Fantasy Friday: Mourinho isn't happy with Chelsea's fixture congestion but the Blues have a mild winter... who's got the toughest games over the Christmas period?

By Rik Sharma for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:45 EST, 28 November 2013 | Updated: 07:56 EST, 29 November 2013

Welcome to Sportsmail's weekly Fantasy Football column which will try to help you get the edge on your friends, family and Jamie Redknapp.

Here, Rik Sharma considers the key issues in the game, from the men to bring in or avoid, through to which teams have a tasty looking run of fixtures.

Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_ or email him rik.sharma@dailymail.co.uk

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Christmas carnage

We love the winter because there's so much football on. But that means you have to manage your side especially carefully over the Christmas period.

To help you prepare, we've looked at four teams who have  relatively kind fixtures between now and January, and four side that don't.

Seasons greetings for...

Chelsea

Saints H, Sunderland A, Stoke A, Palace H, Arsenal A, Swansea H, Liverpool H, Saints A

Jose Mourinho has been complaining about fixture congestion, as Chelsea have a Champions League game and a Capital One Cup clash thrown into the mix, but the Premier League run is quite tidy.

Southampton, Palace and Swansea are nice home games, even though the former have been in good form. Sunderland, Stoke and Saints away again are all games the Blues will feel they should be winning too.  Arsenal away has been a happy hunting ground in recent years, meaning the trickiest game is Liverpool at home.

Player-wise, Eden Hazard (£10.3m) and Oscar (£8.3m) are the best shouts, but if John Terry (£5.7m) can battle through the fixture list and keep David Luiz out of the side, he's good value.

Aston Villa

Sunderland H, Southampton A, Fulham A, Man United H, Stoke A, Crystal Palace H, Swansea H, Sunderland A

With three home matches they should be the favourites for and some away games that look like 50:50s, it could be good a time for Villans fans. 

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan (£4.2m), defender Ron Vlaar (£4m) and, if he can find his form again, striker Christian Benteke (£9.9m) should be good to go for. It might be advisable to wait for him to find the net before selecting him, because if he can't get out of his slump then he's an expensive waste.

Concerns: Jose Mourinho isn't too impressed with Chelsea's fixture list, but the Blues have some good games

Points galore: Oscar could be the man you turn to, as he is firmly installed in Mourinho's side

Crystal Palace

Norwich A, West Ham H, Cardiff H, Chelsea A, Newcastle H, Aston Villa A, Man City A, Norwich H

The two away trips to Chelsea and Manchester City notwithstanding, Tony Pulis has a chance to drag Palace out of the muck at the bottom of the table.

I wouldn't go for any attacking players, but, given his strong defensive record at the helm of Stoke City, those home games against West Ham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Norwich all look ripe for clean sheets.

There'll also be the added bonus of the players being cheap, given they play for a promoted side.

If I was picking Palace players, I'd go for Danny Gabbidon (£3.1m) or Dean Moxey (£3.1m) who are both cheap starters.

Norwich

Palace H, Liverpool A, West Brom A, Swansea H, Sunderland A, Fulham H, Man United H, Palace A

Three tidy home games mean Chris Hughton might be able to restore some cheer to Carrow Road. The trip to face Liverpool is the hardest looking fixture, backed up by the visit of David Moyes' Manchester United side to East Anglia.

Midfielder Leroy Fer has two goals and one assist to his name so far, so at £4.1m is not a bad budget choice. There's not too many other options in the squad to be brutally honest, unless Ricky van Wolfswinkel bucks his ideas up. He's £6.9m so keep an eye on him if he gets among the goals.

Cheap shot: Leroy Fer doesn't cost that much and will grab a goal every now and again

A cold Christmas for...

Southampton

Chelsea A, Villa H, Man City H, Newcastle A, Tottenham H, Cardiff A, Everton A, Chelsea H

Mauricio Pochettino's side have performed incredibly well this season, but the days ahead could be testing. Chelsea away, Man City and Tottenham at home, Everton away and Chelsea again, mean they could find themselves slipping down the table.

They lost against Arsenal at the Emirates last week and while that's too small a sample to judge how they'll be able to cope with the tough games ahead, the odds are against them.

You might have Dejan Lovren in your side and perhaps it's time to let him go.

