The Bookies’ Advantage squad managed to return a respectable 55 points, slightly besting the 49 point gameweek average, thanks to goals from captain Sergio Aguero (14 points), Alexis Sanchez (7) and Chris Brunt (8), along with clean sheets from Erik Pieters (7) and Phil Jones (6). With the Premier League back on our calendars this weekend following a break for the third round of the FA Cup, read on as we present the usual analysis of clean sheet and anytime goalscorer odds to assist with your transfer, squad selection and captaincy decisions…

Defensive odds

Team Best clean sheet odds Implied chance of a clean sheet Tottenham 1.75 57% Chelsea 2.3 43% Arsenal 2.45 41% Southampton 2.5 40% Watford 2.62 38% Man City 2.88 35% Man Utd 2.9 34% Middlesbrough 3 33% West Ham 3 33% Stoke 3.1 32% Bournemouth 3.1 32% Sunderland 3.6 28% Burnley 3.7 27% Hull 4 25% Liverpool 4.33 23% Crystal Palace 4.33 23% Everton 5.6 18% Leicester 6 17% Swansea 8 13% West Brom 8.5 12%

A home game against West Brom sees the bookmakers give Tottenham the best chance of keeping a clean sheet in the Premier League this weekend, with a 57% probability of shutting out the Baggies. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have kept clean sheets in 3 of their last 4 at White Hart Lane, and with West Brom blanking in 2 of their last 3 on the road, (against Arsenal and Chelsea, suggesting less emphasis on attack from Tony Pulis’ contingent against big sides), hopes are high for defensive returns. Danny Rose has a goal and 2 assists in his last 5 outings and makes our starting XI.

Chelsea (43%) rank second for the gameweek ahead of a trip to struggling champions Leicester. The Blues have only conceded 3 goals in their last 6 away games, keeping 4 clean sheets in the process, and will be confident of adding to that given that the Foxes have only scored once in their last 3 matches. Thibaut Courtois is back to his best form this season and takes his place in goal for our squad.

Arsenal (41%) and Southampton (40%) complete the top 4 defensive prospects for fantasy managers this weekend. The Gunners travel to South Wales to take on Swansea, who have blanked in 2 of their last 4 games. Laurent Koscielny and co have kept clean sheets in 2 of their last 3 matches, so the Frenchman, who has scored twice and accrued 11 bonus points so far this term, makes our starting XI. Maya Yoshida joins him and completes our defensive lineup for Gameweek 21. A cheap route into the Southampton defence at £4.5m, the Japanese international has started the last 2 Premier League games for the Saints in place of the wantaway Jose Fonte. Claude Puel’s men travel to Burnley on Saturday.

To fill the remainder of our defensive slots, we opt for Stoke’s budget friendly Lee Grant (£4.0m – 32%) as our backup keeper, with Watford’s Jose Holebas (£4.5m – 38%) and Swansea’s Jordi Amat (£4.0m – 13%) taking the second and third spots on our bench respectively.

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 (17% – home to Chelsea), Swansea (13% – home to Arsenal) and West Brom (12% – away to Tottenham) should be avoided this weekend.

