After giving you a heads up on the launch of the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game earlier this week, we now turn our attentions to the player list. Starting at the back, we begin our series of articles by looking at the goalkeepers and analyse the candidates across the price brackets.
When assessing our stopper options, it’s important to keep bonus points in mind. Considering that an extra two points are awarded for making five or more saves in any given match, selecting a keeper who is likely to be kept busy is an obvious tactic. The Members player stats section is your friend here. This has a Sky tab which highlights those keepers who benefited last time out and also allows you to monitor their performances during the course of the upcoming campaign.
Goals conceded go a long way to balancing the benefit of saves however: your man between the sticks will be subject to minus one point every time his opponents find the net. This is where some cut-price keepers fall down, serving as a reminder that clean sheets are still the chief source of returns here, with five points gained for each shut-out.
THE BUDGET BRACKET
As you’d expect, the main men from the three promoted clubs are favourably priced. Watford’s Heurelho Gomes is expected to get the nod and comes in at just 4.3, though Giedrius Arlauskis (3.5) would be kinder on the budget if he can oust the former Spurs stopper. It’s a similar situation at Bournemouth – Artur Boruc costs 4.3, with Adam Federici (4.1) likely to be back-up for the Cherries.
Norwich stopper John Ruddy is a sure-fire starter by comparison and comes in slightly pricier at 4.5. All the promoted keepers offer cheap routes into their respective defences and should benefit from the save points rule: certainly, they can expect to be kept busy. Ruddy, in particular, looks a good shout after earning quite a few man of the match (MoTM) awards during his previous time in the top-flight. The MoTM award is worth an additional five points and is judged by the Sky Sports journalist covering the matches – although in general they’re rarely dished out to keepers.
Looking at last season’s records, Bournemouth were slightly more resilient of the three new boys, with 19 clean sheets and 45 goals against. Watford managed 15 and 50 respectively, whilst Norwich registered 14 and 48.
Tottenham’s Michel Vorm (4.3) would certainly benefit from any possible move away for Hugo Lloris. The Frenchman is currently a doubt for the season opener due to a wrist injury but if his mooted move to United come to fruition, the Dutchman would be in pole position for the north London outfit.
Similarly, Jakob Haugaard (3.5) or Shay Given (4.2) offer options in the budget bracket should Mark Hughes choose to overlook Jack Butland as Stoke’s new number one in light of Asmir Begovic’s departure.
Further up the price list, Kasper Schmeichel (4.6) is cheaper than any first choice defensive team-mate and could be a steal if Leicester can replicate the resilience that saw them rack up five clean sheets in the final seven matches of 2014/15. In addition, Schmeichel also made a save on average every 27.1 minutes, which was the fourth best rate amongst first choice keepers.
Palace’s Julian Speroni and Newcastle stopper Tim Krul will set you back 4.7 but mustered just 76 and 61 points last time out. With the Eagles managing only two clean sheets in 18 under Alan Pardew and Newcastle producing just eight shut-outs in 2014/15, neither currently offer decent value for money.
West Ham’s Adrian and Sunderland number one Costel Pantilimon both come in at just 4.8 apiece. The former registered just nine clean sheets last season, though still managed to earn 16 bonus points and save three penalties to contribute towards a respectable 93 points, putting him in the top ten keepers. Factor in the new defensive signings and the change of manager and we could perhaps see that tally bettered this time out. Pantilimon has the potential to be the best keeper option in the game, though. The Romanian earned 108 points last season from just 28 appearances, including 11 clean sheets and 22 bonus points from saves made – that’s only 17 points short of the Sky Sports game’s highest scoring keeper in 2014/15, despite missing ten matches.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the situation at West Brom. Reports are linking the Baggies with a move for Palace’s Wayne Hennessey ahead of the new season. With Ben Foster out until October, Boaz Myhill (4.8) is currently in pole position to start the season but if Tony Pulis forks out on Hennessey, at 4.1 he could possibly offer a short-term option until the autumn, considering the Baggies managed 16 shut-outs in 2014/15. Most will be looking for a “fire and forget” option from the off, though, in order to avoid changing our keepers mid-season.
THE MID-PRICE OPTIONS
West Brom’s Ben Foster has already been mentioned and is priced at 4.9 in the Sky Sports offering. Once he returns from injury, Foster is expected to nail down the spot between the sticks and could yet prove a great option for those willing to spend a transfer to acquire his services, considering he’s cheaper than the current first-choice Baggies defenders.
