This article is part of our Setting the Table series.
Looking BackI've tightened the time span for the form table, as six weeks is an awfully long time to focus on goals scored and allowed. Watford have two clean sheets in their last six league matches, both of which were wins, but they happened Dec. 12 against Sunderland and Dec. 20 against Liverpool (those were actually preceded by another clean sheet, a 2-0 win over Norwich). However, it felt unfair to emphasize that Watford had two winning shutouts in their last six matches when they have allowed eight goals in their last four. So, the goal differential form table will now only go four games back, while also showing how many clean sheets, and winning clean sheets, they have (thank you to @WorldCupDanB for the suggestion on Twitter).
There were a number of surprising results in Week 21, including Sunderland's 4-2 win at Swansea, which included a hat trick from Jermain Defoe (!) and Newcastle's 3-3 draw with Manchester United. On the flip side, Everton, Tottenham, Manchester City and Leicester combined for one goal, which of course came from centerback Robert Huth.
Here is the updated goal differential form table:
| Rank | Club | Next Opp | Goal Diff. | Scored | Allowed | Clean Sheets (Wins) | Week 21 | Week 20 | Week 19 | Week 18 |
| 1 | West Ham | at Newcastle | +5 | 8 | 3 | 1 (1) | 1-3 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
| 2 | Stoke | v. Arsenal | +4 | 10 | 6 | 1 (1) | 3-1 | 2-1 | 3-4 | 2-0 |
| 3 | Southampton | v. West Brom | +4 | 7 | 3 | 2 (2) | 2-0 | 1-0 | 2-1 | 4-0 |
| 4 | Man City | v. Crystal Palace | +4 | 6 | 2 | 2 (0) | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 4-1 |
| 5 | Chelsea | v. Everton | +3 | 7 | 4 | 2 (1) | 2-2 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| 6 | Tottenham | v. Sunderland | +3 | 6 | 3 | 0 (0) | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 3-0 |
| 7 | West Brom | at Southampton | +1 | 5 | 4 | 1 (1) | 2-2 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| 8 | Sunderland | at Tottenham | - | 8 | 8 | 0 (0) | 2-4 | 3-1 | 0-1 | 4-1 |
| 9 | Liverpool | v. Man Utd | - | 5 | 5 | 2 (2) | 3-3 | 2-0 | 0-1 | 1-0 |
| 10 | Everton | at Chelsea | - | 5 | 5 | 2 (1) | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 0-1 |
| 11 | Leicester | at Aston Villa | - | 1 | 1 | 3 (1) | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| 12 | Arsenal | at Stoke | -1 | 6 | 7 | 2 (2) | 3-3 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 0-4 |
| 13 | Man Utd | at Liverpool | -1 | 5 | 6 | 1 (0) | 3-3 | 2-1 | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| 14 | Norwich | at Bournemouth | -2 | 4 | 6 | 2 (2) | 3-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| 15 | Swansea | v. Watford | -2 | 4 | 6 | 2 (1) | 2-4 | 2-1 | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| 16 | Newcastle | v. West Ham | -3 | 3 | 6 | 0 (0) | 3-3 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | v. Leicester | -3 | 3 | 6 | 1 (1) | 1-0 | 3-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| 18 | Watford | at Swansea | -4 | 4 | 8 | 0 (0) | 2-0 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2-2 |
| 19 | Bournemouth | v. Norwich | -4 | 1 | 5 | 2 (0) | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| 20 | Crystal Palace | at Man City | -4 | 0 | 4 | 2 (0) | 1-0 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Looking Ahead
There are a number of heavy favorites (via Paddy Power) in Gameweek 22 that are ripe for fantasy exploitation.
| Home (win odds) | (draw odds) | Away (win odds) |
| Tottenham (1/3) | 4/1 | Sunderland (9/1) |
| Man City (2/5) | 7/2 | Crystal Palace (8/1) |
| Southampton (4/6) | 11/4 | West Brom (9/2) |
| Chelsea (8/11) | 11/4 | Everton (4/1) |
| Bournemouth (17/20) | 5/2 | Norwich (7/2) |
| Liverpool (7/5) | 21/10 | Man United (11/5) |
| Newcastle (8/5) | 21/10 | West Ham (19/10) |
| Aston Villa (12/5) | 23/10 | Leicester (6/5) |
| Stoke (10/3) | 12/5 | Arsenal (10/11) |
Spurs at home against Sunderland is a no brainer, and while the Black Cats have scored an impressive seven goals in their last two matches, their play hasn't impressed the bookmakers much, as Spurs also have the best odds to post a shutout:
| Club | Clean Sheet Odds | Club | Clean Sheet Odds |
| Tottenham | 5/6 | Newcastle | 11/5 |
| Southampton | Even | West Ham | 12/5 |
| Man City | 11/10 | Man United | 5/2 |
| Bournemouth | 7/5 | Aston Villa | 11/4 |
| Arsenal | 7/5 | Norwich | 10/3 |
| Chelsea | 6/4 | Stoke | 10/3 |
| Swansea | 13/8 | West Brom | 7/2 |
| Leicester | 17/10 | Everton | 9/2 |
| Liverpool | 7/4 | Crystal Palace | 15/2 |
| Watford | 21/10 | Sunderland | 8/1 |
I'm a bit surprised that Leicester's clean sheet odds are so low given that they've allowed just one goal in their last four games and just shut out Spurs, who scored six goals in their previous three matches, at White Hart Lane on Wednesday. Matched up against an Aston Villa side that has scored three goals in their last four, I'm curious as to who they think will pose a problem to the league's best defense over that span.
The last table is sorted by the games with best odds to score over 2.5 goals, which should give us the most fantasy points:
| Game | Over 2.5 Goals |
| Man City v. Crystal Palace | 4/7 |
| Tottenham v. Sunderland | 8/13 |
| Chelsea v. Everton | 8/11 |
| Bournemouth v. Norwich | Even |
| Newcastle v. West Ham | Even |
| Stoke v. Arsenal | Even |
| Aston Villa v. Leicester | 11/10 |
| Liverpool v. Man Utd | 11/10 |
| Southampton v. West Brom | 6/5 |
| Swansea v. Watford | 5/4 |
Crystal Palace have failed to score in their last four matches but are in the game with the best odds for more than 2.5 goals. Clearly this is a heavy play on Manchester City, who are looking to bounce back from their scoreless draw with Everton on Wednesday. With all of their attacking players fit, it appears the bookmakers are expecting the Citizens to run rampant at the Etihad.
The Tottenham-Sunderland match is also expected to have goals, and with Spurs having the best clean sheet odds, it appears much is expected from their attackers after being shut out by Leicester this week.
This piece is a work in progress, so if there is anything you'd like to see included, please leave a comment below.
