The bookies continued their recent trend of smashing the gameweek average with a score of 88 points last weekend, a full 38 above the mean.

Captain Harry Kane (24), Alexis Sanchez (23) and Heung-min Son (11) all returned double-digit hauls, whilst a trio of clean sheets from Lee Grant (7), Danny Rose and Ben Gibson (both 6) helped build from the back. As we prepare to embark on a packed schedule of festive football, we analyse the defensive and attacking odds below in preparation for Gameweek 15…

Defensive odds

Team Clean sheet odds Chance of a clean sheet Chelsea 1.75 57% Southampton 2 50% Liverpool 2.15 47% Arsenal 2.25 44% Man City 2.65 38% Man Utd 2.88 35% Bournemouth 2.88 35% Crystal Palace 2.9 34% Swansea 3 33% Everton 3.1 32% Watford 3.7 27% Hull 3.8 26% Tottenham 4 25% Burnley 4 25% Middlesbrough 4.5 22% Sunderland 4.5 22% Leicester 6 17% Stoke 10 10% West Brom 10 10% West Ham 13 8%

Chelsea top the bookmakers’ defensive rankings with a 57% of a clean sheet when they host West Brom on Sunday. The Blues have only conceded 4 goals at home this season and kept 4 clean sheets in the process, although the Baggies have only failed to score once in 7 games on the road this term. As a result, Marcos Alonso’s attacking prowess, a goal and 2 assists in 6 appearances, sees him take a spot in our starting XI.

Southampton (50%) rank second for Gameweek 15 courtesy of a St Mary’s meeting with Middlesbrough, who have the third-worst attack in the division (13 goals scored in 14 games). Therefore, with a fourth home clean sheet of the season not out of the question, Cedric makes our squad, with his assist and bonus point potential an additional positive.

Liverpool (47%) and Arsenal (44%) rank third and fourth respectively. Jurgen Klopp’s men entertain a West Ham side in disarray on Sunday, and having not conceded more than a solitary goal in any home game this season, hopes will be high that the Reds can pile further misery on the Hammers. Loris Karius fulfils our goalkeeping requirements. Stoke visit the Emirates on Saturday, with Arsene Wenger’s troops looking for their third home shutout of the campaign. The Potters, like West Brom, have only blanked once in 7 on their travels, so Laurent Koscielny’s goal threat gives us added security and points potential.

To fill the remainder of our defensive slots, we opt for Sunderland’s budget friendly Jordan Pickford (£4.0m – 22%) as our backup keeper, with Bournemouth’s Adam Smith (£4.5m – 35%) and Swansea’s Jordi Amat (£4.0m – 33%) 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 Stoke (10% – away to Arsenal), West Brom (10% – away to Chelsea) and West Ham (8% – away to Liverpool) should be avoided this weekend.

Attacking odds

Player Goalscorer odds Chance of scoring Diego Costa 1.75 57% Alexis Sanchez 1.85 54% Olivier Giroud 1.9 53% Divock Origi 2.07 48% Sadio Mane 2.14 47% Theo Walcott 2.25 44% Eden Hazard 2.25 44% Roberto Firmino 2.28 44% Kelechi Iheanacho 2.38 42% Charlie Austin 2.4 42% Romelu Lukaku 2.48 40% Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2.5 40% Christian Benteke 2.5 40% Callum Wilson 2.5 40% Jermain Defoe 2.75 36% Pedro 2.95 34% Gylfi Sigurdsson 3 33% Borja Baston 3 33% Harry Kane 3.05 33% Kevin de Bruyne 3.2 31% Joshua King 3.2 31% Troy Deeney 3.25 31% Nathan Redmond 3.25 31% Dusan Tadic 3.35 30% Marcus Rashford 3.4 29% Sam Vokes 3.5 29% James Milner 3.5 29% Mesut Ozil 3.65 27% Yaya Toure 3.7 27% Islam Slimani 3.75 27% Jamie Vardy 3.75 27% Raheem Sterling 3.75 27% Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 3.9 26% Victor Anichebe 3.95 25% Kevin Mirallas 4 25% Wayne Rooney 4 25% Anthony Martial 4.35 23% Son Heung-Min 4.4 23% Wilfried Bony 4.4 23% Alvaro Negredo 4.6 22% Ross Barkley 4.6 22% Riyad Mahrez 4.75 21% Andros Townsend 4.75 21% Gerard Deulofeu 4.75 21% Dele Alli 4.8 21% Salomon Rondon 5 20% Wilfried Zaha 5 20% Robert Snodgrass 5 20% Ilkay Gundogan 5.1 20% Juan Mata 5.2 19% Marko Arnautovic 5.25 19% Jonathan Walters 5.25 19% Christian Eriksen 5.5 18% Cristhian Stuani 5.5 18% Andre Ayew 5.5 18% Michail Antonio 5.5 18% Dimitri Payet 5.5 18% Emre Can 6 17% Etienne Capoue 6.1 16% Nacer Chadli 6.25 16% Gaston Ramirez 7.5 13% Ryan Mason 7.5 13% Adama Traore 9 11% Matt Phillips 9.5 11% Junior Stanislas 13 8%

Premier League top scorer Diego Costa (11 goals) heads the attacking ranks for this gameweek with a 57% chance of finding the net this weekend. Given that opponents West Brom are without an away clean sheet since the opening day of the season, the fiery Spaniard will be confident of continuing his hot streak on Sunday. His position atop the attacking ladder sees him don our captain’s armband.

Joining Costa up front in our starting XI are Divock Origi (48%) and Kelechi Iheanacho (42%). With Daniel Sturridge on Philippe Coutinho on the sidelines, Belgian youngster Origi has taken his chance in the Liverpool attack, notching in each of his last 3 games. A porous West Ham defence, 29 goals conceded in 14, the joint-second worst in the league, should offer further opportunity to profit. Nigerian starlet Iheanacho should deputise for the suspended Sergio Aguero for Manchester City for the foreseeable future. When he did so back in Gameweek’s 4 and 5, he bagged two goals and two assists, and after scoring against Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday, he’ll be looking forward to facing a Leicester side that has conceded twice in each of their last 4 games.

We have overlooked Olivier Giroud (53%) up front as his lack of security of starts for the Gunners continues to tarnish his point scoring potential.

A relatively cheap strike force is much welcomed as it allows us to spend big in midfield this weekend. Alexis Sanchez (54%) is our first pick, with the Chilean in red hot form and coming off the back of a mega 23 point haul. Stoke have performed decently away from home this term (8 goals conceded in 7), but face an uphill task to keep Sanchez quiet on Saturday. Sadio Mane (47%) joins Alexis in the middle of the park, with a plum home tie against West Ham a good opportunity for the Senegalese international to add to the 5 league goals he has already scored at Anfield.

Eden Hazard and Theo Walcott (both 44%) complete our starting XI for Gameweek 15. Much like Mane, Hazard is another player who is enjoying home comforts this season, with 6 of his 8 goals thus far coming at Stamford Bridge. He’ll be looking to continue his good home form on Sunday when West Brom come to town. Finally, we double up on the potent Arsenal attack with another home performer in Walcott – 5 of his 6 strikes have come at The Emirates. Etienne Capoue (16%) takes his customary first place on our subs bench, with his goal and subsequent 10-point haul in Gameweek 12 a welcome return to form for the ultra-value £4.5m midfielder. Opponents Everton are without an away clean sheet in 5 games, conceding 10 goals over that stretch.

The bookmakers also fancy the chances of Roberto Firmino (44%), but we have to overlook the Brazilian as we have already maxed out our allocation of 3 Liverpool players.