FPL
A Goalless Draw That Still Paid Three Defenders Nine Points
13 September 2026
Nil-nil, and three different defenders still hauled nine points apiece. Isak blanked, and honestly, we'll stay quiet about that one — the chances were there, they just didn't fall. This is the game that proves a boring scoreline can still print returns if you own the right names. In this guide: two keepers, one budget hero at the back, and whether either defence is worth trusting again.
- Alisson: 9 points. Leno: 9 points. Two clean sheets, six combined saves, four combined bonus.
- Jacquet: 9 points, the pick of either back line at £5.0m. Value.
- Liverpool created four big chances and missed every single one of them.
- Isak's 5.65 expected points produced two actual points. Stayed silent, but the underlying numbers didn't move.
- Next: Liverpool travel to Bournemouth, Fulham host Sunderland. Check the numbers before starting either defence blind.
A goalless draw with plenty for the defenders
Four big chances for Liverpool, one for Fulham, and neither side broke through. The only card of the day summed up how little happened: Tete booked in the 81st. Both goalkeepers earned their clean sheets the hard way, Alisson and Leno each making three saves and banking two bonus apiece.
Jacquet's nine points, a clean sheet plus three bonus, was the standout individual return of a quiet afternoon. At £5.0m, that's a name worth having on the radar the moment Liverpool's fixtures soften up.
Liverpool's starting XI: expected points v actual points
| Player | xPts | Points | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.Becker | 4.05 | 9 | +5 |
| Jacquet | 3.80 | 9 | +5.2 |
| Virgil | 4.43 | 8 | +3.6 |
| Araujo | 2.08 | 6 | +3.9 |
| Wirtz | 4.37 | 3 | -1.4 |
| Szoboszlai, top three expected points pick | 4.75 | 3 | -1.7 |
| Barcola | 0.55 | 3 | +2.5 |
| Gakpo, top three expected points pick | 4.57 | 1 | -3.6 |
| Munoz | 3.83 | 1 | -2.8 |
| Mac Allister | 3.33 | 1 | -2.3 |
| Isak, top three expected points pick | 5.65 | 2 | -3.6 |
Top three xPts picks, including ties. xPts = expected points; +/- = actual minus expected. Green: 1.5+ above. Red: 1.5+ below. Otherwise neutral.
Fulham's starting XI: expected points v actual points
| Player | xPts | Points | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leno | 2.56 | 9 | +6.4 |
| Affengruber | 0 | 8 | +8 |
| Robinson | 2.27 | 6 | +3.7 |
| Bassey | 2.07 | 6 | +3.9 |
| Castagne | 2.27 | 6 | +3.7 |
| Charles | 1.74 | 5 | +3.3 |
| King, top three expected points pick | 3.74 | 3 | -0.7 |
| Iwobi, top three expected points pick | 3.16 | 3 | -0.2 |
| Bobb | 3.05 | 3 | 0 |
| Berge | 2.55 | 3 | +0.5 |
| Gonzalo, top three expected points pick | 4.06 | 2 | -2.1 |
Top three xPts picks, including ties. xPts = expected points; +/- = actual minus expected. Green: 1.5+ above. Red: 1.5+ below. Otherwise neutral.
Fulham's entire back four returned at least six points without conceding, Affengruber's eight arriving from a zero expected-points baseline. Budget defenders shutting out a top-six side is exactly the kind of week that earns a spot on your watchlist, provided the fixtures stay kind.
Liverpool created four big chances. They missed all of them
Four big chances missed is a rare number for a side this high up the table. Liverpool did enough in the final third to win two or three games like this. On the day it bought them nothing, which is a reason to expect a correction, not a reason to worry about the underlying pattern.
Isak's finishing let him down, not his positioning
A 5.65-expected-point forward returning two points is a finishing story, not a chance-creation one. Isak still got into the positions and the shot volume the model expects from him; none of it beat Leno on the day. Nothing to see here for his owners — no panic off one blank against a well-organised away side.
Bournemouth and Sunderland: the GW5 direction for both defences
| Player | Price | Expected points | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil | £6.5m | 3.70 | Bournemouth (A) |
| A.Becker | £5.5m | 3.48 | Bournemouth (A) |
| Jacquet | £5.0m | 3.17 | Bournemouth (A) |
| Leno | £4.5m | 3.05 | Man Utd (H) |
Liverpool's defensive projections dip a touch for Bournemouth away, who just put 20 shots in against Brentford — check team news before assuming an automatic third straight clean sheet for Jacquet. Fulham's defence gets a home date with Sunderland, a side that barely threatened at Arsenal, which backs another start for Leno and the back four.
