A solid return from our front from captain Harry Kane, 11 from Kelechi Iheanacho, and 12 from Romelu Lukaku – helped us reach a 66 point total for the week.

That brought us healthily above the 48 point average score, but was somewhat bittersweet as our midfield and, in particular, our defence scored poorly, whilst Etienne Capoue once again languished on our bench with 10 points. As usual, we now turn our attention to the weekend, with an analysis of the bookmakers’ defensive and attacking odds for Gameweek 6…

Defensive odds

Team Clean sheet odds Chance of a clean sheet Liverpool 1.8 56% Tottenham 2.5 40% Man Utd 2.5 40% Man City 36% Stoke 35% Crystal Palace 2.9 34% Everton 3 33% Watford 3 33% Burnley 31% Sunderland 3.3 30% Southampton 3.4 29% West Brom 29% Arsenal 3.6 28% West Ham 3.75 27% Middlesbrough 4 25% Chelsea 4.33 23% Bournemouth 4.33 23% Leicester 5.5 18% Hull 12 8% Swansea 21 5%

Despite not yet keeping a clean sheet in the Premier League this season, Liverpool are perched at the top of the bookies’ defensive rankings for Gameweek 6, with a 56% chance of registering a shutout when they welcome Hull to Anfield on Saturday. With the Tigers adapting to life in the top flight rather well, scoring in 4 of their 5 games to date and sitting 12th in the league, this assignment is far from straightforward for the Jurgen Klopp’s men, especially from a defensive standpoint. Still, the odds compilers are always going to look favourably upon a big team playing at home to a newly promoted outfit, so Simon Mignolet and Dejan Lovren make our starting XI.

Tottenham and Manchester United rank joint-second this week, with the bookies assigning them 40% chances of shutouts away to Middlesbrough and at home to champions Leicester respectively. We choose to double up on the Spurs defence rather than United’s by virtue of the fact that the North Londoners have kept more clean sheets this season, 3 to the Jose Mourinho’s 2. A trip to The Riverside, where Boro have scored just twice in 2 home games, holds promise for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, so in come Kyle Walker and Cameron Carter-Vickers, with the latter taking a place on our bench as we save funds for further upfield. For Mourinho’s men, Antonio Valencia continues to offer potential at both ends of the pitch as one of the most attacking fullbacks in the division, and makes our starting XI ahead of a home clash with Leicester, who have lost both away games they’ve played this term.

Manchester City (36%) and Stoke (35%) complete the top 5 defensive prospects for fantasy managers this weekend. City travel to South Wales to tackle Swansea for the second time in 4 days following their meeting in the League Cup on Wednesday, which ended 2-1 to the Citizens. John Stones is expected to return to the starting lineup, having been benched against Bournemouth, and is a substitute for us this weekend. For Stoke, who have conceded a league high 14 goals in 5 games, a home game against West Brom offers some comfort, with the Baggies only scoring 6 goals so far this campaign. That being said, 4 of those came last time out against West Ham, so, in order to save funds once again, and with confidence in Mignolet starting, we opt for Lee Grant to complete our goalkeeping requirements.

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 Leicester (18% – away to Man United), Hull (8% – away to Liverpool) and Swansea (5% – home to Man City) should be avoided this weekend.

