The first Bookies’ Advantage squad of the season scored a respectable 52 points, with captain Sergio Aguero (18 points), Eden Hazard (10) and Anthony Martial (11) all excelling. A nightmare in goal saw neither Joe Hart nor Steve Mandanda grace the pitch, leaving us pointless in the goalkeeping department. With Gameweek 2 just around the corner, we take a look at the bookies’ offerings for this weekend…

Defensive odds

Team Clean sheet odds Chance of clean sheet Man Utd 1.94 52% Tottenham 2 50% Swansea 2.1 48% Liverpool 2.15 47% Chelsea 2.32 43% Man City 2.5 40% West Ham 2.75 36% Sunderland 2.75 36% Everton 2.9 34% Middlesbrough 3.1 32% West Brom 3.25 31% Arsenal 3.75 27% Hull 4.2 24% Leicester 4.45 22% Watford 5 20% Bournemouth 5.2 19% Stoke 5.9 17% Burnley 6.1 16% Southampton 6.5 15% Crystal Palace 7 14%

The first Friday night game of the season sees Manchester United host Southampton, and it’s the Red Devils who top the bookies’ defensive rankings with a 52% chance of a clean sheet. The Saints could not break down a 10-man Watford side last weekend (they scored when Watford still had 11 men), so we draft in attacking full backs Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw in the hope of profiting at both ends of the pitch.

Tottenham rank second (50%) as they entertain a Crystal Palace side that blanked in their season opener against West Brom. With Hugo Lloris out injured, Michel Vorm is set to start between the sticks, whilst Kyle Walker registered an assist and a bonus point against Everton in Gameweek 1, seeing us double up on the Spurs duo.

Swansea (48%), Liverpool (47%) and Chelsea (43%) complete the top 5 this weekend. The Swans were one of only two teams to keep a clean sheet on the opening weekend (the other side being West Brom), and they enjoy a home fixture against Hull this time round. A budget-friendly price of £4.0m sees centre back Jordi Amat make our bench. It is probably not a wise decision to trust Jurgen Klopp’s men in defence at this moment – they conceded 3 against Arsenal, although opponents Burnley did blank on their return to the top flight – but we won’t have to find out as we draft in Alex Manninger for £4.0m to complete our goalkeeping requirements. He won’t play, and Vorm is certain to start, but the price means we can spend funds further up the field where they are really needed. In a similar vein, we select Matt Miazga (£4.5m) as our Chelsea defender – we don’t expect him to be in the Chelsea squad, but given that he will only warm our bench, the funds are better spent elsewhere.

Before moving onto our analysis of the bookmakers attacking odds, a quick look at the bottom rungs of the clean sheet ladder tells us that defensive assets from Burnley (16% – home to Liverpool), Southampton (15% – away to Man United) and Crystal Palace (14% – away to Spurs) should be avoided this weekend.

Attacking odds

Player Anytime goalscorer odds Chance of scoring Sergio Aguero 2 50% Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2.15 47% Harry Kane 2.25 44% Diego Costa 2.4 42% Andy Carroll 2.5 40% Divock Origi 2.65 38% Fernando Llorente 2.67 37% Wayne Rooney 2.7 37% Roberto Firmino 2.75 36% Alexis Sanchez 2.8 36% Romelu Lukaku 2.88 35% Sadio Mane 2.88 35% Jamie Vardy 3 33% Eden Hazard 3 33% Anthony Martial 3 33% Dele Alli 3 33% Michy Batshuayi 3.1 32% Philippe Coutinho 3.1 32% Dimitri Payet 3.1 32% Jermain Defoe 3.1 32% Nolito 3.25 31% Kevin de Bruyne 3.3 30% Salomon Rondon 3.4 29% Leroy Sane 3.5 29% Theo Walcott 3.5 29% Henrikh Mkhitaryan 3.5 29% Christian Eriksen 3.5 29% Erik Lamela 3.5 29% Alvaro Negredo 3.55 28% Gylfi Sigurdsson 3.6 28% Andre Gray 3.65 27% Riyad Mahrez 3.75 27% Jordan Rhodes 3.8 26% Abel Hernandez 3.9 26% Odion Ighalo 4 25% Oscar 4 25% Willian 4 25% Bojan 4.1 24% Mame Biram Diouf 4.1 24% Troy Deeney 4.2 24% Kevin Mirallas 4.4 23% Gerard Deulofeu 4.4 23% Marko Arnautovic 4.5 22% Ross Barkley 4.6 22% Connor Wickham 4.75 21% Charlie Austin 4.8 21% David Silva 4.8 21% Shane Long 5 20% Raheem Sterling 5 20% Sofiane Feghouli 5 20% Wahbi Khazri 5 20% Callum Wilson 5 20% Max Gradel 5.2 19% Gaston Ramirez 5.5 18% Viktor Fischer 6 17% Cesc Fabregas 6 17% Xherdan Shaqiri 6 17% Matt Phillips 6.1 16% Dusan Tadic 6.75 15% Nathan Redmond 7 14% Robert Snodgrass 7 14% Jordon Ibe 7 14% Andros Townsend 8 13% George Boyd 9 11% Etienne Capoue 14 7%

For the second week running, Sergio Aguero tops the attacking rankings with a 50% chance of scoring and takes our captain’s armband. After netting from the spot against Sunderland, he also bagged a hat trick in midweek as City all but secured their place in the Champions League group stages. A trip to Stoke, who conceded on the opening day against a goal-shy Middlesbrough outfit, will certainly hold no fear for the classy Argentine.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (47%), fresh from a debut Premier League goal against Bournemouth, joins Aguero up front in our recommended squad. 2 goals in 2 competitive appearances for the big Swede bodes well ahead of the visit of Southampton. Andy Carroll (40%) completes our front 3 for Gameweek 2, with the Hammers hosting a Bournemouth side that conceded 3 goals last weekend against Manchester United.

Unfortunately, we have had to overlook 2 solid striking options in Harry Kane (44%) and Diego Costa (42%) due to budget restrictions. Selecting either as our third striker would have left us with an extremely weak midfield.

Roberto Firmino (36%) is our first pick in the middle of the park. The Brazilian played up front for Liverpool in the absence of the injured Daniel Sturridge last weekend, and whilst he didn’t score any points in the 4-3 thriller at The Emirates, he was part of a very fluid and threatening attack, so it’s only a matter of time until he replicates last season’s form and gets on the scoreboard.

Erik Lamela (29%) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (28%) also make our starting XI. Lamela continued his solid pre-season form by notching the equaliser for Mauricio Pochettino’s men as they drew 1-1 with Everton, whilst Icelandic playmaker Sigurdsson is expected to return to the starting XI for Swansea after an extended break following his Euro 2016 exertions. The Swans welcome Hull to The Liberty on Saturday, and, with penalties, free kicks and corners in his locker, Gylfi has the chance to show once again why he is fantasy football gold.

Our final midfield starting slot is filled by Chelsea’s Willian. Having stepped up to take free kicks and corners against West Ham on Monday night, the pacy Brazilian has the potential to make a mockery of his £7.5m price tag, if he can generate some sort of consistency in his output. Etienne Capoue (7%) completes our squad and takes his place on our bench having scored last Saturday against Southampton, with his kind £4.5m price also a consideration.

Other viable options in midfield include out of position prospect Alexis Sanchez, speedster Sadio Mane, a rejuvenated Eden Hazard, French duo Anthony Martial and Dimitri Payet, the energetic Dele Alli and free kick master Philippe Coutinho, but they all miss out on our recommended XV due to budget and/or squad selection restrictions.

Make your top Fantasy Premier League picks for the next gameweek