Gameweek 24 Rankings

This could be a big week for our fantasy teams as the double gameweeks start rolling in, new arrivals start playing and the teams start to sort out who are contenders and pretenders. Plenty of owners will be looking to play their wildcards this week so I thought I should get the weekly rankings up as soon as possible which along with the aforementioned double gameweek analysis, should give everyone plenty of food for thought before they plan their final assault on the league table. Along with the standard weekly rankings, I have included the rankings for the next 6 weeks and the remainder of the season.

Clean Sheet Rankings (GW24)
(clean sheets kept and opponents' failed to score in parenthesis)

1. Man United (6 - 3) and (3 - 0)
2. Arsenal (3 - 5)
3. Fulham (4 - 3) and (3 - 1)
4. Everton (3 - 6)
5. Blackburn (4 - 5)
6. Blackpool (0 - 4) and (0 - 3)
7. Liverpool (2 - 1) and (4 - 4) 
8. Wigan (3 - 2) and (2 - 5) 
9. Aston Villa (4 - 3) and (0 - 3)
10. Wolves (2 - 4)
11. Man City (4 - 3)
12. Bolton (2 - 5)
13. Chelsea (2 - 2)
14. Newcastle (3 - 2)
15. Stoke (2 - 2)
16. Sunderland (4 - 0)
17. West Ham (0 - 2)
18. West Brom (0 -2)
19. Tottenham (0 - 2)
20. Birmingham (2 - 0) 

Clean Sheet Rankings (Next 6 GWs)
On a predicted goals per game basis, value of double gameweeks excluded

1. Chelsea
2. Man City
3. Arsenal
4. Man Utd
5. Fulham
6. Stoke
7. Bolton
8. Sunderland
9. Blackpool
10. Everton
11. Blackburn
12. Newcastle
13. Liverpool
14. Tottenham
15. Wigan
16. Birmingham
17. West Brom
18. West Ham
19. Wolves
20. Aston Villa

Clean Sheet Rankings (remainder of season)
On a predicted goals per game basis, value of double gameweeks excluded

1. Chelsea
2. Man City
3. Arsenal
4. Man Utd
5. Sunderland
6. Fulham
7. Stoke
8. Everton
9. Tottenham
10. Birmingham
11. Bolton
12. Blackburn
13. Liverpool
14. Newcastle
15. Wigan
16. Blackpool
17. Wolves
18. West Brom
19. West Ham
20. Aston Villa

Attacking Rankings (GW24)
(opposition clean sheets at home/away in parenthesis)

1. Man Utd (2) and (0)
   
2. Wigan (3) and (0)
3. Blackburn (0)
4. Arsenal (3)
5. Liverpool (2) and (3)
6. Man City (4)
7. Blackpool (4) and (3) 
8. Everton (0)
9. Aston Villa (4) and (2)
10. Tottenham (3)
11. Newcastle (0)
12. Fulham (2) and (4)
13. Sunderland (0)
14. Stoke (4)
15. Wolves (2)
16. Chelsea (2)
17. West Ham (3)
18. West Brom (4)
19. Bolton (2)
20. Birmingham (6)

Attacking Rankings (Next 6 GWs)
On a predicted goals per game basis, value of double gameweeks excluded

1. Man Utd
2. Arsenal
3. Chelsea
4. Blackpool
5. Bolton
6. Newcastle
7. Blackburn
8. Man City
9. Wolves
10. Stoke
11. Everton
12. Fulham
13. Liverpool
14. Tottenham
15. West Brom
16. West Ham
17. Aston Villa
18. Sunderland
19. Birmingham
20. Wigan

Attacking Rankings (remainder of season)
On a predicted goals per game basis, value of double gameweeks excluded

1. Arsenal
2. Man Utd
3. Chelsea
4. Newcastle
5. Blackpool
6. Bolton
7. Man City
8. Blackburn
9. Tottenham
10. Stoke
11. West Brom
12. Aston Villa
13. Everton
14. Wolves
15. Sunderland
16. Liverpool
17. Fulham
18. West Ham
19. Birmingham
20. Wigan

Captain Stats (GW24)
With Man Utd on a double gameweek I am going to assume the vast majority of managers are going to go with one of their players this week as captain. I will however mention a couple of other players who look well placed to have big weeks too.

It really is a toss up between Berbatov and Nani this week as both are significantly better at home (Berbatov 10.00 PPG / Nani 8.89) than away (Berbatov 3.5 PPG / Nani 4.88) but on average will contribute similar points over the two games. Both face some rotation risk given the short duration in which the two games happen and the looming prospect of the Champions League on the horizon. However, with Park still busy in Qatar and Giggs having played the last two games, Nani looks the less likely to be rested than Berbatov who faces competition from Hernandez and so might just edge this one out as the safer pick. It's strange to think of Rooney as a differentiator but with just a 12% holding he is exactly that. With two goals on the season though I think that number is still too high and while he is prone to break out of his slump at any time, it's way too risky to captain him unless you are in desperate need to make up some points on your opponents and it's make or break time.

If you're interested in United's defense as a double gameweek captain then I think Ferdinand is the best option though Vidic and Evra are good plays of course if you already hold them. I had planned to bring in Rafael who would have been outstanding value but his suspension (which now could be extended to cover both games) puts an end to that talk. If a new right back emerges as odds on favourite to start both games, he will then become excellent value.

Tevez has been outstanding away from home all year (7.78 PPG) and has 2 double digit GWs in the last 5. He's also done well against mid level opposition (6.50 PPG) and looked close to unstoppable last week. Van der Vaart has also been excellent away from home (7.29 PPG) and against mid level teams (8.63 PPG). The game at Newcastle has the potential to be an open high scoring game which could suit Van der Vaart's game. Finally, Fabregas has the best fixture for the week as he welcomes Wigan to the Emirates, but while Fabregas has been good since his return, he has added just 7 points in the last two games which makes you nervous about handing him the armband just yet.

Of the other DGW teams, many might be tempted to roll the dice with Torres but like Rooney above, he has not shown enough for me to put that much faith in him. Fulham's defense is my second favourite after United but that trip to Anfield is tricky and so you're really judging them on the one game at home to Stoke. Not the worst option but some way off United's level.

Suspensions

• Emile Heskey
• Marouane Fellaini
• Steve Gerrard
• Rafael
• Cheik Tiote
• Victor Obinna
• George Elokobi