Hands in the air: Dejan Lovren (right) has been brilliant so far, but Saints have some awkward games

Swansea

Man City A, Newcastle H, Hull H, Norwich A, Everton H, Chelsea A, Villa A, Man City H

The games against Manchester City that bookend this period are the worst for the Swans, but Chelsea away and Everton at home won't be easy either Perhaps it's best to let Michu or Bony go, if you still have either.

Hull

Liverpool H, Arsenal A, Swansea A, Stoke H, West Brom A, Man United H, Fulham H, Liverpool A

Hull arguably have the trickiest fixtures during this time. They've started the season well but we could well be seeing Steve 'Beleaguered' Bruce by the end of the festive period. Four games against arguable title contenders plus away trips to Swansea and West Brom mean Tigers fans probably won't the chance to do much mauling. Robbie Brady is a cheap option you might have, but his returns could diminish during December.

Maintaining form: Robbie Brady has done well so far, but will he score against the tricky sides?

Stoke

Everton A, Cardiff H, Chelsea H, Hull A, Villa H, Newcastle A, Tottenham A, Everton H

Mark Hughes' Stoke side have been decidedly average this term and lie in 14th place. After this run of games, in which they only face two sides who I would say are definitely worse than they are, it could be a lot lower. None of the games look ripe for a thrashing, but I can't imagine they'll collect that many clean sheets.

Baines blow

Seasoned Fantasy Football players will know about the power of Leighton Baines. To be able to return a decent haul of clean sheets and provide both goals and assists is invaluable. 

Baines, £6.6m, does both, taking plenty of Everton's set pieces - as we've seen this season he's particularly deadly from free-kicks.

The England left back is out for around six weeks with a broken bone in his right foot and this column hopes there's no complications with the injury. 

If you're looking for a replacement, sticking with Everton is a good idea because Seamus Coleman is cheaper than Baines at £4.3m and is still the game's fourth highest scoring defender.

His injured team-mate is top of the list, followed by Dejan Lovren (£3.8m) and John Terry (£5.7m).

On the run: Leighton Baines will be out of action for six weeks which is a blow to Fantasy players far and wide

Lampard's still got it... but is he worth the risk?

Jose Mourinho reverted to 4-3-3 against West Ham last Saturday and put John Obi Mikel into defensive midfield. His presence allowed Lampard to go forward and he came up with the goods, tucking home from the spot and also finishing from the edge of the box in his customary style.

As we've seen, Chelsea have a neat run of games so bringing Lampard in wouldn't be the worst option. But he's £9.2m, and Oscar is a more attractive £8.3m. The Brazilian is also unlikely to be pulled away from the front, whereas Lampard could revert to the holding role again.

Pick me! Frank Lampard's goals against West Ham show he can find the net but is he good value?

Most selected XI

GK: Simon Mignolet (Liverpool 28.69%)

DF: Leighton Baines (Everton 39.45%)
DF: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea 23.97%)
DF: Kyle Walker (Tottenham 17.13%)
DF: Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham 18.08%)

MF: Mesut Ozil (Arsenal 22.94%)
MF: Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal 26.19%)
MF: Eden Hazard (Chelsea 19.89%)

ST: Robin van Persie (Man United 46.60%)
ST: Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool 23.14%)
ST: Olivier Giroud (Arsenal 19.95%)

Not quite: Sergio Aguero is in 18% of sides so just misses out on inclusion in the most picked XI

Play on the go!

We've launched our mobile Fantasy Football site which makes it even easier for you to make transfers and substitutions on the go.

You might not have the time to sit around at home and mull over transfer decisions but now you can do it while you're on the bus, or waiting in the supermarket queue, or wherever else you fancy.

You can now play MailOnline's Fantasy Football game on your mobile - making transfers and subs on the go!

 

Jamie Redknapp's team for this weekend...

Jamie Redknapp transfers:

SEAMUS COLEMAN (EVERTON) in for LEIGHTON BAINES (EVERTON)

Premier League week 13 fixtures

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Fixture guide

CLICK HERE to look at this incredible interactive fixture guide which helps you see which teams have easy and difficult runs of games.

It was lovingly put together by matchstory.co.uk (who you can follow on Twitter at @matchstory).

Big green molecules represent easier games while the big red ones are for harder encounters.
Scroll your mouse over to see the fixture and score from last season.

You can see that Liverpool don't have too many tough games until December

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