Our defensive picks came good in Gameweek 17, with Hugo Lloris (9 points), Phil Jones (7) and Andreas Christensen (an admittedly fortunate 6) all providing returns. Further forward, Wilfried Zaha (5) and Richarlison (6) registered assists, whilst Sergio Aguero’s (6) late strike helped ease the pain of captain Harry Kane blanking. Gameweek 18 is just around the corner, so read on as we analyse the clean sheet and anytime goalscorer markets to help you with those all important captaincy, transfer and squad selection decisions…

Defensive odds

Team Best clean sheet odds Implied chance of a clean sheet Arsenal 2 50% Chelsea 2.03 49% Man Utd 2.06 49% Everton 2.15 47% Watford 2.36 42% Liverpool 2.45 41% Brighton 2.58 39% Leicester 2.61 38% Stoke 2.8 36% Burnley 2.85 35% Man City 3.75 27% West Ham 3.85 26% Crystal Palace 4.6 22% Swansea 4.75 21% Huddersfield 4.8 21% West Brom 5.5 18% Bournemouth 8 13% Southampton 8.1 12% Tottenham 8.2 12% Newcastle 11 9%

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Arsenal top the bookies’ defensive rankings this weekend with a 50% chance of keeping a clean sheet when they welcome a free-falling Newcastle side to The Emirates. In their last 6 at home, the Gunners have recorded 4 shutouts, whilst Newcastle blanked at home to Everton on Wednesday evening. Nacho Monreal is a secure route into Arsene Wenger’s back line and has a propensity for accumulating bonus points, having scored 10 of them this season – the most of any Arsenal defender. The Spaniard starts for our squad.

Chelsea (49%) rank second ahead of a Stamford Bridge meeting with Southampton. The Blues have kept 2 clean sheets across their last trio of home games in the league and will be confident of making that 3 in 4 given the Saints have only managed to score 5 times on their travels this season. With David Luiz still on the sidelines, Andreas Christensen continues to offer the best value in Antonio Conte’s back line and makes our starting XI.

Manchester United (49%) and Everton (47%) complete the top four defensive prospects for this gameweek. The Red Devils have recorded a monumental 10 shutouts in 17 top flight games this term and travel to West Brom on Saturday, who are yet to score in 3 games under new manager Alan Pardew. David de Gea sits atop the FPL goalkeeper standings and starts for our side. The Toffees, meanwhile, have prevented their opponents from scoring in 3 out of 4 matches since Sam Allardyce took the reins, and host a travel-sick Swansea side on Monday evening. The Swans have only netted 4 times in 8 away games this campaign, which sees us plump for youngster Jonjoe Kenny, who also produced an assist back in Gameweek 14.

On the bench, Julian Speroni (£4.0m – 22%) has started each of the last 3 for Palace and travels to Leicester for Saturday’s early kick off. Adrian Mariappa (£4.0m – 42%) continues to offer excellent budget value and enjoys a favourable home fixture against Huddersfield, who haven’t scored in their last 7 away from home. Chancel Mbemba (£4.0m – 9%) also offers the rather faint promise of points away to Arsenal, having flirted with the Newcastle matchday squad in recent weeks.

