The Watchlist Updated – Goalkeepers

With the hectic festive period now behind us, we’ve taken time out to review our Watchlist rankings.

For those unfamiliar, the Watchlist offers mid-term player recommendations for the next four-to-six Gameweeks and beyond. They 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.

Our analysis gets underway with a look at the main contenders in our latest goalkeeper standings.

Despite failing to keep clean sheets in either of his double Gameweek 22 matches, Adrian remains on top due to West Ham United’s kind run of fixtures (hud BOU CRY bha WAT) in the next five Gameweeks.

The Spaniard defied Spurs with seven saves on Thursday night and has produced three shut-outs and seven save points since replacing Joe Hart in Gameweek 15, averaging 3.9 points per match (ppm) under David Moyes.

Impressively, over their last six matches, West Ham have allowed just seven big chances to opponents – only Chelsea (four) and Man City (five) have been more resilient in that respect.

Centre-half Angelo Ogbonna offers an alternative route into the West Ham backline. He’s produced more clearances, blocks and interceptions than any team-mate and comes in at 4.5 to Adrian’s 4.3.

But crucially, Adrian rotates well with Burnley’s Nick Pope, who faces Man United and Man City at home in Gameweeks 24 and 26 respectively. Indeed, this pairing offer nine eye-catching matches (hud BOU CRY bha WAT SOT EVE BUR SOT) in the next ten Gameweeks for a combined cost of 9.1.

The Clarets’ stopper is top among FPL goalkeepers for points per million value with a score of 19.4 and only trails Lukasz Fabianski (22.5) and Wayne Hennessey (24.8) for minutes per save (25.4).

Additionally, no FPL goalkeeper has earned more bonus points (12) than Pope, who travels to Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Swansea and hosts Southampton and Everton in the next seven.

However, Ben Mee’s goal threat offers a similarly priced route into a backline with 10 clean sheets to their name – he’s ranked among the top nine defenders for efforts in the box (15), despite failing to find the net.

Back-to-back clean sheets continue to make the case for Manchester United’s David de Gea as a fire and forget option very compelling.

The Spain international is averaging an impressive 5.2 points per match, more than any other regular starter between the sticks.

Incredibly, Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane (134) is the only FPL forward to have scored more points than the Man United stopper (114), who continues to offer sensational value at just 5.9.

Significantly for a premium keeper option, only Swansea City’s Fabianski (88) has made more stops than De Gea (73), who has picked up at least one save point in 13 of his 22 starts.

Indeed, that statistic had raised concerns on United’s resilience, despite an impressive clean sheet count. However, while they previously ranked second for shots on target conceded over the season, in the last four Gameweeks the improvement has been marked. Jose Mourinho’s backline have allowed just eight shots on target in those four matches; only Manchester rivals City have conceded fewer (seven).

The return to fitness of Phil Jones (5.6) is surely a factor behind their progress, and he has to be recognised as a viable alternative to De Gea as cover of Mourinho’s defence.

The centre-back was surprisingly able to start all of the matches over the busy festive period and picked up five bonus points in the three encounters when United were able to keep a clean sheet since he was re-installed for the XI.

However, the upcoming schedule (STK bur tot HUD new CHE) is mixed, which limits the appeal in doubling up on the Man United defence, while also giving Adrian and Pope the slight edge in our current keeper rankings.

The big mover in our latest refresh is Brighton & Hove Albion’s Mat Ryan.

That is primarily due to a fixture swing for the Seagulls, who only face one difficult encounter in the next six (wba CHE sot WHU stk SWA).

The Australian has also been in good form of late, keeping three clean sheets in his last five outings, and has totalled 87 points in FPL – at least 21 points more than any Brighton defender.

He looks the most reliable route into a rearguard that have already kept eight clean sheets – only the top seven teams have managed more. Furthermore, only five sides have conceded fewer big chances than the Seagulls’ 34.

But Shane Duffy provides a strong alternative, mainly due to his set-piece threat – the Republic of Ireland international sits third among defenders for shots inside the box (18).

Sitting fifth and sixth respectively in the goalkeeper standings, Lukasz Fabianski and Everton’s Jordan Pickford remain solid options, though both face two tough matches in their next six.

Clashes against Liverpool and Arsenal dent Fabianski’s short-term prospects, though his other four fixtures (new lei BUR bha) over this period could prove profitable.

Although the Toffees’ stopper has trips to Spurs and Arsenal on his agenda, he offers three kind home encounters (WBA LEI CRY) and a trip to Watford.

The arrival of Sam Allardyce has made a big difference to Pickford’s prospects – he’s produced four clean sheets and six save points in eight matches under the new manager, averaging an impressive 5.8 points per match.

Fabianski does lead the way for minutes per baseline BPS among FPL goalkeepers, however, averaging one every 5.2 minutes.

The appeal of Pickford (4.9) is hit by the fact that Jonjoe Kenny (4.6) is slightly kinder on the budget and, with two assists, offers some attacking threat from right-back. However, after being benched against Man United, Kenny has been sold on by over 17,000 owners.

The same can be said for Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois, who, while in excellent form following four shut-outs in five, loses out to defensive team-mates Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen.

Courtois (5.5) has recorded just a single save point in his last nine Gameweek starts and has only earned two bonus points this season.

Although Alonso now sets us back 7.2 in FPL, his six goals and one assist more than justify the extra outlay, while Christensen, at 5.6, is similarly priced to the Blues’ stopper.

Another player whose stock is on the rise is Watford’s Heurelho Gomes.

The Hornets also benefit from a pretty favourable schedule (SOT lei stk CHE whu EVE wba) and, at only 4.5 in FPL, the Brazilian looks a valid contender in the budget bracket.

But Marco Silva’s men have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last nine, which perhaps makes attacking left-back Marvin Zeegelaar a slightly more appealing alternative.

Kasper Schmeichel (5.0) will be among the climbers once a Gameweek 23 trip to Chelsea has passed, with Leicester set to entertain Watford, Swansea, Stoke and Bournemouth in the subsequent six.

However, it’s worth keeping an eye on defender Ben Chilwell at just 4.3 – he’d started six of the previous seven before illness ruled him out of Gameweeks 21 and 22.