Attacking odds

Player Anytime goalscorer odds Chance of scoring Sergio Aguero 1.61 62% Daniel Sturridge 2 50% Sadio Mane 2.25 44% Kelechi Iheanacho 2.29 44% Kevin de Bruyne 2.29 44% Roberto Firmino 2.3 43% Philippe Coutinho 2.38 42% Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2.4 42% Romelu Lukaku 2.5 40% Diego Costa 2.7 37% Vincent Janssen 35% Olivier Giroud 2.9 34% Shane Long 2.9 34% Charlie Austin 2.9 34% Andre Gray 2.9 34% Alexis Sanchez 3 33% Christian Benteke 3 33% Odion Ighalo 3.12 32% Troy Deeney 3.12 32% Michy Batshuayi 3.13 32% Wayne Rooney 3.15 32% Raheem Sterling 31% Wilfried Bony 31% Jermain Defoe 31% Son Heung-Min 5 31% Salomon Rondon 3.3 30% Callum Wilson 3.3 30% Simone Zaza 3.4 29% Sam Vokes 3.4 29% Borja Baston 3.4 29% Anthony Martial 29% Dimitri Payet 29% Eden Hazard 3.6 28% Erik Lamela 3.7 27% Yannick Bolasie 3.75 27% Dusan Tadic 3.8 26% Kevin Mirallas 3.8 26% Alvaro Negredo 3.8 26% Bojan 3.8 26% Ross Barkley 3.9 26% Marko Arnautovic 3.9 26% Jamie Vardy 4 25% Christian Eriksen 4 25% Michail Antonio 4 25% Gerard Deulofeu 4.2 24% Manuel Lanzini 4.33 23% Duncan Watmore 4.33 23% Riyad Mahrez 4.4 23% Nathan Redmond 4.5 22% Cristhian Stuani 4.5 22% Gylfi Sigurdsson 4.5 22% Joshua King 4.5 22% Nacer Chadli 4.7 21% Willian 4.8 21% Santiago Cazorla 5 20% Andros Townsend 5.25 19% Mesut Ozil 5.3 19% Etienne Capoue 5.5 18% Gaston Ramirez 5.6 18% Wilfried Zaha 5.75 17% Abel Hernandez 6 17% Leroy Fer 6 17% Jordon Ibe 6.5 15% Roberto Pereyra 6.5 15% Robert Snodgrass 8 13% NEW TO WEEKLY FANTASY? PICK A FREE TEAM AND COMPETE FOR £10 HERE

Back from suspension, back atop the bookies’ rankings, and back as our captain, Sergio Aguero makes his return this weekend with a 62% chance of finding the back of the net against Swansea. With 9 goals in 5 appearances in all competitions this term and Pep Guardiola’s team firing on all cylinders, it is not hard to see why the bookmakers side with the Argentine, especially with the Swans conceding twice in each of their home games thus far.

Aguero is joined up front by Romelu Lukaku (40%) and Charlie Austin (34%) for Gameweek 6. Everton’s Belgian powerhouse has scored 4 goals in his last 2 games and is expected to shrug off a minor injury in time for the trip to Bournemouth, who were hammered 4-0 last time out by Manchester City. Austin, meanwhile, has scored 4 in his last 3 outings in all competitions (twice in the Europa League, the winner against Swansea last Sunday and another in the League Cup), and has surely staked his claim for a start this weekend, especially given that the Saints have only mustered 4 goals in 5 Premier League matches this season. Claude Puel’s men will be hopeful as they travel to The Olympic Stadium on Sunday, with West Ham having conceded 13 goals in 5 games – the second worst defence in the league.

Viable options that we have had to overlook up front include Daniel Sturridge (50%) and Kelechi Iheanacho (44%), with security of starts an issue for both, whilst Zlatan Ibrahimovic (42%), Diego Costa (37%) and Vincent Janssen (35%) are all deemed too expensive for us to also be able to afford a decent midfield.

Our midfield this week consists of some potentially explosive options. Kevin de Bruyne (44%) has scored in each of his last 2 league outings and become a vital cog in the Pep Guardiola behemoth. A trip to South Wales will hold no fear for the Belgian superstar. Roberto Firmino (43%) returned from injury midweek and faces newly-promoted Hull at Anfield on Saturday. The Brazilian has scored 3 goals in 6 games in all competitions this term and will look to punish the Tigers, who conceded 4 last weekend against Arsenal.

Heung-Min Son (31%) should see more minutes for Spurs now that Harry Kane is sidelined, and after bagging a brace against Stoke in Gameweek 4, he looks set to be unleashed on a Middlesbrough defence that conceded 3 to Everton last Saturday. And speaking of Everton, Yannick Bolasie (27%) completes our midfield lineup. Having produced some eye-catching displays for his new club, the DR Congo international will be hoping to net his first goal for the Blues against Bournemouth this weekend, with the Cherries having the joint third poorest defence in the top flight (9 conceded in 5 games). Etienne Capoue (18%) must once again, unfortunately, make do with a place on our bench, despite notching 4 goals in the league so far and enjoying a trip to Burnley this weekend.

The bookies also fancy the chances of Liverpool duo Sadio Mane (44%) and Philippe Coutinho (42%), but we have to omit them for reasons of price and squad selection restraints respectively, whilst budget limitations also prevent us from selecting Alexis Sanchez (33%), Raheem Sterling (31%), Anthony Martial (29%), Dimitri Payet (29%) and Eden Hazard (28%).

BOOKIES’ TEAM OF THE WEEK

Daniel Victory is a Fantasy football and anytime goalscorer betting enthusiast. Enjoys SSS – statistics, strategising and spreadsheets. Follow his great tips on Twitter.