The Bookies’ Advantage squad managed to rack up a handsome 59 points in Gameweek 8 courtesy of double-digit hauls from Gabriel Jesus (13 points), Tammy Abraham (13) and Leroy Sane (10), whilst Lukasz Fabianski and Richarlison also contributed with a clean sheet and an assist respectively. Gameweek 9 is just around the corner, starting on Friday evening with the West Ham – Brighton game, so read on as we analyse clean sheet odds and anytime goalscorer markets to help you with those all important captaincy, transfer and squad selection decisions…

Clean sheet odds

Team Best clean sheet odds Implied chance of a clean sheet Man City 1.62 62% Man Utd 1.71 58% Chelsea 1.95 51% Southampton 2.15 47% West Ham 2.25 44% Newcastle 2.45 41% Stoke 2.82 35% Arsenal 3 33% Leicester 3.2 31% Swansea 3.25 31% Tottenham 3.5 29% Crystal Palace 4 25% West Brom 4.2 24% Bournemouth 4.33 23% Brighton 4.5 22% Everton 5 20% Liverpool 5 20% Huddersfield 7.5 13% Watford 9.5 11% Burnley 26 4%

Manchester City top the bookies’ defensive rankings for with a 62% chance of keeping a clean sheet ahead of their home game against Burnley. The Citizens are currently playing some of their best football under Guardiola, completely dominating teams in terms of possession and shutting out their opponents in 4 of their last 5 as a result. Despite scoring in all 4 of their away games this season (vs Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton), the bookies clearly believe Burnley will be overwhelmed by Pep’s side and we therefore plump for Nicolas Otamendi in our starting XI, given his goal threat and ability to mop up bonus points relative to the other members of the City back line.

Cross-city rivals Manchester United (58%) rank second ahead of a trip to The John Smith’s Stadium to take on Huddersfield. Mourinho’s men have been defensively outstanding, keeping a league-high 7 clean sheets in 8 games this term. That could quite feasibly become 8 in 9 given the fact the Terriers have blanked in 5 of their last 6 outings. Phil Jones, as usual, provides the value route into the Red Devils’ defence and starts for our squad.

Chelsea (51%) and Southampton (47%) complete the top 4 defensive prospects for the gameweek. The bookies see Chelsea’s home tie against Watford as a favorable one, with the Blues keeping clean sheets in 2 of their last 3 on home turf. However, shorn of the solidifying influence of N’Golo Kante, and with Watford scoring twice in each of their 4 away games to date, Antonio Conte’s men may not have things all their own way on Saturday. Therefore, we consider it prudent to select a defender who also offers the prospect of attacking returns, and with Victor Moses injured, Davide Zappacosta fits the bill. Southampton, meanwhile, welcome West Brom to St Mary’s for Saturday’s evening kick off, with the Baggies only scoring 3 times on the road this term. However, with the need for additional funds up front, we accept a slight decrease in clean sheet probability and opt for Newcastle’s (41%) £4.0m Rob Elliott between the sticks ahead of a home game against a Crystal Palace side yet to score on their travels.

On the bench, Boaz Myhill (£4.0m – 24%), now offers us the possibility of a second starting £4.0m keeper following Ben Foster’s knee injury, with the Baggies away to a goal-shy Southampton on Saturday evening, whilst Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles (£4.5m – 41%) has already scored twice this season. An injury to Brighton’s Shane Duffy in Gameweek 8 now sees Uwe Hunemeier (£4.0m – 22%) as the ultra-budget defender most likely to see game time and fantasy points.