Attacking odds

Player Best anytime goalscorer odds Implied chance of scoring Alexandre Lacazette 1.75 57% Alvaro Morata 1.8 56% Sergio Aguero 1.83 55% Gabriel Jesus 1.86 54% Alexis Sanchez 2 50% Mohamed Salah 2.02 50% Eden Hazard 2.18 46% Roberto Firmino 2.2 45% Jamie Vardy 2.2 45% Romelu Lukaku 2.25 44% Sadio Mane 2.3 43% Leroy Sane 2.6 38% Philippe Coutinho 2.65 38% Marcus Rashford 2.85 35% Andre Gray 2.88 35% Harry Kane 2.9 34% Wayne Rooney 2.9 34% Oumar Niasse 2.9 34% Richarlison 2.9 34% Pedro 3 33% Alex Iwobi 3.15 32% Dominic Calvert-Lewin 3.2 31% Chris Wood 3.35 30% Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting 3.4 29% Andy Carroll 3.5 29% Glenn Murray 3.5 29% Mesut Ozil 3.55 28% Mame Biram Diouf 3.6 28% Riyad Mahrez 3.6 28% Henrikh Mkhitaryan 3.75 27% Sam Vokes 3.75 27% Callum Wilson 3.75 27% Tammy Abraham 3.9 26% Wilfried Zaha 4 25% Kevin de Bruyne 4 25% Aaron Ramsey 4 25% Xherdan Shaqiri 4 25% Raheem Sterling 4.33 23% Michail Antonio 4.33 23% Dwight Gayle 4.5 22% Andre Ayew 4.5 22% Cesc Fabregas 4.5 22% Salomon Rondon 4.5 22% David Silva 4.5 22% Laurent Depoitre 4.5 22% Jay Rodriguez 4.8 21% Dele Alli 5 20% Charlie Austin 5 20% Manolo Gabbiadini 5 20% Anthony Knockaert 5 20% Abdoulaye Doucoure 5.5 18% Pascal Gross 5.75 17% Christian Eriksen 7 14% Matt Ritchie 7 14% Ruben Loftus-Cheek 7 14% Aaron Mooy 7 14% Dusan Tadic 7.5 13% Harry Arter 11 9% Tom Carroll 11 9% Isaac Hayden 19 5%

With Alexandre Lacazette and Alvaro Morata both doubtful for the weekend due to groin and back injuries respectively, Sergio Aguero takes our captain’s armband with a 55% chance of scoring against Tottenham on Saturday. The Argentine was back amongst the goals on Wednesday with a fine strike against Swansea, whilst he has netted 10 times against the North Londoners in 8 Premier League games. Furthermore, following a spate of defensive injuries and suspensions, the Lilywhites haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 4 away from home.

Jamie Vardy and Roberto Firmino (both 45%) complete our front three. The England striker isn’t in the best goalscoring form of late (1 goal and 2 assists in his last 5), but has the perfect chance to remedy that against a Crystal Palace side who are winless on the road and shorn of the services of defensive stalwart Mamadou Sakho. Firmino, on the other hand, has been in fine form of late – the Brazilian has scored 5 in his last 6 starts in all competitions for the Reds and could profit away to the Cherries, given Eddie Howe’s men without a clean sheet in their last 4.

Along with the aforementioned duo (Lacazette and Morata), the bookies also fancy the chances of Gabriel Jesus, but with his starting spot far from secure, we overlook City’s Samba starlet.

Mohamed Salah (50%) keeps his place in our squad having scored or assisted in 8 of his last 9 Premier League games (9 goals, 2 assists), as we double up on Jurgen Klopp’s attack. Eden Hazard (46%) tails the Egyptian at the top of the FPL form rankings (9.2 points per match vs 7.8) following 5 goals in 7 starts and joins him in our midfield. The skillful Belgian has a home game against Southampton to look forward to this Saturday, with the Saints looking frail having conceded 4 at home to Leicester on Wednesday.

Leroy Sane (38%) and Richarlison (34%) complete our starting XI. The German speedster was afforded a night off in midweek against the Swans, ensuring he will be well-rested for this weekend’s clash with Tottenham. Despite his form petering out lately, he has still produced 6 goals and 6 assists this term to stand out as one of the Citizens’ top performers. Richarlison, meanwhile, has 5 goals and 6 assists in his maiden Premier League campaign and has provided a steady stream of points for his owners. A home game against Huddersfield, who have conceded 14 in their last 4 on the road, looks to tasty to pass up, even with the Brazilian an injury doubt (Watford’s pre-match press conference will be worth monitoring for any news). Ruben Loftus-Cheek (19%) takes the first spot on our bench as the best value pick from the budget midfielders, with a trip to The King Power on the menu for the young Englishman on Saturday lunchtime.

This weekend, the bookies also rate Alexis Sanchez, Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho, but the trio weigh too heavily on the budget for us to select them.

Bookies Dream Team GW18

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Good luck with your fantasy teams this weekend!

May the odds be with you🙏

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