Asmir Begovic’s transfer to Chelsea should see Jack Butland emerge as the new Stoke number one. Like Foster, he’s also available for 4.9 but given that Mark Hughes’ side kept out their opponents on just nine occasions last season, that still doesn’t look the best value.
Everton’s Tim Howard sets you back just 5.2 after the Toffees struggled to cope with European duties last time out. Whilst the Merseysiders managed just ten clean sheets last season, it’s worth nothing they kept out their opponents on 15 occasions in 2013/14 and with less fixtures this time out, the US international will be one to monitor.
Maarten Stekelenburg (5.3) should get the nod for Southampton in light of Fraser Forster’s (5.1) long-term knee injury. Given that the Saints managed 15 clean sheets last time out – the third most in the league – the Dutchman looks a great option from the outset with some kind opening fixtures, though Forster’s return – whilst likely to be after the New Year – would still mean we’d need to spend a trade on addressing this problem.
Hugo Lloris, Lukasz Fabianski (both 5.4) and Simon Mignolet (5.5) make up the rest of the mid-price bracket. You may argue that Lloris is an unlikely option after a disappointing campaign in which his identical valuation retuned only 17.8 points per million, not even in the top ten for keepers. With the addition of Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier to bolster the Spurs backline, you can only imagine they will improve in this department and Lloris could yet prove to be good value.
For all the criticism last season, Mignolet still helped Liverpool register a deceptively high 14 clean sheets – the same as Man City – and with the likes of Nathaniel Clyne now on board, the Belgian should continue to tick over nicely.
Fabianski was the star of the show last season, earning 125 points and topping the goalkeeper charts all for an incredibly cheap price of 3.8m. The Polish shot stopper was criminally underpriced due to Michel Vorm’s move away from the Liberty Stadium and ended up being the best value player in the entire game at 32.9 points per million. With a large bump in price this time around, he will struggle to reach that level of value but is clearly still capable of flying high in the charts if Gary Monk’s men continue to churn out the shut-outs.
THE PREMIUM PROSPECTS
Manchester City delivered 14 clean sheets during their ill-fated title defence and Joe Hart (5.8) was arguably one of the star performers amongst them, earning the second most points for keepers (120) in the progress. Although still not great value at this price, if City can improve on their shut out returns, Hart could end up at the very top once more.
Elsewhere in the premium price bracket, Arsenal’s Petr Cech looks a good option at 5.9. The Gunners conceded just 36 times last season, the third best backline in the Premier League, and their new number one will surely add to their 13 clean sheets from the previous campaign. United’s David de Gea is also available for 5.9. If the Spaniard remains at Old Trafford, the Red Devils’ summer of restructuring suggests he looks likely to improve last term’s 11 clean sheets.
Thibaut Courtois is the costliest keeper and comes with a 6.0 price tag. The Blues managed 17 clean sheets (more than any other team) last time around and, having churned out 18 shut-outs in 2013/14, it’s a fairly safe bet to assume Jose Mourinho’s side will continue to deliver us plenty of defensive returns. Bearing in mind that the Chelsea defenders come in at 7.5m+, it makes Courtois appear an even more enticing option if you’re set on acquiring one of the champions’ backline.
SELECTION TACTICS
As goalkeepers tend, on average, to be the lowest scorers of all the positions, in my opinion it’s best to pick one keeper and, where possible, stick with him for the season. Transfers are precious and should be preserved for those areas of the team with the biggest points potential. With this method, fixtures become largely irrelevant and a tough start shouldn’t put you off acquiring your preferred option between the sticks.
My personal preference is to target a budget to mid price option who I think will net at least ten clean sheets and return save points in the process. On current information, I would say that Pantilimon and Adrian look the best value, with Foster also making a claim depending on his injury situation.
SKY SPORTS FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT LEAGUE
We’ve already set up the official Scout League and are hoping to offer prizes for the winner once again this year. If you’ve tinkered with your Sky team and are looking to get involved, our league name is FFScout and the code is 8009000.
Finally, we’ve set up a community article to exclusively deal with Sky Sports Fantasy teams. Those looking to get involved with the discussion should click this link.
