As our Frisking the Fixtures article will reveal later today, we’re now entering a significant period of the season that appears to offer up a greater variety of value mid-price options.
This gives Fantasy managers the opportunity to re-align their sights and perhaps consider changes to formation and budget allocation.
Add in the current confusion surrounding Manchester City’s attacking assets, Manchester United’s stuttering form and the decline of the once near-essential Ben Davies and it becomes clear that we’re at a crossroads.
With this in mind, we’re focusing on our Watchlist rankings at this time – our mid-term player recommendations for the next four-to-six Gameweeks and beyond. We begin with our analysis of the current goalkeeper standings.
The Watchlist rankings can be found in your sidebar on desktop, or via your slide-in menu on mobile or tablet.
These highlight our current thinking on player selection for each position, listing the factors that are contributing to the given rank.
Rob Elliot climbs back to the top of our reckoning as Newcastle United continue to show resilience over a prolonged run of obliging fixtures.
Priced at just 4.2, the Magpies’ number one – who remains the cheapest secure starting option Fantasy Premier League – claimed his third clean sheet of the season in last weekend’s win over Palace.
Impressively, Rafa Benitez’ men have conceded just eight goals – only the two Manchester clubs and Spurs have shipped fewer. They now host Bournemouth and Watford and travel to Burnley and West Brom in the next five, with only a Gameweek 12 visit to Man United proving problematic.
On the downside, the saves seem to have dried up for Elliot – he’s made just three in the last four Gameweeks, despite conceding just four times over that period.
Yet his defenders’ inability to make 30+ passes, along with their three yellow cards, meant that Elliot earned one bonus point in the 1-0 victory over the Eagles, despite not having to make a single save.
It’s worth mentioning Julian Speroni at this point.
He has now started the last two Gameweeks for Crystal Palace as an alternative 4.0 option in FPL. Presumably rested for last night’s EFL Cup tie defeat at Bristol City, he would seem likely to cement his starting berth by returning to the Eagles XI for the visit of West Ham.
Working in tandem with Elliot, he can plug some of the “gaps” in the Magpies keeper’s schedule – offering Everton at home when Elliot makes the trip to Old Trafford and, in Gameweek 15 when Newcastle face a trip to Chelsea, Speroni travels to West Brom.
This new pairing, currently available for a combined 8.2m, could have a marked impact on our approach to goalkeeper spend.
Speroni could also be an option in his own right.
Certainly, aside from a Gameweek 11 trip to Spurs, the outlook looks promising for Roy Hodgson’s side – they offer four strong home fixtures (WHM EVE STK BOU) and trips to Brighton and West Brom in the next seven.
We’ve hesitated to promote Speroni too high in our rankings at this point, awaiting Hodgson’s teamsheet for West Ham’s visit. But, given that Wayne Hennessey shipped four goals at Ashton Gate, we would fully expect the veteran stopper to return and demonstrate that he has now claimed number one duties.
Burnley’s Nick Pope currently sits second behind Elliot in our ladder.
He has been kept exceptionally busy between the sticks since replacing the injured Tom Heaton. Pope has earned seven save points in just six fixtures, with a total of 30 saves ranked fourth among keepers – that’s despite not making an appearance until 36 minutes into Gameweek 4.
Indeed, Pope is making saves and recoveries at a faster rate than any other goalkeeper option since he arrived on the pitch for Sean Dyche’s men.
Before Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Man City, the Clarets had conceded just two goals in Pope’s four starts, and they now have the schedule – particularly at home (NEW SWA WAT STK) – to up that resilience across the upcoming eight Gameweeks.
Trips to Southampton, Bournemouth and Leicester over that period means that Dyche’s side offer strong clean sheet potential right up to Gameweek 18.
Impressively, Pope’s average of 4.7 points per match is ranked third among regular keepers.
Yet both Ben Mee and Stephen Ward offer compelling alternative cover of the Burnley backline in the budget bracket.
Available for 4.5, Mee is joint-top for attempts in the box (nine) from defence, while Ward – at 4.7 – is the second top value defender in terms of points per million on the back of a goal, an assist and seven bonus points.
Elsewhere, Swansea City’s Lukasz Fabianski (4.6) remains very much in our thoughts – sitting third in the FPL keeper standings, he’s returned more points (41) than any sub-5.0 stopper.
The Polish international has racked up four clean sheets and eight save points, making more stops (38) than any other number one.
Once this weekend’s trip to the Emirates has passed, Paul Clement’s side have five kind fixtures (BHA bur BOU stk WBA) in six, with only a Gameweek 14 trip to Chelsea looking too troublesome.
At 4.5, Federico Fernandez is a slightly cheaper alternative and has picked up bonus on three of the four occasions that the Swans have earned a shutout.
We also have to be wary that last night’s injury to Martin Olsson could have two significant knock-ons.
For one, Swansea could become more vulnerable with Angel Rangel likely to come in at right-back, with Kyle Naughton shifting to the left.
However, secondly, Rangel would offer a route into Clement’s backline for just 3.9. That could have an impact on the appeal of Fabianski for this upcoming period.
Brighton stopper Mat Ryan (4.5) has delivered four save points, two bonus and a pair of clean sheets in the last four Gameweeks to take his tally to 33 FPL points. That’s more than any defensive team-mate and just one behind Newcastle’s Elliot.
Chris Hughton’s side now offer three strong home matches (SOT STK CRY) and a trip to Swansea in the upcoming five to keep that run ticking over. Alternatively, the Seagulls’ centre-halves Lewis Dunk (4.4) and Shane Duffy (4.5) sit in the top five defenders for efforts in the box and in the top seven for clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI).
Stoke’s Jack Butland comes in lower down, though it’s fair to say he has some convincing to do after conceding 20 times in the opening nine matches.
Mark Hughes will be hoping that last week’s return of Ryan Shawcross can help steady the ship as the Potters’ prepare for five decent looking fixtures (wat LEI bha cry SWA) in the upcoming six.
Stoke also offer a home/away rotation with Burnley but with Butland setting you back 5.0, Geoff Cameron (4.4) could be the cheapest option after Kevin Wimmer dropped to the bench to accommodate Shawcross.
Further down, Manchester-based pair David De Gea and Ederson are our favoured premium options, offering secure routes into the league’s two tightest defences.
Of the two, the United man has the edge – he has a league-high seven clean sheets and has five save points to Ederson’s one.
Jose Mourinho’s penchant for parking the bus in big matches means he may still prevail against Spurs and Man City in the next two before the fixtures turn in the Red Devils’ favour from Gameweek 12.
Granted, the Phil Jones option is cheaper at 5.3 to 5.6 yet the centre-half’s ongoing injury concerns may be too much hassle for some.
