FPL Fixture focus: Why you should be looking at Brentford's games this gameweek

As we progress through the season, fixture runs for some clubs will become interesting for us FPL managers when they turn favourable, while the opposite may be true if they start to look more difficult.

Each week, I’ll take a look at a club who is coming in to good fixtures and may therefore offer up some FPL options for managers to consider when making their transfers.

With a 4-0 win under their belt against an ailing Manchester United, Brentford are buzzing.

They also have a great fixture run ahead of them too, with their next assignment versus a “top six” club being in six Gameweeks away in Gameweek 8.

Here’s a few options from the Bees’ ranks to consider if you want to jump on a good fixture run going forward:

Rico Henry (£4.5m)

In the same way I highlighted Lewis Dunk in last week’s article on this, Brentford’s left back is worthy of your consideration as a player with a very decent chance of playing 90 minutes while carrying potential to gain goals and assists via his rampaging runs up the flank (especially if in a back five) to support the attack.

Henry is extra interesting because of how nervous I get when considering their midfield options. They’re all similarly priced (£4.6m - £5.5m) and by my count there are eight players vying for three slots in their midfield, alongside two or three duking it out for the final attacking berth alongside Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney (who I’ll mention later). This means that the ex-Walsall man could be a smart pick to give you a route into the Brentford attack with more assured minutes at a great value price of just £4.5m.

From back to front in a flash ⚡️#BrentfordFC | #BREMUN | @Safetyculturehq pic.twitter.com/0g52NU1CBd

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) August 14, 2022

Bryan Mbeumo (£6.0m)

The Frenchman was very unlucky last season to only come away with four goals. I nicknamed him “the carpenter” on the podcast due to his love of the woodwork – he hit it on six occasions last campaign, the joint most of any player.

That’s no bad thing though – it showed he was in the right positions and just lacked that bit of finesse to convert; he actually recorded a better non-penalty expected goal tally than fellow forward Toney last campaign according to statsbomb.

Mbeumo is just twenty three and has plenty of room to develop, and at a bargain cost of just £6.0m should be one you can fit into your side without any trouble to take advantage of the strong fixture run coming up.

Ivan Toney (£7.1m)

Brentford’s main man has begun garnering interest among fantasy football managers after having been on target once in the first Gameweek and nabbing two assists in the 4-0 win over Man Utd.

He might be a bit expensive, but it’s undeniable that, given the fixtures, owning him could be a potent differential. This is especially because many will be locked into a “big at the back” setup as discussed a couple of weeks ago.

If you’re able to get Toney in as your third forward, or simply fancy changing it up there, he could be an excellent pick to help you stand out from the crowd and catapult yourself up your mini leagues.