Welcome back to another article highlighting Fantasy Premier League Clean Sheet Tips For Gameweek 20. This week, NaturalFootyFan picks out the clubs and players with the best clean sheet potential ahead of the weekend's fixtures.
We have now passed the halfway mark of the Premier League season and who'd have thought the newly promoted pair of Leicester and Watford, as well as the often-understudied Crystal Palace, would be riding high inside the top 8? These sides have not been intimidated and have thrown their weight around, no matter the status of club who are placed in front of them. Considering that reigning champions, Chelsea, and the normally ever-consistent Swansea are lingering perilously above the relegation zone is a credit to the strength and demeanour of England's top flight.
With this unpredictability, it gives us a difficult job in predicting clean sheets across the board, but nevertheless, we will do our best to fashion together some tips, to give you the edge on FPL, FantasyBet and Mondogoal. Here are our recommendations, Enjoy.
Low Risk � Arsenal Stack vs. Newcastle (Total Expense: 35.7m) Newcastle come into this fixture, having failed to score in their last 2 Premier League matches while Arsenal dominated in a 2-nil victory over Bournemouth to bounce back from their embarrassing loss in Gameweek 18. This stack is very much on the expensive side of things, but when expected to control
the tempo of the game, as well as the possession, Arsenal's defenders will see plenty of the ball - in this case, you get what you pay for, simple as that. With Koscielny returning, either Gabriel Paulista (8.2m) or Per Mertesacker (8.7m) will line-up alongside the Frenchman. Our money's on the former, after an impressive display that saw him bank 17.1 Mondogoal points on Boxing Day; Gabriel managed to nod home from a Mesut Ozil corner in the first half and looked very dangerous from set piece situations throughout, with 3 attempts on target. Nacho Monreal (9.6m) should slot straight back into the starting XI, having been given a rest on Monday. The Spaniard, after a shaky first season, has established himself this year as the most consistent fullback in the League � which his points per game average of 7.14 highlights. The implied chance of ‘The Gunners' securing a clean sheet is 50%... you can't argue with that!
Medium Risk � Stoke Stack vs. West Brom (Total Expense: 34.7m)
Stoke City have secured a clean sheet in 42% of their 19 Premier League Matches while West Brom have scored an average of 0.95 goals per game throughout the season; which is the 3rd worst record in England's top flight. Put 2 and 2 together and it seems a full proof decision to back ‘The Potters'
against their goal-shy hosts. Stoke have looked a different side this season; they are slowly reinventing their style of play to a more possession based game. West Brom, especially with their top goal-scorer Salomon Rondon suspended, will attempt to soak up the pressure. However, their visitors are very efficient � scoring 30% of their goals during the first 15 minutes of games; if they are successful in breaking the deadlock early, we can't see West Brom putting up too much of a fight. Stoke have safeguarded 8 clean sheets this season, all of which came after Gameweek 7; they have now got two feet planted on the ground and a 9th appears on the cards.
High Risk � Leicester Stack vs. Bournemouth (Total Expense: 23.7m)
Off the back of their no-score stalemate versus Manchester City, 2nd placed Leicester welcome Bournemouth to the King Power Stadium, which has become something of a fortress following their rise to the top. These two sides have shared similar experiences, having both been promoted as league winners in the past 2 years. Nevertheless, Leicester trump in the head-to-head battle and are unbeaten in the last 5 meetings (W4 D1). Bournemouth have struggled to find the net in their last 5 
outings to the King Power having scored on just one occasion in their last four away matches against Leicester. The picture displayed is the trio of defenders we recommend, with Christain Fuchs (9.1m) missing out solely due to his steep price tag... come on, it's high risk for a reason!
