We assess which clubs have the toughest final seven matches, based on the Fixture Difficulty Ratings Football writer Alex Keble looks into which teams - on paper - have the best fixtures from now until the end of the season. After an extended break for international fixtures and FA Cup matches, the Premier League returns this weekend with the start of The Run In – and it’s hard to recall a season when so much was on the line with so few matches remaining. The title, the race for European places and the relegation battle are all yet to be decided. Here, we compare each team’s remaining matches to find out who has (in theory) the best and worst set of games, using two measures: an average of the points won by each club’s remaining opponents, and the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), a Fantasy Premier League tool based on a complex algorithm that generates a rank for the perceived difficulty of a team's opponent, ranked from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard).
The FDR results suggest that AFC Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley and Crystal Palace have the toughest remaining games, while Leeds United have the easiest.
Average FDR of teams' remaining matches
- Team Ave. FDR per match Total FDR Current position
- Leeds 2.4 17 15th
- Wolves 2.6 18 20th
- Brighton 2.6 18 10th
- Sunderland 2.7 19 11th
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To the wire.
Other European places: Brighton stand out in congested race
- Average opposition points of teams' remaining matches
- Club Ave. points total of opponents FDR ave. Current position
- Brighton 35.0 2.6 10th
- Sunderland 40.3 2.7 11th
- Everton 42.4 2.7 8th
- Newcastle 42.7 3.1 12th
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Wolves’ fixtures are inviting. If nothing else, FDR and APO analysis increases the odds, however small, that the 2025/26 season crescendos with the greatest of all great escapes.