The start of the 2011 Barclay’s (mustn’t forget the sponsors) Premiership season is here. It’s the Charity Shield, Man City Vs Man United, Sunday 7th August 2011. As the teams ‘bed in’ it’s time to watch closely how they play. Will Man United play like they did last year, with an impeccable defensive record? Can Man City match Chelsea’s defensive record this season? This post digs a little deeper and give the goal betting enthusiasts some interesting information.

Joe Hart, goal keeper at Man City, is the highest scored goal keeper in the Fantasy Football team leagues for the latest premiership season. Points are awarded to goalies that keep the most clean sheets, amoungst other things. That’s not to say that they are the best but are part of the best defensive unit: that’s Mid Field, Defence and goal keeper.

Looking at performance just on the basis of clean sheets Manchester United’s number 1 David de Gea is top. 58 clean sheets in the past three seasons. That’s if Man United’s defensive performance wasn’t good enough anyway; they hold the joint best defensive record with Chelsea over the same period; 89 goals in 114 games.

Over the past three season Patrice Evra of Man United is also one of the best full backs based on Fantasy League points. Incidently Fantasy League points are made up of clean sheets, goals conceded, goals, and assists.

What has this lead us to beleive about Man City playing Manchester United in the Charity Shield?

Fantasy League points records can be helpful with football betting. It’s almost like a football rating system. No doubt there is probably a way to turn Fantasy Football points into a football betting ratings.

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Let’s have a look at a preview for the Charity Shield. Man City won’t have Tavez who was the highest ranked striker by points in the Fantasy League. Sergio Aguero, Roberto Mancini’s new striker, might not be playing, even if he is it’ll be his first game. What does all this lead us to believe? That is going to be a low goal scoring match, not counting penalties of course.

Here is the football data for the Charity Shield game.

Man Chester United goal stats

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• Man United conceded just 1 goal per game on average when they played home or away.  There is no home team advantage in this years Community Shield match.  You have two Mancunian teams playing at Wembly Stadium.
• Man City conceded less goals with an average of less than 1 goal be match, home and away.
• The majority of Man United and Man City’s games produced less than 2.5 goals when playing teams in the top four.

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These football betting stats coupled with some of the information taken form the Fantasy League stats lead us to believe that they’ll not be many goals in this game.  Under 2.5 goal bets are worth a ‘look in’.  Bear in mind that this is the first time this teams have played each other in this season.  Both managers have made changes.  Keep stakes modest!  Don’t forget to compare odds to decide if it’s worth a punt.  Some bookmakers are offering regular free bet promotions right now.  Some readers may want to consider bonus bagging tricks to make the most of free bet promotions.