Bookies Odds (Gameweek 20)
| # | Team | Odds | Implied Chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man United | 1.91 | 52% |
| 2 | Arsenal | 2.00 | 50% |
| 3 | Chelsea | 2.60 | 39% |
| 4 | Liverpool | 2.60 | 39% |
| 5 | Man City | 2.60 | 39% |
Form (Last 5 Matches)
| # | Team | CS | Avg. Goals Conceded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 0.4 |
| 2 | West Ham | 3 | 0.4 |
| 3 | Tottenham | 2 | 0.8 |
| 4 | Stoke | 3 | 1.0 |
| 5 | Swansea | 3 | 1.0 |
FPL & FantasyBet Tips - Clean Sheet Prospective
Tottenham
[Fixtures: Everton (a), Leicester (H), Sunderland (H), Crystal Palace (a), Norwich (a)] Their London rivals may top the table, but Spurs still have the best defensive record in England's top flight. They have conceded just 15 goals all season and have some attractive fixtures on the horizon; it is definitely worth filtering in one or two of their players at this stage. Shutting out Everton away from home is the first daunting task with Romelu Lukaku scoring goals for fun at the moment. However, we can see Tottenham dropping Eric Dier into the centre-back role he took up vs. Watford and alleviating some of the pressure off his back four. Another shrewd thing to note down is that Tottenham's centre-back pairing play Internationally for Belgium… and guess what, so does the guy they're looking to keep reins on, Romelu Lukaku. Surely they will know the forward inside out, his strengths and weaknesses and the best action to take to prevent him being the game-changer once again. Despite going in depth to emphasize the role of Tottenham's centre-backs, it is actually right-back Kyle Walker (FPL: 5.2m, FantasyBet: 5m) who stands out for us for Gameweek 20 and the opening weeks of 2016. The Englishman has kept 2 clean sheets in each of his last two matches and has racked up a total of 19 FPL points, including 4 bonus points, over this short period. He has been in the form of his life as of late and has already surpassed his goals and assist tally of last season. If Walker can push on during these next 5 fixtures, he offers excellent value as part of the Premier Leagues strongest defence.Manchester United
[Fixtures: Swansea (H), Newcastle (a), Liverpool (a), Southampton (H), Stoke (H)] There was something about their performance against Chelsea that has drawn us into United's defensive potential in upcoming weeks. It was not the fact they shut out Chelsea in such a confident manner, there was a heightened desire and drive throughout the squad, almost as if the player's have suddenly clicked under Van Gaal's management. This weekend they face Swansea City, who have only scored once in their last 6 Premier League matches. David De Gea (FPL: 5.6m, FantasyBet: 5.5m) has a 52% implied chance of keeping a clean sheet in Gameweek 20, and with his sides favourable fixtures, he looks set to stamp down a marker and close in on the golden glove award; currently trailing Gomes, Butland and Hart by a single clean sheet. The only other dependable figure in the Manchester backline, who is guaranteed to play whenever fit, is Chris Smalling (FPL: 6.8m, FantasyBet: 6.5m). Although in the premium price bracket in both FPL and FantasyBet, he is the only safe route into the Manchester defence, with their long injury list and the fact that Van Gaal seems to reshuffle his back 4 every week. Smalling is always an aerial threat from dead ball situations and scored 4 goals in just 21 appearances during the 2014/15 campaign � hopefully, he can open his account early in 2016.Mondogoal Stacks
Stacking: To pair multiple players from the same team in an effort to increase upside.
(For example, if Arsenal secure a clean sheet in Gameweek 20 and you own 3 of their defenders, instead of 1 � your upside is tripled.)
Stacking has proven an extremely successful strategy in the past on Mondogoal. The best example of profiting from this tactic was when Alex Haywood or @HaystackedDFS on twitter, placed all of his eggs in one basket (a Newcastle stack in his case) and transformed a £1 entry ticket into a leg-buckling £10,000 � he is the biggest U.K daily fantasy football winner to date. Here are some possible stacks for Gameweek 20 on Mondogoal;Low Risk � Arsenal Stack vs. Newcastle (Total Expense: 35.7m) Newcastle come into this fixture, having failed to score in their last 2 Premier League matches while Arsenal dominated in a 2-nil victory over Bournemouth to bounce back from their embarrassing loss in Gameweek 18. This stack is very much on the expensive side of things, but when expected to control
the tempo of the game, as well as the possession, Arsenal's defenders will see plenty of the ball - in this case, you get what you pay for, simple as that. With Koscielny returning, either Gabriel Paulista (8.2m) or Per Mertesacker (8.7m) will line-up alongside the Frenchman. Our money's on the former, after an impressive display that saw him bank 17.1 Mondogoal points on Boxing Day; Gabriel managed to nod home from a Mesut Ozil corner in the first half and looked very dangerous from set piece situations throughout, with 3 attempts on target. Nacho Monreal (9.6m) should slot straight back into the starting XI, having been given a rest on Monday. The Spaniard, after a shaky first season, has established himself this year as the most consistent fullback in the League � which his points per game average of 7.14 highlights. The implied chance of ‘The Gunners' securing a clean sheet is 50%... you can't argue with that!
Medium Risk � Stoke Stack vs. West Brom (Total Expense: 34.7m)
Stoke City have secured a clean sheet in 42% of their 19 Premier League Matches while West Brom have scored an average of 0.95 goals per game throughout the season; which is the 3rd worst record in England's top flight. Put 2 and 2 together and it seems a full proof decision to back ‘The Potters' against their goal-shy hosts. Stoke have looked a different side this season; they are slowly reinventing their style of play to a more possession based game. West Brom, especially with their top goal-scorer Salomon Rondon suspended, will attempt to soak up the pressure. However, their visitors are very efficient � scoring 30% of their goals during the first 15 minutes of games; if they are successful in breaking the deadlock early, we can't see West Brom putting up too much of a fight. Stoke have safeguarded 8 clean sheets this season, all of which came after Gameweek 7; they have now got two feet planted on the ground and a 9th appears on the cards.
High Risk � Leicester Stack vs. Bournemouth (Total Expense: 23.7m)
Off the back of their no-score stalemate versus Manchester City, 2nd placed Leicester welcome Bournemouth to the King Power Stadium, which has become something of a fortress following their rise to the top. These two sides have shared similar experiences, having both been promoted as league winners in the past 2 years. Nevertheless, Leicester trump in the head-to-head battle and are unbeaten in the last 5 meetings (W4 D1). Bournemouth have struggled to find the net in their last 5 outings to the King Power having scored on just one occasion in their last four away matches against Leicester. The picture displayed is the trio of defenders we recommend, with Christain Fuchs (9.1m) missing out solely due to his steep price tag... come on, it's high risk for a reason!
