Team Form Focus – Gameweek 5

Team Form Focus is a new weekly article analysing the in-form teams in the league and the ones failing to deliver. The statistics are taken from the last four Gameweeks, which will go up to six Gameweeks once we’ve hit Gameweek 7. I’ll also be picking out a player who has the potential to do well for the next Gameweek or several Gameweeks. Potential clean sheets also go under examination, with two or three teams being tipped each week to shut the opposition out.

The Form Table

KEY: P = Played, GS = Goals Scored, FS = Failed to Score, GC = Goals Conceded, CS = Clean Sheet, PTS = Points.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Alexis Sanchez — Arsenal haven’t been in form at all recently, scoring 0.75 goals per game as opposed to 1.87 last season, but I’m tipping Arsenal and their star man to return to goalscoring glory over the next three games. Arsenal’s next three opponents (Stoke, Chelsea and Leicester) have conceded a total of 19 goals this season, with only Bournemouth facing teams who have shipped more over the next three games. Despite two being away games (the latter two) and a game against Chelsea – who notoriously play a defensive game against the bigger clubs – I still think Arsenal can find a few goals in those games. Alexis Sánchez has taken the most shots (20) in the Premier League, finding the target five times. He’s also close to topping the table for ‘shots inside the box,’ which is always a good indication of someone who’s likely to rediscover their form.

THE CLEAN SHEET PICKS

West Ham, Southampton and Swansea — Two obvious teams to keep clean sheets this weekend are West Ham and Swansea, who both face the worst attacking sides so far this season, with both the teams they face – Newcastle and Watford, failing to score the most and scoring the least. West Ham have managed to keep two clean sheets so far, with Swansea keeping one against Newcastle. Swansea face Watford away from home and were actually better on the road last year, keeping seven clean sheets, compared to six at home. Southampton have kept back-to-back clean sheets against Watford and Norwich and face a West Brom side that has failed to score in two matches and struggled to score more than one goal against a nine-man Stoke in Gameweek 4.