Setting the Table: Gameweek 28 Cheat Sheet

Setting the Table: Gameweek 28 Cheat Sheet

This article is part of our Setting the Table series.

Looking Back

Leicester City maintained their two-point lead on Spurs, but the gap widened to five points over Arsenal, who lost 3-2 to Manchester United, and nine over Manchester City, whose Premier League match against Newcastle was postponed because of their participation in Sunday's Capital One Cup final against Liverpool, which they won in penalties. Liverpool's participation meant the Merseyside derby was also rescheduled.

There weren't many dominant performances in Gameweek 27, but the most surprising came from Marcus Rashford, an 18-year-old striker who made his Premier League debut Sunday against Arsenal and scored two goals and assisted on another. That came on the heels of his two-goal performance Thursday against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League, a match he wasn't even expected to play in until Anthony Martial felt tightness in his hamstring in the warmup. Rashford is now the youngest player to ever score for Manchester United in a Premier League match, and he looks poised to start again Wednesday against Watford.

RankClubScoredAllowedGoal
Diff
Clean
Sheets
Week 27Week 26Week 25Week 24Week 23Week 22
1 Tottenham 15 4 +11 2 2-1
v. SWA
1-2
at MCY
1-0
v. WAT
0-3
at NOR
1-3
at CRP
4-1
v. SUN
2 Leicester 11 4 +7 3 1-0
v. NOR
2-1
at ARS
1-3
at MCY
2-0
v. LIV
3-0
v. STK
1-1
at AVL
3 Chelsea 12 6 +6 2 1-2
at SOT
5-1
v. NEW
1-1
v. MUN
0-0
at WAT
0-1
at ARS
3-3
v. EVE
4 Southampton 7 2 +5 5 1-2
v. CHE
0-1
at SWA
1-0
v. WHU
0-0
at ARS
0-1
at MUN
3-0
v. WBA
5 Liverpool 16 12 +4 1 OFF 0-6
at AVL
2-2
v. SUN
2-0
at LEI
4-5
at NOR
0-1
v. MUN
6 Everton 11 7 +4 2 OFF 2-1
at SUN
0-3
at STK
3-0
v. NEW
1-2
v. SWA
3-3
at CHE
7 Man Utd 9 6 +3 2 3-2
v. ARS
2-1
at SUN
1-1
at CHE
3-0
v. STK
0-1
v. SOT
0-1
at LIV
8 Man City 9 7 +2 2 OFF 1-2
v. TOT
1-3
v. LEI
0-1
at SUN
2-2
at WHU
4-0
v. CRP
9 West Ham 8 7 +1 2 1-0
v. SUN
2-2
at NOR
1-0
at SOT
2-0
v. AVL
2-2
v. MCY
2-1
at NEW
10 Arsenal 6 5 +1 3 3-2
at MUN
2-1
v. LEI
0-2
at BOU
0-0
v. SOT
0-1
v. CHE
0-0
at STK
11 Bournemouth 7 7 - 2 0-0
v. WAT
1-3
v. STK
0-2
v. ARS
1-2
at CRP
1-1
at SUN
3-0
v. NOR
12 Swansea 6 6 - 1 2-1
at TOT
0-1
v. SOT
1-1
v. CRP
1-1
at WBA
1-2
at EVE
1-0
v. WAT
13 Watford 4 4 - 2 0-0
at BOU
1-2
at CRP
1-0
at TOT
0-0
v. CHE
2-1
v. NEW
1-0
at SWA
14 West Brom 5 7 -2 2 3-2
at CRP
0-1
at EVE
1-0
at NEW
1-1
v. SWA
0-0
v. AVL
3-0
at SOT
15 Sunderland 6 10 -4 0 1-0
at WHU
2-1
v. MUN
2-2
at LIV
0-1
v. MCY
1-1
v. BOU
4-1
at TOT
16 Newcastle 8 14 -6 1 OFF 5-1
at CHE
1-0
v. WBA
3-0
at EVE
2-1
at WAT
2-1
v. WHU
17 Stoke 5 11 -6 1 2-1
v. AVL
1-3
at BOU
0-3
v. EVE
3-0
at MUN
3-0
at LEI
0-0
v. ARS
18 Aston Villa 4 11 -7 2 2-1
at STK
0-6
v. LIV
2-0
v. NOR
2-0
at WHU
0-0
at WBA
1-1
v. LEI
19 Crystal Palace 6 15 -9 0 3-2
at WBA
1-2
v. WAT
1-1
at SWA
1-2
v. BOU
1-3
v. TOT
4-0
at MCY
20 Norwich 6 16 -10 0 1-0
at LEI
2-2
v. WHU
2-0
at AVL
0-3
v. TOT
4-5
v. LIV
3-0
at BOU

Note: the goal information shown above for Manchester City, Newcastle, Liverpool and Everton is for their last six league matches.

