Our newest contributor, Aditya Iyer, is going to be exploring the world of statistics, ahead of Gameweek 33, to bring you the most interesting and relevant stats to help you make more informed decisions with regard to your FPL teams

Another gameweek approaches and that means stat man Aditya has readied you with plenty of interesting and relevant stats about the Premier League teams and players to consider ahead of gameweek 33 – read on and enjoy this latest feast of FPL data, statistics and insight!

Gameweek 32 Review

Gameweek 32 was a decent gameweek for FPL managers, a total of 30 goals were scored and Mohamed Salah continued his scoring streak increasing his tally to 29, whilst Harry Kane made a quick return to face Chelsea with a 16-minute cameo.

Stoke City conceded 24 shots out of which 17 were from inside the box against Arsenal.

Yet again, Stoke City’s Jack Butland made the most saves of any GK that week with 8, boasting a save percentage of 73%.

Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso had 3 attempts on goal against Spurs out of which 2 were from inside the box with one shot on target. His teammate Eden Hazard created 6 chances, but unfortunately for him and owners, none of them were taken.

Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino had 9 touches in the penalty area and 6 goal attempts, out of which just a single shot was on target, failing to get himself on the scoresheet.

Gameweek 33 Preview

Defensive Point of View

Spurs look a decent bet for a clean sheet this wekeend. Over the last 4 gameweeks, Spurs have conceded just 2 goals and 36 shots, including 2 cleansheets. This week they face Stoke, who in their last 4 home games have scored just 2 in 38 attempts – the third worst in this period.

Brighton in their last 4 home games have conceded 5 goals and 36 shots, but have failed to keep a cleansheet. This record doesn’t look pleasing, but their opponents this week, Huddersfield, have scored just 2 in 27 attempts in their last 4 away trips.

Arsenal have conceded 4 goals and have kept 2 cleansheets, yet have conceded 38 shots in their last 4 home games. Arsenal do give their opponents a chance at home, but they face a Southampton side who really struggle to create chances away from home, with only 14 big chances created in 15 away games so far this season.

Manchester City take on Manchester United this week, incidentally a game between the best two defensive sides. The Citizens have conceded 2 goals and have kept two cleansheets in their last 4 home games, while the Red Devils have kept just a single cleansheet and have conceded 5 goals in the same period away from home.

Attacking Point of View

Over the last 4 gameweeks, Chelsea have attempted 58 shots with 19 on target, but have scored just the 4 goals. This week they face West Ham at Stamford Bridge, who in their last 4 away trips have conceded 11 goals and 23 shots on target, which is more than any other club away from home in this timeframe.

Spurs visit Stoke City this gameweek. The Potters in their last 4 home games have conceded 5 goals from 58 shots, 22 of them were on target, which is the second most amount conceded of any club at home during that period. Spurs have scored the most amount of goals (10) and have created the most amount of big chances (14) of any team in the last 4 away games.

Arsenal host a beleaguered looking Southampton this Sunday. Only Liverpool and Man City have scored more goals and only Spurs and Liverpool have created more big chances than Arsenal in the last 4 home matches. Southampton have conceded 8 big chances and conceded 9 goals in their last 4 away trips, which isn’t too bad, but when you consider that they were against West Ham, Newcastle, Burnley and WBA, then a clearer and more worrying picture begins to form.

It’s also the Merseyside Derby this weekend. The Reds have scored 8 goals from a total of 60 attempts on goal with 19 on target in their last 4 away games. The Toffees in their last 4 home games have conceded 6 goals from a total of 58 shots, conceding 7 big chances in the process. Whilst the defensive stats don’t look great for Everton, they have been creating a decent amount of chances at the other end, with 15 big chances created over the last 5 gameweeks, the same amount as Liverpool.

Must-haves and considerations: GW33

Goalkeeper

Spurs’ French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is my first pick for this week. In his last 4 games, he has conceded 2 goals and has kept 2 cleansheets. In this period, the Spurs captain has faced 13 shots on target and has saved 11 of them with a save percentage of 85%.

This week he faces a Stoke side who in their last 4 games have scored just 1 from 32 attempts!

Defender

Chelsea’s wing-back Marcos Alonso is my second pick for this week. The Spanish defender in his last 4 games has had a whopping 87 touches in the final third, 14 touches in the penalty area, has created 4 chances and has attempted 9 shots on goal with 5 coming from inside the box. You can see how unfortunate owners have been not have seen any returns recently.

Though Chelsea haven’t been playing too well of late, it’s surely only a matter of time before the Blues regain their lost form, given their remaining fixtures.

Midfielder

The third pick is Spurs midfielder Heung-Min Son. In his last 4 games, the South Korean midfielder has created 3 chances, has had 29 touches in the penalty area, 12 attempts on goal out of which 10 were from inside the box and has scored 4 goals.

He faces Stoke a side who have conceded 61 goals this campaign, the worst defensive record in the League and in their last 4 games they have let 75 shots on their goal, out of which 31 were on target, conceding 14 big chances in the process.

Other midfield options that should do well: Mohamed Salah (depending on injury), Willian, Christian Eriksen and Riyad Mahrez.

Forward

The star forward for this week is Arsenal’s Pierre Emerick Aubameyang again. He demonstrated poise and composure for his penalty and great technique for his volley against Stoke last gameweek.

In his last 4 games, he has created 5 chances, has had 20 touches in the penalty area and has mustered 12 attempts on goal with 11 of the shots coming from inside the box, 4 of them finding the back of the net.

With a dispirited Saints side up next, you have to envisage Aubameyang doing the business for owners yet again.

Other Forward options that should do well: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, and Roberto Firmino.

Predicting Bandwagons: Under The Radar

1. Chris Wood

Burnley’s Chris Wood is the first of my ‘under the radar’ choices. Currently, the New Zealand forward is backed by just 1.8% of FPL managers. Now let’s have a look at his stats over the last 3 gameweeks (injured before that).

Wood has had 14 touches in the penalty area, 10 goal attempts, all from inside the box out of which 6 were on target, scoring 4 goals – all this from 151 of a possible 360 minutes of gametime. He has also created 2 chances for his teammates, but none of those chances were taken. Burnley do have some decent fixtures, including a double gameweek in GW34 and a fixture in GW35, which is ideal for managers without a Free-Hit chip.

He’s £0.9m more expensive than strike partner Barnes, but 29pts scored in just 151 minutes of play from 3 gameweeks in comparison to Barnes’ 21pts scored from 358 minutes of play means h’s certainly justifying the extra money currently.

2. Jesse Lingard

After an impressive performance during the international break, Lingard continued that into Swansea and looks sharp at the minute. The attacking midfielder is currently owned by 9.7% of FPL managers. Over the last 4 gameweeks he’s:

had 9 touches in the penalty area

produced 7 goal attempts (5 inside the box)

created 3 chances

made 8 crosses

scored 1 goal

notched 1 assist

With Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez all regaining form and Mourinho reverting to the 4231 system again last time out, Jesse Lingard still has a very important role to play for Man United and can offer FPL managers great value going into the doubles.

Stats obtained from fantasyfootballscout.co.uk