Goalscorer odds

Player Best anytime goalscorer odds Implied chance of scoring Gabriel Jesus 1.44 69% Sergio Aguero 1.44 69% Alvaro Morata 1.7 59% Romelu Lukaku 1.73 58% Harry Kane 1.9 53% Leroy Sane 2.1 48% Raheem Sterling 2.2 45% Alexandre Lacazette 2.3 43% Eden Hazard 2.5 40% Javier Hernandez 2.6 38% Alexis Sanchez 2.63 38% Jamie Vardy 2.63 38% Marcus Rashford 2.7 37% Joselu 2.75 36% Jermain Defoe 2.75 36% Kevin de Bruyne 2.8 36% Tammy Abraham 2.87 35% Pedro 2.88 35% Manolo Gabbiadini 2.9 34% Henrikh Mkhitaryan 3 33% David Silva 3.1 32% Rodriguez Jese 3.1 32% Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting 3.1 32% Roberto Firmino 3.25 31% Willian 3.3 30% Dele Alli 3.4 29% Mohamed Salah 3.5 29% Wayne Rooney 3.5 29% Michail Antonio 3.5 29% Oumar Niasse 3.75 27% Philippe Coutinho 3.75 27% Andre Ayew 3.75 27% Dominic Calvert-Lewin 3.8 26% Jordan Ayew 3.85 26% Matt Ritchie 3.85 26% Dusan Tadic 4 25% Xherdan Shaqiri 4 25% Christian Eriksen 4.3 23% Andre Gray 4.33 23% Christian Atsu 4.4 23% Alex Iwobi 4.5 22% Riyad Mahrez 4.6 22% Bakary Sako 4.6 22% Aaron Ramsey 4.7 21% de Andrade Richarlison 4.75 21% Jay Rodriguez 4.8 21% Salomon Rondon 5 20% Wilfried Zaha 5 20% Anthony Knockaert 5.5 18% Chris Wood 5.5 18% Pascal Gross 5.5 18% Sam Vokes 6 17% Laurent Depoitre 6 17% Andros Townsend 6.25 16% Matt Phillips 7.5 13% Tom Carroll 8 13% Ryan Fraser 8 13% Etienne Capoue 10 10% Robbie Brady 10.5 10% Aaron Mooy 12.5 8%

A total of 6 goals in his last 5 Premier League starts, plus a goal and an assist in the Champions League in midweek, sees Gabriel Jesus top the bookies’ rankings for the first time this season with a 69% chance of scoring against Burnley on Saturday. With Guardiola’s attacking juggernaut looking unstoppable at present, the Brazilian starlet straps on the captain’s armband for our squad this weekend.

Alvaro Morata (59%) and Romelu Lukaku (58%) complete a big-hitting front 3 for Gameweek 9. Chelsea’s Spanish striker returned from injury to provide an assist in the Champions League on Wednesday night and faces a Watford side that, despite sitting fourth after an impressive start, have conceded 10 goals in their last 4 outings. After notching 6 goals in his last 7 starts for the Blues, the bookies are backing Morata to continue his recent good form on Saturday lunchtime. Meanwhile, a blistering start to the season for Lukaku, which saw him net 16 goals in 13 games for club and country, has faltered slightly, with the Belgian powerhouse failing to find the net in his last 2 appearances. Still, with Huddersfield on the slide, and conceding 6 in their last 2 matches, big Rom is offered the perfect platform to return to the scoresheet this weekend.

The bookies also fancy the chances of Sergio Aguero, but we overlook the Argentine as he has yet to gain any pitch time since returning from injury last weekend.

In midfield, Leroy Sane (48%) forms part of a Manchester City attacking double-up. The German flyer has produced immense returns for his owners over his last 3 home fixtures, with 4 goals and 3 assists resulting in 39 points. Likewise, Eden Hazard (40%) means our squad doubles up on Antonio Conte’s attack. Yet to register fantasy returns in the league following his return from injury, Hazard scored twice in midweek against Roma at Stamford Bridge to signal a return to form.

Stoke welcome Bournemouth to The Bet365 Stadium on Saturday and provide a pair of budget midfielders to complete our starting XI for Gameweek 9. Jese Rodriguez and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (both 32%) often play furthest forward for Mark Hughes’ men and will be looking to further their cases as viable cheap fantasy options in the middle of the park with the Cherries defensively suspect, keeping just 1 clean sheet this season and yet to keep one on their travels. Tom Carroll (13%), ahead of a game against managerless Leicester, takes his regular place as our first substitute, having registered his first assist and bonus points of the season against Huddersfield last time out.

This weekend, the bookies also rate Manchester City trio Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva, along with Chelsea’s Pedro, but we have to overlook the quartet having already maxed out our allocations from the Citizens and the Blues respectively, whilst we forgo the services of Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan due to budget constraints.

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Good luck with your fantasy weekend!

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