Anyone who benched hauls from Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) in the last few Gameweeks will have been cursing the fixture ticker.

Matches against Brighton and Hove Albion, Arsenal and, to a much lesser extent, Manchester United were meant to be tricky from a defensive perspective. Areola ended up keeping clean sheets in all of them.

With shut-outs falling in number this season, we thought we’d take a quick look at where the goalkeeper points are coming from in 2023/24.

CLEAN SHEETS: SEASON BY SEASON

As many of you will be aware, clean sheets have significantly lowered in number compared to past campaigns.

The average number per Gameweek in the preceding nine seasons was somewhere between 5.45 and 5.95, never once straying beyond these parameters.

Thus far in 2023/24, we’re seeing just 4.25 shut-outs per Gameweek.

How much the extra added time is a factor is something we’ll be following up on in the lull between Gameweeks 21 and 22.

So, who is still allowing the opposition to keep the odd clean sheet?

CLEAN SHEETS AGAINST

The image above shows how many clean sheets have been registered against each Premier League team.

No surprise to see the xG-phobic Burnley and Sheffield United at the wrong end of the table but Fulham have been keeping pace. The Cottagers have been a curious case: 16 of their 28 goals were scored in a madcap period in Gameweeks 13-16.

Manchester United have been generous benefactors, too. Six of the seven clean sheets recorded against them were by teams positioned 12th or higher.

You don’t really want your goalkeeper facing Tottenham Hotspur: they’ve scored in every single league game under Ange Postecoglou in 2023/24.

They’re the only club able to boast of that feat but Liverpool have drawn a blank in just one fixture – and even then, they had 34 shots in the goalless draw with Manchester United.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are impressively consistent, scoring in 18 of their 20 Premier League matches. This is despite Gary O’Neil’s side ranking a lowly 14th for expected goals (xG).

There’s a similar story with Luton Town, who have found the net in 10 of their last 11 top-flight matches. Again, they’re residing in 18th place for xG, so are overachieving considerably in front of goal.

GOALKEEPER POINTS SCORED AGAINST EACH CLUB

On a similar theme, the above table shows how many points goalkeepers are averaging per game against each team.

Everton and Manchester United lead the way, two of the most profligate sides in the division:

Above: The five worst teams for expected goal (xG) underachievement in 2023/24

In a nutshell: if your opposition striker is more Ricky van Wolfswinkel than Robin van Persie, there are likely more saves for the opposition goalkeeper to accumulate and more chances of a clean sheet.

Everton have improved in front of goal, however, scoring in nine of their last 11 fixtures.

The average goalkeeper score against Liverpool is inflated by two penalty misses, just for context.

West Ham United, Chelsea and Man Utd are the only other clubs to have had spot-kicks saved this season.

GOALKEEPER BY GOALKEEPER: POINTS BREAKDOWN

The above image (click to expand) gives a breakdown of every playing Premier League goalkeeper’s points in 2023/24.

There are the usual recurring themes.

The top goalkeepers have hit double figures for both clean sheet points and save points.

Alisson (£5.7m) once again sets himself apart from the other premium picks by accumulating save and bonus points.

Bernd Leno (£4.8m), as he was in 2022/23, is the poster boy for sporadic hauls: just over 60% of his points have come in the five matches in which Fulham have kept a clean sheet. When the Cottagers do find a way to avoid a tonking, Leno is going to score big due to his busyness between the posts.

Murara Neto (£4.6m) similarly has delivered 62% of his points in the five games in which he has shut out the opposition, producing save and bonus points in all of them.

Contrast that with Ederson (£5.5m), who doesn’t have a single bonus point to his name this campaign. With clean sheets down across the board, he’s struggling even more for FPL relevance.

THE EVER-GROWING IMPORTANCE OF SAVES

In more unsurprising findings, considering the new rules on added time implemented at the start of 2023/24, saves have shot up this year.

We have four years’ worth of save point data in our Premium Members Area. There has been a real narrowing of the gap this term when looking at the save points/clean sheet points ratio:

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, then, clean sheet potential shouldn’t be overlooked: look at poor Wes Foderingham (£4.5m), FPL’s leading save-maker but with only one shut-out to his name, who lies outside the 20 goalkeepers for points per match.

But saves are seemingly increasingly crucial to supplement the less-regular clean sheets.

Similarly, opposition difficulty has still mattered – but slightly less so, with there being not as much of a disparity between returns against the whipping boys (thanks to fewer clean sheets) versus the big guns (more save points):

This is all based on what we have seen in the first half of 2023/24, it should be stressed.

Defences could tighten up in the second half of the campaign and make a mockery of the assumption that much of this is down to games lasting 100+ minutes rather than 95-96.

Should the trend continue, however, then the Netos, Lenos and Areolas of the Fantasy world – busy goalkeepers from semi-competent sides – will become even more appealing.