FPL Matrix

The lack of clean sheet this season is concerning, especially in GW4, with only 2 teams keeping clean sheets, leaving #FPL managers wondering how much should we invest on defenders and goalkeepers, or is it even worth trying to start more than 3 defenders. We extracted data from past seasons, converting them into % of clean sheets kept by teams in first 4 gameweeks (used % instead of amount, as each season we have different amount of games played in first 4 gameweeks). Unsurprisingly, this season recorded by far the lowest % of clean sheets. In fact, this is the first time we recorded lower than 20% (just 17.95%). From the graph we can also observe a trend. Since 17/18 season, when teams started defensively strong (40.79%), clean sheets has been rare. We have a minor renaissance in 21/22 season, when big at the back is a thing, but since then, it has been downward motion again. So many factors might contribute to that, teams adopted more attacking and high-pressing styles of play, better quality of attackers, lower ranked teams parked the bus less often, injuries to key defenders, VAR leading to more penalties etc. We are not sure if the trend will continue throughout the season, but for now, going cheap on goalkeepers (banking on save points), going cheap on defenders (invest more on attack), starting 3 at the back or buying defenders with attacking potentials is the way to go. #FPL #FPLCommunity