Over/Under Odds on David de Gea Clean Sheets & Total Penalties Converted in 2019-20 EPL Season

• David de Gea offered new United contract
• Only seven clean sheets last season for United
• Odds on number of pens scored in 2019/20 EPL season

After a succession of summers where Manchester United keeper David de Gea’s future looked uncertain, the 28-year-old is understood to be on the verge of signing an improved contract that will keep him at the club until 2025.

Rumors are also circulating that Ole Gunnar Solskjær is considering giving him the club captaincy, after the summer departure of Antonio Valencia.

So, with his future at United looking secure, Oddsmakers have released a number of props, including how many clean sheets de Gea will keep, and also around the number of penalties that will be scored in this season’s EPL.

David de Gea Clean Sheet Odds 2019-20 EPL Season

*All odds taken 07/23/19

Last season, in what was a very up-and-down season for United, they kept just seven, which compared to most of their rivals was very poor indeed.

Ole’s Clean Sheet Conundrum

Liverpool kept the most with 21 and were closely followed by Man City on 20 but, tellingly, no fewer than 11 other teams kept more clean sheets than de Gea and Manchester Utd – including Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Burnley and relegated Cardiff City.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Admits Jesse Lingard's Last Season Was 'Not Up to Standard' pic.twitter.com/YrQZR6Gwdo

— SAMCRO (@CaptBlueballs) July 21, 2019

It’s a worrying stat for Solskjaer and one that simply has to be improved upon if United are to improve on last season’s sixth place and get into the top four (and the UEFA Champions League), and given that the aforementioned Palace managed 12 last season, we consider it reasonable to assume de Gea, if he stays fit, will get at least 13 this season.

Our pick: David de Gea to keep over 12.5 clean sheets 

Odds on Penalties Converted in 2019/20 EPL Season

This is an interesting one, particularly with VAR taking its place in the EPL for the first time. Last season there were 103 penalty kicks awarded with 84 of them scored – at a conversion rate of 81.6 percent – but with VAR it’s conceivable that more will be awarded.

VAR Nightmare

Much depends on how VAR is utlized and most hope it will be applied with more common sense that it was at the recent Women’s World Cup where it appeared to be used to make decisions rather than as an aide to the referee. The general consensus is that it will lead to more penalties, making the ’98 or more’ bet look at least feasible.

And here we go! First Womens’s World Cup game, Spain vs South Africa! 25 cameras, loads of feeds, VAR, international crew team… this is massive! Let’s have a great game! #FWWC2019 #broadcasting pic.twitter.com/S6BE0wJ6KE

— Jordi Alfaro (@JordiAlfaro) June 8, 2019

Handball Changes to Produce More Pens?

Changes to the handball rule will also likely have an impact on the number of penalties awarded and scored. The new rule, as agreed by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), states that deliberate handball remains an offence but that certain scenarios will result in a free-kick even if it’s accidental.

These scenarios include where a player gains control/possession of the ball after it has touched their hand/arm and where the ball touches a player’s hand/arm when it is above their shoulder (unless the player has deliberately played the ball which then touches their hand/arm).

Keepers picking up backpasses (sort of) & refs getting in the way – football's new laws #epl: Goalkeepers picking up backpasses (sort of), uncontested drop balls and more handball decisions, football's laws are changing aga… https://t.co/ZPxyPraql1 pic.twitter.com/0RihosSzQX

— EPL Feeds (@eplfeeds) June 1, 2019

All of which could lead to more penalties being awarded, depending on how the EPL referees implement the updated laws, and so with 98 scored penalties as their tipping point, sportsbooks have pitched this one just about right. However, we can see the total being slightly less.

Our pick: Under 97.5 penalties converted