It’s the coronation season in the United Kingdom, and Manchester City is poised to take the crown. The team has overtaken Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and has a game in hand on their title rivals. City is also chasing an historic treble as they remain active in the Champions League and the FA Cup. Dream Team gaffers will want to stack their teams with Guardiola’s troops this month, but it’s wise to analyze the schedule before committing to a strategy. Let’s run through May’s fixtures for the current top eight teams.
Manchester City has a favorable set of match-ups, with no possible match-up that will intimidate Erling Haaland and company. However, a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid promises to be highly competitive. 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.
Arsenal takes on Chelsea 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.
Newcastle’s 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 and Alexander Isak plundering plenty of points of late.
Manchester United has a favorable 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, aside from Villa, faces nothing but unmotivated mid-table opponents or relegation fodder. The Reds have underwhelmed this season, but the likes of Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, and Cody Gakpo have shared loads of goals around between them this past month. Clean sheets remain elusive, however.
Tottenham desperately wants the season to end, with just four fixtures remaining. Harry Kane 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 is in much better form than Spurs, but their point-scoring opportunities are limited to just four fixtures. Ollie Watkins has been sensational since the World Cup, but it’s worth flagging that he’s blanked in his last three games.
Brighton has seven fixtures to play (six after transfers are replenished), with only Man City being busier before the end of the season. Brighton’s midfield crop of Solly March, Kaoru Mitoma, Pascal Gross, and Alexis Mac Allister 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.