The penultimate weekend of Premier League football is on the horizon and as far as success in a mini-league goes, this is one you need to get right. Our first set of Fantasy Premier League tips for this week come in the form of five carefully researched, thought-provoking statistics that will no doubt shape your team for Gameweek 37.
CLEAN SHEETS ON THE CARDS AT STADIUM OF LIGHT
GW37 sees two of the sides deepest in the relegation quagmire, Leicester and Sunderland, facing off at the Stadium of Light. With Premier League survival at stake, chances are this one will be a cagey affair, and the stats back up that prediction too. In their previous encounters with their fellow relegation battlers, the Foxes and the Black Cats have each kept an impressive SIX clean sheets (LEI from 10 games; SUN from 11), and we're confident goals will be scarce this weekend too. What also makes for fascinating reading is the fact that in a combined SEVEN wins over teams in the bottom six (LEI with 4 wins; SUN 3) every victory has been to nil. Choose wisely from this one, and there are cheap clean sheet points to be had.
HAMMERS A SWEET PROPOSITION FOR THE TOFFEES AND LUKAKU
For two teams often not separated by too many league places, there is certainly a yawning chasm when it comes to results between West Ham and Everton, who meet this weekend in East London. The Hammers haven't managed to beat the Toffees in regulation time in SIXTEEN league and cup games, and in their last 13 Premier League games against the Merseysiders, have lost NINE and drawn four, conceding 26 goals in the process, and scoring just 13. But if history is stacked against Sam Allardyce's side, it's abundantly in Romelu Lukaku's favour — in five games against West Ham in all competitions, he's scored five times. The Belgian could be an attractive — and likely largely over-looked — pick this week.
DWIGHT GAYLE'S INCREDIBLE REDS RECORD
His title-wrecking double at the tail-end of last season is still fresh in many people's memories — not least Luis Suarez's, who was moved to bitter tears by his goals — but a deeper delve into the stats shows just how much punishment Palace's Dwight Gayle has doled out to the Liverpool defence. In just 250 minutes of football (league and cup) against Brendan Rodgers' side, Gayle has scored FOUR times (an average of 1 goal/62.5 minutes) and chipped in with a pair of assists too. Tallied up, that means Gayle has been directly involved in a Palace goal every 42 minutes against the Reds. Bet on him to be involved this weekend — especially now Liverpool's Champions League hopes are all but extinguished.
TIM KRUL HAS NEVER CONCEDED A GOAL TO ANYONE IN A QPR SHIRT
There's simply no other way to say it — in five games and seven-and-a-half hours of football against QPR sides in the Championship and the Premier League, the Dutchman has kept five clean sheets and never had to pick the ball out of his net in anger. Granted, Newcastle are still somewhat of a shambles, but so too are QPR — which makes Krul well worth your consideration as a low-cost keeper option in GW37.
GIROUD GUNNING FOR MORE GLORY AGAINST THE BLACK CATS
Arsenal might have slumped to a disappointing home defeat in GW36, but assuming he retains his starting spot, the almost indecently handsome Giroud will have happy memories to take into GW37, when the Gunners welcome to Sunderland to the Emirates. In his last two appearances against the Mackems, Giroud has scored THREE times, and chipped in with two assists to boot — for an average points haul of 11 points per game. With a point to prove after their shock loss to Swansea, don't be surprised if a Giroud-inspired Arsenal grab a big win.
