Our first end of season poll was released today as the Fantasy Football Scout awards for 2016/17 get underway.
We first focus on goalkeepers and you get just a single opportunity to vote for your top stopper of the season from an overall Fantasy point of view. Factors such as points, price and value across the various games should all be taken into account.
Although our polls tend to be weighted towards the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, we’ve also considered each player’s performance in other offerings where clean sheet alone are essential to points output.
Before we get underway, let’s cast an eye back to last year’s team of the season and, in particular, the choice for number one goalkeeper:
2015/16 Fantasy Football Scout Team of the Season Review
Goalkeeper – Jack Butland
Defenders – Toby Alderweireld, Hector Bellerin, Christian Fuchs
Midfielders – Riyad Mahrez, Dele Alli, Dimitri Payet, Mesut Ozil
Forwards – Jamie Vardy, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane
It’s fair to say that 2016/17 was one to forget for Jack Butland.
Afforded an initial 5.0 starting price on the back of 132 points in 2015/16, Stoke City’s number one was stuck in the treatment room for the vast majority of the season due to an ongoing ankle complaint.
Finally free from injury in Gameweek 34, Butland started the last five matches under Mark Hughes as the Potters’ Player of the Year Lee Grant dropped down to the bench.
Butland bagged 20 points over his subsequent five appearances, signing off in style with a 10-point tally in a 1-0 win away to Southampton in Gameweek 38.
A price of 5.0 or even 4.5 could be on the cards next time around, bringing Butland back into consideration as a viable option between the sticks once again.
While the Potters’ option failed to make the cut, here’s the rundown of those who made this term’s shortlist:
Tom Heaton
Burnley’s skipper and number one was the perfect fit as a “fire and forget” option for our squads.
Initially setting you back 4.5 as a route into the Championship winners’ defence, Heaton served up just 10 clean sheets yet still ended the season as the top-scoring keeper in FPL on 149 points.
His total of 21 bonus points was more than double any other goalkeeper, while he was also ranked top for saves (142) and was the number one player for value (29.2) in terms of points per million in the entire FPL game.
A price hike is clearly inevitable, but if Heaton can remain under the 5.5 mark, many will surely consider his services once again.
Thibaut Courtois
Winner of this season’s Golden Glove, the Chelsea stopper managed just one clean sheet in the first six Gameweeks before Antonio Conte’s switch to 3-4-3 transformed his side’s campaign.
Courtois chalked up a further 15 shut-outs in his subsequent 30 league outings to finish as the top-scoring keeper in both Sky Sports and the Telegraph games, although with just 13 save points over the season, he came in third in the FPL keeper standings.
The Belgian seems likely to stay at 5.5, yet with Gary Cahill and Marcos Alonso offering a significant goal threat from the back, and Cesar Azpilicueta number one for bonus points among FPL defenders, Conte’s rearguard regulars are likely to keep Courtois out of consideration again.
Eldin Jakupovic
Starting the season priced at just 4.0, the Swiss international’s total of 23 points in the first five Gameweeks immediately made him a budget stopper option.
Jakupovic then fell out of favour under former manager Mike Phelan and it wasn’t until the arrival of Marco Silva in Gameweek 21 that he finally reclaimed a starting berth.
A very handy back-up keeper option, he finished the season with a 21.9% ownership and averaged 3.9 points per match in FPL – the same as Courtois, for example, and more than any other Hull City player.
Jakupovic’s heroics were not enough to prevent the Tigers from slipping into the Championship, but in just 22 appearances he claimed 18 additional save points, producing at least a single save point on 14 occasions.
It was somewhat telling that he was rested for the final day 7-1 hammering at home to Spurs. Essentially, Jakupovic conceded 36 goals in 22 starts (1.63 per match), whereas his Tigers’ rival David Marshall shipped 44 in 16 outings – that’s an average of 2.75 goals against by comparison.
Hugo Lloris
The Frenchman offered a secure route into the league’s most resilient defence, with Spurs conceding a mere 26 goals over the campaign.
Despite missing four matches, Lloris finished just six points behind Heaton at the FPL keeper summit and was runner-up in the Sky Sports and Telegraph offerings as well.
He was also placed second to Courtois for the Golden Glove by 15 clean sheets to 16, which was all the more frustrating for his owners as he conceded in each of the final four fixtures.
Like the Chelsea keeper, however, Lloris was overshadowed by his attack-minded defensive team-mates, with the likes of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Ben Davies all thriving in Mauricio Pochettino’s 3-4-2-1.
Those tactics are likely to keep him off our radar once again as the Spurs wing-backs offer far more potential for points at either end of the pitch.
Lee Grant
With Jack Butland ruled out for months and deputy Shay Given conceding four times in three of the opening five Gameweeks, Mark Hughes’ decision to acquire Grant from Derby proved more than handy for Fantasy managers.
Initially listed at 4.0, Grant played every match from Gameweek 6-33 and offered us one of the most secure cut-price routes between the posts until Butland finally overcame his ankle injury to reclaim a spot in the Potters’ XI.
A total of 17 save points and nine clean sheets accrued from 28 appearances helped him to an average of 3.8 points per outing, though with Butland back in contention, Grant looks set to be on bench-warming duties next time out.
David de Gea
The most popular keeper in FPL, the United number one ended the campaign sitting in over 33% of squads.
De Gea missed just three league matches to offer the most secure route into a defence that served up 17 clean sheets – joint-top with Spurs for the season.
Unfortunately for his owners, United earned a shut-out on all three of those occasions – if he’d played and benefitted, the Spaniard would be sitting on 148 points, just one shy of Heaton at the summit.
Likely to remain at his initial price of 5.5 next time out, De Gea’s lack of value will struggle to convince many of us – particularly if team-mate Antonio Valencia breaks free from Jose Mourinho’s rotation policy.
And, of course, he might not even be at Old Trafford next season.
Jordan Pickford
Having wrestled the keeper’s jersey from Vito Mannone in Gameweek 3, the youngster was another 4.0 option to emerge in 2016/17.
Although his campaign was somewhat disrupted by an ankle injury between Gameweeks 19-25, Pickford’s heroics between the posts meant that he finished second only to Heaton for total saves (141 to 142).
The Sunderland stopper produced at least one save point in 23 of his 29 league outings to more than atone for a mere four clean sheets – Pickford provided a massive 36 points from saves alone.
His displays for the doomed Wearsiders already have the suitors circling and, if the rumoured move to Everton comes good, a possible cost of 5.0 could make him an appealing route into a defence that chalked up 13 clean sheets last time out.
