There is something beautiful about the Premier League schedule. Its ability to be divided up into bite-sized segments allows for easy viewing and following.
It begins with three four-week segments, each ending in an international break. This past week saw us suffer through the third of this fall’s three international breaks, which means that Segment 4 of the Premier League/FPL season is about to begin this coming weekend.
Segment 4 also spans a four week period of time and features a couple of new wrinkles for this season:
GW13: 11/24-11/26 (Saturday-Monday) - The first gameweek after an international break is sure to include a few squad selection surprises and interesting results.
GW14: 11/30-12/2 (Friday-Sunday) - With the Champions League and Europa League group stage matches in the midweek between GW13 and GW14, there might be some difficulty avoiding squad rotation choices with the top clubs.
GW15: 12/4-12/5 (Tuesday-Wednesday) - This is our first midweek gameweek of the season. While it is great for being able to watch and enjoy more football, it is torture for FPL. Are you certain your players are rotation-proof?
GW16: 12/8-12/10 (Saturday-Monday) - The third Premier League match in just over a week could continue to present challenges.
GW17: 12/15-12/16 (Saturday-Sunday) - With the final group stage matchday between GW16 and GW17, your top clubs are going to be awfully tired by the end of this gameweek. For FPL enthusiasts, this gameweek also features the start of the FPL Cup.
There is plenty here to be excited about, but there are also many landmines to be avoided. If you lose your focus during this segment of the season, you might find yourself in some trouble. After all, the halfway point of the season comes right after this segment ends.
Time to get serious.
