and Alexander Isak (£4.2m) plundering plenty of points of late.

MANCHESTER UNITED

• Brighton (a)
• West Ham (a)
• Wolves (h)
• Bournemouth (a)
• Chelsea (h)
• Fulham (h)

Erik ten Hag’s side travel to the south coast this week so gaffers predominantly thinking of post-transfer refresh plans should focus on the fixtures from West Ham onwards.

All things considered, it’s a favourable set of match-ups from Game Week 32 until the season’s end in the form of teams safe from relegation but too far from European qualification – on-the-beach teams tend to give up points at the end of term.

LIVERPOOL

• Fulham (h)
• Brentford (h)
• Leicester (a)
• Aston Villa (h)
• Southampton (a)

It’s a similar story for the Merseysiders who, aside from Villa, face nothing but unmotivated mid-table opponents or relegation fodder.

The Reds have underwhelmed this season but the likes of Diogo Jota (£4.4m), Mohamed Salah (£8.5m) and Cody Gakpo (£4m) have shared loads of goals around between them this past month.

Clean sheets remain elusive, however.

TOTTENHAM

• Crystal Palace (h)
• Aston Villa (a)
• Brentford (h)
• Leeds (a)

Just four fixtures remain for a club who desperately want the season to end.

Harry Kane (£8.9m) continues to provide healthy returns for his backers but only a brave (or naive) Dream Team manager will be thinking about bringing in more Spurs players as the campaign concludes.

ASTON VILLA

• Wolves (a)
• Spurs (h)
• Liverpool (a)
• Brighton (h)

Unai Emery’s side are in much better form than Spurs but still their point-scoring opportunities are limited to just four fixtures.

And it’s a relatively difficult quartet of match-ups as well.

Ollie Watkins (£6.4m) has been sensational since the World Cup but it’s worth flagging that he’s blanked in his last three games.

BRIGHTON

• Man United (h)
• Everton (h)
• Arsenal (a)
• Newcastle (a)
• Southampton (h)
• Man City (h)
• Aston Villa (a)

With seven fixtures to play (six after transfers are replenished) only Man City are busier before than Roberto De Zerbi’s side from now until the end of the season.

Brighton’s midfield crop of Solly March (£4.7m), Kaoru Mitoma (£4.6m), Pascal Gross (£3m) and Alexis Mac Allister (£3.4m) have registered 517 points between them in 2022/23.

However, while the Seagulls have an appealing number of games at their disposal, the majority of them promise to be challenging tests in between respites against the Toffees and Saints.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk