Having finally recovered from a long-term ankle injury, Stoke City stopper Jack Butland served a late reminder of his talents towards the tail end of last season.
Stuck on the sidelines for the opening 33 matches, the fit-again Butland replaced Lee Grant on Mark Hughes’ teamsheet and chalked up 20 points in the remaining five Gameweeks.
He signed off for the season with a 10-point tally against Southampton in Gameweek 38 to hint at what’s to follow in 2017/18.
- That lack of pitch time is likely to affect Butland’s cost across the Fantasy games this season. He’s expected to come in at a maximum of 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League – identical to last term’s initial value – though there’s a case that he could even be listed as cheap as 4.5 considering that Stoke shipped 56 goals in 2016/17. Given that no Potters’ defender scored more than once in the previous campaign, Butland looks like the plum route into Hughes’ backline next time around.
- A look back at Butland’s breakout season in 2015/16 highlights why we have such faith for the upcoming campaign. Afforded the number one slot as a result of Asmir Begovic’s move to Chelsea, he proceeded to rack up 132 points in 31 appearances – an average of 4.3 points per match (ppm) that term is identical to the top scoring keeper from last season, Burnley’s Tom Heaton.
- Like Heaton, Butland’s ability to register save points and bonus boosts his potential beyond just shutouts. He chalked up a save point in 18 of those 31 outings in 2015/16 and was the leading keeper for saves at the point of his injury. He also delivered 14 bonus points that season – only Heaton (21) bettered that tally last time around. He was quick to replicate that output last term, claiming four saves points, two bonus and a pair of clean sheets from those five outings.
- Looking at Stoke’s displays across the last two seasons, Butland’s absence clearly hampered their resilience. Without him, Hughes’ men conceded 66 goals in 40 matches– an average of 1.65 against – and produced nine clean sheets, or one every 4.4 matches. With Butland between the posts, they were breached 45 times in 36 outings – an average of 1.25 goals against – and registered 12 shutouts, or one every three matches.
- Stoke’s opening set of fixtures – which pits them against seven of last year’s top ten in the first eight Gameweeks indicates that many will perhaps be keen to avoid their defensive regulars. Yet, as we saw in the case of Heaton last season, Butland’s shot-stopping prowess should keep his tally ticking over and strengthens his case as a “fire and forget” option between the posts.
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