Attacking odds

Player Best anytime goalscorer odds Implied chance of scoring Harry Kane 1.9 53% Alexis Sanchez 2 50% Diego Costa 2 50% Sergio Aguero 2.02 50% Olivier Giroud 2.05 49% Son Heung-Min 2.5 40% Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2.6 38% Jermain Defoe 2.65 38% Eden Hazard 2.7 37% Dele Alli 2.8 36% Christian Benteke 2.9 34% Romelu Lukaku 2.9 34% Nolito 3 33% Callum Wilson 3 33% Andy Carroll 3.1 32% Christian Eriksen 3.1 32% Troy Deeney 3.2 31% Theo Walcott 3.25 31% Kevin de Bruyne 3.4 29% Alvaro Negredo 3.4 29% Michail Antonio 3.4 29% Dimitri Payet 3.4 29% Daniel Sturridge 3.55 28% Peter Crouch 3.75 27% Yaya Toure 3.95 25% Raheem Sterling 3.95 25% Mesut Ozil 3.95 25% Willian 3.95 25% Divock Origi 4 25% Bojan 4 25% Jonathan Walters 4 25% Nathan Redmond 4 25% Dusan Tadic 4 25% Sam Vokes 4 25% Victor Anichebe 4 25% Jamie Vardy 4 25% Henrikh Mkhitaryan 4.2 24% Pedro 4.2 24% Gylfi Sigurdsson 4.3 23% Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 4.3 23% Junior Stanislas 4.33 23% Cristhian Stuani 4.35 23% Robert Snodgrass 4.35 23% Paul Pogba 4.4 23% Roberto Firmino 4.5 22% Fernando Llorente 4.5 22% Kevin Mirallas 4.8 21% Ahmed Musa 4.9 20% Philippe Coutinho 5 20% Cesc Fabregas 5.2 19% Yohan Cabaye 5.25 19% Salomon Rondon 5.3 19% Shinji Okazaki 5.3 19% Adam Lallana 5.5 18% Andros Townsend 5.6 18% Gaston Ramirez 5.6 18% Ross Barkley 5.8 17% Etienne Capoue 6.4 16% James Milner 6.75 15% Adama Traore 6.75 15% Gerard Deulofeu 7 14% Ryan Mason 7 14% Nacer Chadli 7.5 13% Matt Phillips 10 10% Emre Can 10.5 10%

Tottenham’s home clash with West Brom sees Harry Kane top the bookmakers’ attacking rankings with a 53% chance of scoring. The England hitman has registered 3 goals and an assist in his last 3 games, including a mega 16 point haul against Watford, and dons our armband for Gameweek 21 against a Baggies outfit without a clean sheet in 8 games.

Joining Kane in our front 3 this weekend are Diego Costa (50%) and Jermaine Defoe (38%). Costa currently leads the race for the golden boot with 14 goals and travels to a Leicester side that have conceded 2 goals in 4 of their last 5 at The King Power. Defoe, meanwhile, notched twice against Liverpool last time out to take his league tally to 11 for the season, and will welcome Stoke to The Stadium of Light on Saturday, with the Potters having conceded a whopping 11 goals in their last 3 away games.

The bookies also fancy the chances of Sergio Aguero (50%), Olivier Giroud (49%) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (38%), but the trio all proved to expensive for our squad this gameweek.

In midfield, we opt for North London duo Alexis Sanchez (50%) and Heung-Min Son (40%) ahead of their plum fixtures against Swansea and West Brom respectively. Arsenal’s Chilean talisman has bagged 10 of his 13 league goals this term away from The Emirates, so a trip to The Liberty should hold no fear for him – the Swans have conceded 23 in 10 home games this term and own the worst defence in the division (both overall and at home). Son, meanwhile, grabbed a goal and an assist on his last start at White Hart Lane, and will be looking to add to the 6 strikes he has produced in the league this season on Saturday lunchtime against the aforementioned Baggies.

Completing our midfield are another duo from London, Michail Antonio (29%) and Willian (25%). With Dimitri Payet looking for a move away from the Hammers, the onus in East London will be on Antonio to provide more goals to help Slaven Bilic’s men in their efforts to escape the relegation dogfight. The West Ham midfielder has 8 goals to his name this campaign and takes on a Crystal Palace side yet to get going under Sam Allardyce, and with the joint-second worst away defence in the division (22 conceded in 10 games). Over in South West London, Chelsea’s Brazilian winger notched 2 goals, taking his tally to 5 for the season, along with maximum bonus points against Stoke in Gameweek 19, seeing us double up on Antonio Conte’s attacking assets ahead of their trip to Leicester. As is customary, Etienne Capoue’s security of starts and occasional attacking returns see him take the first spot on our substitutes bench.

The bookmakers also rate Eden Hazard (37%), Nolito (33%), and Kevin de Bruyne (29%) for your squads this weekend, but we have to overlook both Belgians and the Spaniard due to budget constraints, whilst we must forgo the services of man of the moment Dele Alli (36%) and his in-form teammate Christian Eriksen (32%) as we have already reached our allocation of 3 Tottenham players. Theo Walcott (31%) is not selected as he remains an injury doubt.