Having gone through a host of outfield options in our position-by-position analysis, we now turn the spotlight onto the best goalkeepers in Fantasy Premier League.
We’ve already looked at the pick of the budget FPL goalkeeper options, so our focus switches to those in the mid-price and premium bracket.
We’ve got every position covered, so take your pick!
- The best mid-price and premium FPL defenders for 2021/22
- The best FPL budget midfielders for 2021/22
- The best mid-price FPL midfielders for 2021/22
- The best premium FPL midfielders for 2021/22
- The best budget FPL forwards for 2021/22
- The best mid-priced FPL forwards for 2021/22
- The best premium forwards for FPL 2021/22
Comprehensive Opta data on the players featured in these articles is available in our Premium Members Area.
The £5.0m options
The biggest talking point in the £5.0m goalkeeper slot is that both Manchester United shot-stoppers come in at that price. Dean Henderson took over from David de Gea late last season, as the Spaniard became the custodian for United’s run to the Europa League final.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as is his way, never revealed which player he considers to be his No 1 stopper. However, the Man Utd boss did admit he would have to make a call on his first-choice selection for this season.
“I’m really pleased with the two of them; it’s difficult to have that kind of rotation, you don’t rotate that much normally. I’ll have to find a solution for next year definitely.” – Solskjaer on Henderson and De Gea
From Gameweek 28, Henderson started eight times in the Premier League with de Gea beginning just twice. The England man does seem to be the incumbent, though further clarity is needed on the situation ahead of Gameweek 1.
Arsenal (5th) were just behind Man Utd (4th) for ‘expected goals conceded’ (xGC) over the second half of the season. Bernd Leno comes in a £5.0m, though faces Chelsea and Manchester City over the opening three Gameweeks.
Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) is up against Newcastle (a), Leicester (H) and Crystal Palace (H) in the first three rounds of matches. From Gameweek 1 to Gameweek 6, West Ham sit fifth on our Season Ticker when sorted by defence.
Jordan Pickford’s (£5.0m) Everton sit third on that list. The Toffees are expected to be a defence-first outfit under Rafael Benitez. Everton kept 10 clean sheets with Carlo Ancelotti in charge last season, while Pickford made 89 saves – ranking a lowly 13th among shot-stoppers for that metric.
Pickford could potentially be the most popular Everton defensive asset, should Lucas Digne (£5.5m) not be fit for the season opener after suffering an injury on France duty.
Rui Patricio is another £5.0m option under new management. Wolves were seventh best for xGC from Gameweek 20 onwards. Only time will tell how Bruno Lage’s appointment affects the Molineux outfit in terms of defence and attack. Clashes with Leicester City (a), Spurs (H) and Man Utd (H) in the opening three Gameweeks will give Fantasy bosses plenty of time for assessment.
Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) might be more appealing, with that visit from Wolves coming ahead of games against West Ham (a), Norwich (H), Manchester City (H), Brighton (a) and Burnley (H). The Denmark keeper does have to compete with the kindly-priced Wesley Fofana (£4.5m), however. And that’s not to mention the competition for all of these goalkeepers in standout £4.5m option Robert Sanchez.
Similarly, Illan Meslier (£5.0m) is £0.5m more expensive than all but one of his defensive colleagues. The Leeds stopper was fourth overall for saves last season (141), with two of the other three keepers now relegated.
The Premiums
The remaining member of that quartet is Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez (£5.5m), who made 143 saves in 2020/21. As with Meslier, Martinez comes at a premium compared to Aston Villa’s regular starters in defence who are all priced at £5.0m.
Martinez was far and away the top-scoring keeper last season with 186 points. Dean Smith’s side were sixth worst for xGC over the second half of the season, however. The Argentina netminder still represents a decent set-and-forget goalkeeper option, though Villa’s fixtures take a turn for the worse in Gameweek 4 and we’ll likely be relying on save points during that run of games.
Nick Pope (£5.5m) missed out on EURO 2020 due to a knee problem which required surgery. Couple that with a tough opening six Gameweeks for the Clarets and it seems unlikely that too many FPL players will be sending up white smoke for Gameweek 1.
Hugo Lloris is the final £5.5m man between the sticks. The France keeper is now under the tutelage of Nuno Espirito Santo. No Spurs defender costs more than £5.0m and the north London outfit have a testing first six gameweeks, so Lloris may get overlooked heading into GW1.
Fixtures could see the same fate occur for Edouard Mendy (£6.0m). The Chelsea keeper has been priced at a premium, with the Blues recording the best xGC in the league from Gameweek 20. They were the league’s meanest defence from that time, conceding just 13 times under Thomas Tuchel’s tactics. Chelsea take on four of the ‘big six’ in the opening six Gameweeks, however.
Alisson (£6.0m) may struggle to compete with his team-mates for a precious Liverpool spot. The Reds top the season ticker when sorted by attack and their flying full-backs are always well involved going forward.
Ederson (£6.0m) would also block an outfielder triple-up at his club, though the Man City netminder comes with a security of starts that can only be matched, in defensive terms, by Ruben Dias (£6.0m).
