This gameweek provides probably the best opportunity for playing all your bonus chips in one go.

League leaders Arsenal face not only the bottom club in the division but potentially the worst club in Premier League history when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at home on Saturday.

Wolves have yet to win a game and have scored just one goal on their travels this season. Football has the habit of making fools of the best of us but those statistics suggest that an Arsenal defender is a must. Manchester United had 27 shots on goal against Wolves on Monday night, so Bukayo Saka should be considered as your captain this week given his eye for the target.

The only fear comes in considering whether Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will rest some of his bigger names in advance of the festive period but given Manchester City are now lurking just two points behind, it is to be hoped that temptation is resisted.

Saturday

Chelsea v Everton (11am)

Chelsea have been having problems at Stamford Bridge and would be fourteenth in the Premier League if the standings were based on home form alone. Moises Caicedo will serve the last of his three-match ban here and it will take just one good game from Cole Palmer for Fantasy managers to rush him into their team. You could get ahead of the curve by selecting him this week.

Everton have lost just one of their last six games and Jordan Pickford is tied on points with Arsenal’s David Raya as top goalkeeper. Michael Keane and James Tarkowski are in the top-ten defenders, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall among the game’s elite midfielders.

Prediction: 2-1

Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion (11am)

Given the away win against Inter Milan in the Champions League and the events of the last couple of weeks it would be a huge surprise if Mohamed Salah featured in this match day squad. Conor Bradley is suspended and Cody Gakpo is injured.

Yankuba Minteh and Jan-Paul van Hecke are Brighton’s go-to players but it could be worth keeping an eye on midfielder Jack Hinshelwood, who has recently returned to the squad after injury.

Prediction: 1-1

Burnley v Fulham (11am)

Two teams with players who will not be found in the squads of too many managers. Kyle Walker is suspended for Burnley, while Ryan Sessgnon and Rodrigo Muniz are out with injuries for Fulham.

Prediction: 1-1

Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1.30pm)

As mentioned earlier in the column, you should get three Arsenal players in your team. Ben White is the obvious choice in defence. He has started the past two games at right back and picked up 14 points in the match against Brentford. Declan Rice is only a point behind Manuel Fernandes at the top of the midfield tree and has created more chances than any Arsenal player this season. Riccardo Calafiori is suspended.

The less said about Wolves the better and it could be a case of damage limitation for them.

Prediction: 4-0

Sunday

Crystal Palace v Manchester City (10am)

A rematch of last season’s FA Cup Final, which Palace won 1-0. Two of Palace’s best players, Dani Munoz and Ismaila Sarr, are out injured while Jean-Philippe Mateta has been playing through a persistent knee problem and was left out of the Europa League win in midweek.

City were in the enviable position of withdrawing Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki with 20 minutes to go in the win at Real Madrid in midweek. John Stones is out injured for this match.

Prediction: 1-2

Nottingham Forest v Tottenham Hotspur (10am)

Tottenham have the third-best away record in the division and in Micky van der Ven, Joao Palinha, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison they have players who consistently rack up points.

Ryan Yates has picked up a hamstring injury for Nottingham Forest and is ruled out, while goalkeeper Matz Sels is truggling with a groin injury and was left out of the squad for the Europa League win against Utrecht on Thursday,

Prediction: 2-2

Sunderland v Newcastle (10am)

The Tyne-Wear derby will prove plenty of passions among the fans and it is probably a near certainty that Sunderland’s top points scorer Granit Xhaka will pick up a booking in the match.

Kieren Tripper, Nick Pope and Sven Botman are already out and Joelinton was taken off in the Champions League match against Leverkusen with a groin injury. Yoane Wissa has featured off the bench recently but it is doubtful he will be risked from the start in this high-intensity game.

Prediction: 1-0

West Ham v Aston Villa (10am)

Aston Villa have won eight straight games in all competitions and are now outside challengers for the Premier League title. Defender Pau Torres was taken off against Arsenal with a calf injury and missed the Europa League game in midweek, as did goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who is struggling with a back problem.

Only Wolves have a worse home record than West Ham. Jarrod Bowen is the only one of their players worth considering and he is up to third in the forward standings after his goal against Brighton last week.

Prediction: 0-2

Brentford v Leeds (12.30pm)

Only Manchester City, Arsenal and Aston Villa have a better home record than Brentford, who have won five and drawn one of their seven league games. Forward Igor Thiago has scored only three points in the last two gameweeks but they were away matches against Tottenham and Arsenal. He can be fancied to find form again here.

Daniel James is out through injury for Leeds, who much like Brentford struggle away from home. Any of their players that you like should be rotated in and out of your starting line-up depending on whether the team are at home or playing away.

Prediction: 2-0

Monday

Manchester United v Bournemouth (4pm)

Bruno Fernandes has usurped Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo as this game’s best midfielder and he looks sure to extend his advantage here given the poor form of the opposition. A win here could take United into the top four depending on other results and they are likely to have the bonus of a returning Mathijs De Ligt in defence.

Bournemouth are falling down the division at a rate of knots and have not won in their last six matches, losing four. Centre backs Marco Senesi and Veljko Milosavljevic are both struggling with injury and midfielder Lewis Cook is serving the last game of a three-match suspension.

Prediction: 3-1