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Gameweek 7 Clean Sheet Analysis For Fantasy Premier League

Which clubs have the best chance of keeping a clean sheet in Gameweek 7? NaturalFootyFan has analysed recent defensive form, fixture difficulty and the bookies odds in an attempt to answer this question.

Gameweek 6 was complete chaos in terms of defensive projections with our top five based on stats, as well as the bookies top five, failing to secure clean sheets.

Bournemouth’s goal proved to be the winner versus Everton, while Hull, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Swansea and Stoke managed to notch consolation goals to upset the forecast.

Despite this freak show, our headline tip was ‘Hull to upset the bookies favourites’ and they did just that. Once again, Liverpool conceded against the run of play and are beginning to make a habit of it with their sixth consecutive gameweek without a clean sheet.

How is the data calculated?

Every team has been rated on a scale of 1 to 20 (1: best in the league, 20: worst in the league) based on form, fixture and odds. We’ve then totalled these findings and colour coded them so you can clearly visualise which clubs have the best clean sheet potential in Gameweek 7.

All statistics have been taken from the last four gameweeks, as we feel this provides a fair comparison with the likelihood of each club having two home and two away fixtures.

Gameweek 7 Defensive Potential: Form Vs. Fixture Vs. Odds Observations from table:

Ranking inside the top five for form, fixture and the bookies odds it’s Arsenal who top our defensive chart for Gameweek 7.

Arsene Wenger can celebrate his 20th year anniversary at the London club in ease having steered his side to three wins on the bounce in all competitions, scoring 12 times without conceding in the process.

Arsenal are obviously the team to beat at the moment, even more so than Man City after their midweek hiccup versus Scottish Champions Celtic, and making the trip to Burnley they have history on their side. Their hosts have failed to score in four of their last six fixtures against The Gunners.

Arsenal have won 22 and drawn three of their last 25 Premier League games against newly-promoted teams and managed to secure back-to-back clean sheets versus Burnley during the 2014/15 season.

If you’re thinking of investing in a premium defender, then there isn’t a better time to pick up Hector Bellerin (6.5m). The pacey right back has recorded more assists (6) than any defender since the start of last season and can take advantage of Arsenal’s kind fixture schedule.

Elsewhere, Man United have somewhat counteracted their poor form of past weeks with a commanding 4-1 victory over Leicester in Gameweek 6, followed by a Europa League win.

In our opinion, United are always worth considering when playing on home soil. Barring their loss to City, Jose Mourinho’s side have won all of their home matches this season, conceding just a solitary goal.

Although they’re without a clean sheet since Gameweek 3, they welcome Stoke City to Old Trafford as the bookies favourites to keep one this weekend. This is no surprise having defeated The Potters in all eight of their meetings in this venue.

We can tell you with confidence that Mourinho would have been livid at his team for conceding during a 4-1 win in Gameweek 6, so he will be looking to put this straight on Sunday morning.

In terms of team selection, Luke Shaw is unlikely to be fielded after being sent home from training on Wednesday (illness) and now lacking match fitness. We expect Daley Blind (5.6m) to continue at fullback, where he impressed last week with a pair of assists and two bonus points.

Other Findings:

Liverpool complete the top three, despite the table suggesting that they have a more difficult fixture. We are in agreement with these findings, as the Merseyside club have won just one of the last five meetings at the Liberty Stadium (D2, L2).

Clean sheet potential has never been at the forefront of Jurgen Klopp’s mind, instead he prefers to outscore the opposition, as evident with his side’s 24 goals this season – their highest tally at this stage in 121 years.

This is especially the case when playing on the road, with no team in the Premier League scoring more away goals in 2016 than Liverpool. They like to open the game up by inviting their opponents to push forward, before punishing them on the break.

This has had a detrimental effect on their clean sheet chances and they remain one of only five clubs without a clean sheet in the 2016/17 campaign. At home, Swansea have already found the net vs. Chelsea and twice vs. Man City (Premier League & League Cup), so Gameweek 7 might be another week without a shutout.

Another interesting result was that West Brom are ranked tenth by the bookies to keep a clean sheet, while they are bumped up to sixth position in our overall table with the help of recent form and an attractive fixture.

Everyone knows what Tony Pulis is all about, and we don’t think that’s ever going to change. Despite turning the tables by scoring five in their last two fixtures, this won’t last and he will once again set up with two banks of four, probably made up from about seven centre-halfs, to frustrate the opponent for the full 90 minutes.

It’s actually quite impressive how many times you’ll check the scores to see 0-0 next to West Brom or turn on Gillette Soccer Saturday to see a bored looking commentator trying to find something positive to say about a match featuring The Baggies.

This might sound tedious, but it’s what they do and they are very good at it. Tony Pulis has avoided defeat in his last six Premier League matches against Sunderland (W1 D5), keeping five clean sheets in the process.

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