Here’s my view of all the fantasy premier league games for GW3, specifically focusing on the the potential for clean sheets in each game. To also help you out I’ve also given the William Hill clean sheet odds against each team Could be a difficult week this week for clean sheets as a lot of even games.
Man City v Hull City
Man City clean sheet prospects: 2nd best home defensive record last year in my view with 10 clean sheets and only 15 goals conceded. hull have the worst attacking record so far this year with their only goal being a penalty in 2 games. William Hill clean sheet odds: £1.61
Hull City clean sheet prospects: no need for rationale. No chance. William Hill odds clean sheet odds £11.0
Verdict: Man city clean sheet
Cardiff City v Everton
Cardiff City clean sheet prospects: 4 goals conceded and alot of shots against but not that many clear cut chances. Good attacking stats so far from Everton and although the strikers have been misfiring a little and they failed to score against WBA I cant see a clean sheet here. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.60
Everton clean sheet prospects: Very good defensive stats so far but against some of the weaker attacking teams in Norwich and WBA. Cardiff created alot of good chances against city and I can see them scoring. William Hill clean sheet odds: £2.87
Verdict: no clean sheet here
Newcastle v Fulham
Newcastle clean sheet prospects: Newcastle had only 4 clean sheets last year and conceded 31 goals and were a lower mid table defensive side. Fulham were awful in attack away from home. Newcastle were very lucky against an ordinary attacking West Ham side not to concede and I just can’t see them keeping a clean sheet here. William Hill odds: £2.75
Fulham clean sheet prospects: only 4 clean sheets away and 30 goals conceded by Fulham last season. Newcastle had a pretty good home scoring record last year although they did have demba Ba for a good portion of the season. So far theyve peen poor in front of goal but I still cant see a goal not being scored by the home team. William HIll clean sheet odds: £4.00
verdict: no clean sheets
Norwich v Southampton
Norwich City clean sheet prospects: The team with 8 clean sheets have been defensively poor so far this year and I’m dubious about any clean sheet prospect for them at the moment. Southampton were only a middle table away team last year and have started similarly but have some strong attacking talent. Even with Bassong back I cant see a Norwich clean sheet. William hill clean sheet odds £3.50
Southampton clean sheet prospects: Have very good defensive stats so far including an away clean sheet at Sunderland. Norwich have started poorly from an attacking point of view with very few good chances and shots despite the 2 goals against Everton and the signing of RVW. They were also poor scoring wise at home last year. I’m backing Southampton to get a clean sheet here. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.20
Verdict: Southampton clean sheet
West Ham v Stoke
West Ham clean sheet prospects: 2 clean sheets out of 2 so far and pretty good underlying stats to back it up. Reasonable home record last year with 6 clean sheets and 22 goals conceded. Stoke don’t have the attacking players to score many goals this season and I can see a West ham clean sheet here. William Hill clean sheet odds: £2.37
Stoke clean sheet prospects: West Ham have a reasonable attacking record at home but now with only Maiga as a striker they have a lot less threat than with Carroll up front. Stoke really haven’t started well defensively and have conceded alot of shots and good chances. I can see West Ham scoring despite their current shortcomings. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.75
verdict: West Ham clean sheet
Crystal Palace v Sunderland
Crystal Palace clean sheet prospects: Palace haven’t started defensively well conceding 3 goals in their first 3 games. They’ve also conceded alot of shots and good scoring chances. However there were a few positive chinks in the Spurs home game. Sunderland away from home were pretty ordinary last year and have started the same. Fletcher is back in the squad but can’t be match fit and it looks like Sessegnon is on his way. I can see a home clean sheet here due to the poor attack. William Hill clean sheet odds: £2.90
Sunderland clean sheet prospects: Sunderland have looked like a decent defensive prospect this season with good underlying stats even though they have conceded in both games. Seem to have a problem at set pieces though. Palace have only scored 1 goal and their underlying stats are also pretty ordinary. I can see a clean sheet here.William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.40
verdict: 0-0. 2 clean sheets
Liverpool v Man Utd
Liverpool clean sheet prospects: Liverpool had the best home defence last year but despite 2 clean sheets this year they’ve conceded alot of shots and with Toure injured and Skrtel out of favour the defence looks vulnerable. Man Utd have been a little disappointing in creating real clear cut chances but with the leagues best striker in their team I can only see them scoring. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.20
Man Utd clean sheet prospects: Good defensive performance against Chelsea although they weren’t there for the win. Cant see Utd keeping a clean sheet on Liverpools home turf despite Liverpools indifferent attacking performance against Villa. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.75
Verdict: no clean sheets
WBA v Swansea
WBA clean sheet prospects: WBA had 5 clean sheets at home and conceded 25 goals last season. The defence is weakened by the loss of Ben Foster as GK. However so far this year its only 1 goal conceded including an excellent backs to the wall clean sheet against Everton away. However, they have conceded alot of shots in the box. Swansea have had a difficult start against Spurs and Man Utd. Last year away from home Swansea only scored 19 goals but they did have reasonable underlying shooting and good chance stats. Bony is a doubt unfortunately. With the WBA defence missing Foster I expect Swansea to score. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.50
Swansea clean sheet prospects: The Swansea away defence last year was ok getting 5 clean sheets and conceding 25 goals. Its impossible to judge the defence so far this year given the tricky opposition in the 1st 2 games. WBA’s attack also can’t be compared to last year due to the loss of Lukaku but so far its looked pretty poor and has yet to score. Anelka is back in the squad but will he start? Despite that I don’t think the Swansea defence will hold out and personally I think WBA will score. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.75
Verdict: no clean sheets
Arsenal v Spurs
Arsenal clean sheet prospects: The Arsenal defence was far better away from home than at home last year only getting 5 clean sheets at home and conceding 23 goals. However the underlying stats of shots and good chances weren’t anywhere near as bad. So far this year its been a similar pattern. No clean sheets and the home disaster against Villa. Again though the underlying shooting stats conceded aren’t bad but they have given the opposition alot of good chances. Back to full strength at least this week. For Spurs its 2 goals and 2 Soldado pens but in my mind they havent been that fluid. The underlying stats are brutal and really are not good for Spurs on attack though with a lack of good shots and chances. Despite all this the intensity and pace of the game will lead to goals and I can see Spurs scoring. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.10
Spurs clean sheet prospects: Spurs have 2 clean sheets and have been excellent defensivly but the Arsenal attack is still one of the best in the league. They are vulnerable to hiccups at home but last year scored more goals at home than any team. No Spurs clean sheet in my mind. William Hill clean sheet odds: £3.40
Verdict: no clean sheets
Summary
Clean sheets predicted for Man City, Southampton, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Sunderland. William Hill shortest clean sheet odds under £3.00: Man City £1.61 West ham £2.37, Newcastle £2.75, Everton £2.87 and Palace £2.90
That’s it good luck in picking your defence for fantasy premier league GW3
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William odds are as of Friay August 30th morning when this article was written