Other Notable Performances

Xherdan Shaqiri had 20 crosses, one assist, one shot, two fouls draws and one tackle against Aston Villa on Saturday, giving him 30 fantasy points on DraftKings. He now has 63 in his last three games without scoring a goal.

Marc Albrighton has taken over most of the free-kick duties from Riyad Mahrez, and he has opened the crossing up again, sending in 14 on Saturday against Norwich.

Craig Gardner had one goal, one assist, six shots (one on goal), seven crosses, five tackles won and two fouls drawn against Crystal Palace for 37 fantasy points on DraftKings, a unexpectedsurprising shocking result after having 10 in his last three matches combined.

Marko Arnautovic bagged a brace on four shots while adding five crosses, one foul drawn and three interceptions for 32.5 fantasy points. He has fantastic upside but also a very low floor.

Christian Eriksen scored 22 DraftKings points without a goal or an assist thanks to his six shots (four on goal), nine crosses, one foul drawn and five interceptions. He's averaging 27.0 fantasy points per game over his last six.

Odion Ighalo has gone four straight games without a goal, and he has just one in his last eight. The other problem is that he doesn't contribute in many other categories (other than shots), which means if he's not scoring goals, he's not scoring many fantasy points.

Eden Hazard matched his highest fantasy-point total on DraftKings in his last 10 games. The problem: he scored eight.

Looking Ahead

The quick turnaround doesn't do anyone any favors, as not only will all 20 clubs play Tuesday or Wednesday, but there's another full slate at the weekend. Players batting injuries are unlikely to be risked, so we could see significant squad rotation to ensure players maintain their fitness levels.

Arsenal, despite losing 3-2 on Sunday at Manchester United, are the heaviest favorites this week at home against Swansea, who are winless in their last four. Manchester United and Leicester City are the next highest, while those three teams also have the best clean sheet chances.

HomeWin
Chances
Clean Sheet
Chances
AwayWin
Chances
Clean Sheet
Chances
Draw
Chances
Aston Villa 0.18 0.20 Everton 0.56 0.41 0.26
Bournemouth 0.34 0.28 Southampton 0.38 0.32 0.29
Leicester City 0.58 0.45 West Brom 0.17 0.18 0.25
Norwich City 0.16 0.15 Chelsea 0.59 0.42 0.25
Sunderland 0.38 0.32 Crystal Palace 0.33 0.30 0.29
Arsenal 0.69 0.50 Swansea City 0.11 0.13 0.20
Stoke City 0.49 0.38 Newcastle 0.23 0.22 0.28
West Ham 0.25 0.21 Tottenham 0.48 0.35 0.27
Liverpool 0.38 0.27 Manchester City 0.35 0.25 0.28
Manchester United 0.58 0.45 Watford 0.17 0.20 0.25

The bookmakers also expect goals from the Gunners, as they have the best chances to score multiple times. Danny Welbeck scored against his old club Sunday and certainly played well enough to maintain his spot in the starting lineup, with Theo Walcott potentially sitting to allow Olivier Giroud back in.

Pedro is likely to miss out with a hamstring injury suffered seven minutes into Saturday's match against Southampton, which will allow manager Guus Hiddink to use a midfield of Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard behind Diego Costa.

HomeOver 1.5 GoalsUnder 1.5 GoalsAwayOver 1.5 GoalsUnder 1.5 Goals
Aston Villa 0.23 0.77 Everton 0.50 0.50
Bournemouth 0.34 0.66 Southampton 0.35 0.65
Leicester City 0.50 0.50 West Brom 0.19 0.81
Norwich City 0.25 0.75 Chelsea 0.56 0.44
Sunderland 0.38 0.63 Crystal Palace 0.34 0.66
Arsenal 0.63 0.38 Swansea City 0.16 0.84
Stoke City 0.46 0.54 Newcastle 0.27 0.73
West Ham 0.28 0.72 Tottenham 0.46 0.54
Liverpool 0.41 0.59 Manchester City 0.35 0.65
Manchester United 0.50 0.50 Watford 0.19 0.81
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew M. Laird
Andrew is a former RotoWire contributor. He was the 2017 and 2018 FSWA Soccer Writer of the Year. He is a nine-time FSWA award finalist, including twice for Football Writer of the Year.
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