Which is the best FPL goalkeeper pairing?

It’s not often that goalkeepers are the talk of the town in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) but there has been plenty of debate over the best shot-stopper pairings on the site this week.

The ‘set-and-forget’ approach has been a common tactic in recent years but the upcoming blanks and doubles, plus a mass activation of the Bench Boost chip in Gameweek 29 and a changing of the guard at Leicester City, have seen many managers re-assessing their goalkeeper situation.

Whether you’re on a Wildcard, looking to get rid of Danny Ward (£4.0m), activating the Bench Boost chip or anything in between, we look at the pick of the pairings between the sticks for the 2022/23 run-in.

JASON STEELE + DANIEL IVERSEN

• Teams: Brighton and Hove Albion/Leicester City
• Prices: £3.9m/£3.8m
• Maximum fixtures available: 14 (16 on a Bench Boost)
• Good for managers…: Bench Boosting in Gameweek 29, not using the Free Hit in Gameweek 32, wanting to save money

With Tottenham Hotspur’s Fraser Forster (£3.9m) about to be challenged for his spot by the fit-again Hugo Lloris (£5.4m), the two cheapest starting goalkeepers in the game are Jason Steele (£3.9m) and Daniel Iversen (£3.8m) – something we’d have thought to be a ludicrous scenario even just four Gameweeks ago.

There is understandable scepticism among FPL managers about whether either budget ‘keeper will be a reliable starter for the rest of 2022/23 but Steele and Iversen’s respective managers have suggested the spots are theirs to lose.

“Daniel will come in and play and we’ll go from there. He’ll get a run of games. It’s important he feels he’s not just judged on this performance.” – Brendan Rodgers, speaking after starting Daniel Iversen in Gameweek 28

“Jason is one of the 20 players in the squad and he is playing well, really well. Robert is too. But at this moment I think Jason can play better.

“One of the best relationships in the dressing room is with Robert Sanchez. I have to do my work and is this moment I prefer Jason, but only for our style of play. I think Robert can improve and needs to improve.” – Roberto De Zerbi, speaking after starting Jason Steele in Gameweek 26

Both Brighton and Leicester have ‘doubles’ in Gameweek 29, for those playing the Bench Boost, while the Seagulls have three further Double Gameweeks to come after this point.

When Steele blanks in Gameweek 32, Iversen and the Foxes are at home to a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who are the joint-lowest scorers in the division.

Aside from the longer-term uncertainty of starts, the downsides to this pairing are having to use one of the three permitted Brighton slots on Steele (and ruling out, for example, an Albion midfield triple-up), tough fixtures in Gameweeks 31/36 and Leicester’s 12-match clean-sheet drought.

More favourable fixtures bred defensive form for Leicester in Gameweeks 9-16, when six clean sheets were recorded in eight games. Five of the teams the Foxes shut out during that spell, Everton, Leeds, Wolves, Palace and West Ham, they meet again during the run-in.

DAVID DE GEA + JASON STEELE

• Teams: Manchester United/Brighton and Hove Albion
• Prices: £5.0m/£3.9m
• Maximum fixtures available: 13 (15 on a Bench Boost, 16 with a Bench Boost and Free Hit)
• Good for managers…: Bench Boosting in Gameweek 29/34/37, using their Free Hit in Gameweek 32, wanting to cover Brighton’s trickier fixtures in Gameweeks 30/31/36

If you’re not sure about Leicester’s wobbly backline or sceptical of Iversen’s long-term minutes, pairing Steele with another, more expensive goalkeeper is one way to go.

The David de Gea (£5.0m) and Steele double-up is one to consider only for those managers playing their Free Hit in Gameweek 32, as Manchester United and Brighton both blank in that round of matches.

It’s an option for Gameweek 29, 34 or 37 Bench Boosters, too, with the Red Devils and Albion playing twice in each of those Gameweeks (the doubles in Gameweek 37 haven’t been announced yet but are almost certain to happen).

The benefit of De Gea alongside Steele is that when Brighton have some trickier games, away at Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal in Gameweeks 30, 31 and 36, Manchester United face three of the division’s lowest scorers in Everton, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

United are third for clean sheets this season, although their shut-out prospects in the short term are potentially harmed by Casemiro‘s (£4.9m) suspension.

Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.7m) is also an option alongside Steele for Gameweek 32 Free Hitters (Chelsea blank then, too) but the Blues and Brighton face each other in a tough-to-call Gameweek 31 encounter, so one of those goalkeepers would have to start then.

BERND LENO + JASON STEELE

• Teams: Fulham/Brighton and Hove Albion
• Prices: £4.5m/£3.9m
• Maximum fixtures available: 14 (16 on a Bench Boost)
• Good for managers…: Bench Boosting in Gameweek 34 or not Bench Boosting at all, not using their Free Hit in Gameweek 32, wanting to cover Brighton’s trickier fixtures in Gameweeks 30/31/36

Yes, it’s Jason Steele again.

This time he’s paired with Bernd Leno (£4.5m), who averages a very tidy 4.1 points per match this season.

If you’re not Bench Boosting in Gameweek 29 or Free Hitting in Gameweek 32, then Leno – who is half a million cheaper than de Gea – can sit unused amongst the substitutes in the former and cover a blanking Steele in the latter.

Fulham host Leeds United in Gameweek 32, when the Seagulls are without a fixture.

Again, Leno and the Cottagers (what a band they were) can cover Brighton’s tougher-on-paper fixtures in Gameweeks 30, 31 and 36 when facing relegation-threatened West Ham, Everton and Southampton.

No first-choice FPL goalkeeper averages more stops per match than Leno (4.0), so save points are always in the offing even when clean sheets aren’t.

DAVID DE GEA + DANIEL IVERSEN

• Teams: Manchester United/Leicester City
• Prices: £5.0m/£3.8m
• Maximum fixtures available: 13 (15 on a Bench Boost)
• Good for managers…: Bench Boosting in Gameweek 29, not Free Hitting at all, tripling up on Brighton elsewhere

If you’ve already got, or plan to have, a triple-up of outfield Brighton players, then you’ll have to go Steele-less between the sticks.

Switching the Albion man for Iversen is an option for those FPL managers without their Free Hit chip to cover Gameweek 32, while it’s yet another pair of doublers for Gameweek 29 Bench Boosters.

Providing Iversen can get through to Gameweek 32 to cover de Gea’s blank (and perhaps the Gameweek 33 trip to Spurs), he can be safely parked on the bench for the rest of the campaign – so even if he loses his place thereafter, he’s not eating into the budget as cheap fodder.

There’s one less fixture available here than if you were to opt for a combination involving Steele but there are nevertheless still three Double Gameweeks for United to enjoy; only Brighton (four) have more in the run-in.

ALISSON + DANIEL IVERSEN

• Teams: Liverpool/Leicester City
• Prices: £5.4m/£3.8m
• Maximum fixtures available: 12 (14 on a Bench Boost, 15 with a Bench Boost and Free Hit)
• Good for managers…: Bench Boosting in Gameweek 29, Free Hitting in Gameweek 37 or not Free Hitting at all, tripling up on Brighton elsewhere

Not a charming Anglo-Nordic couple you met on holiday in Crete but rather the pairing of FPL’s joint-priciest goalkeeper with its joint-cheapest.

Now, it should be said that the defences of Liverpool and Leicester City have been woeful at the back for much of the campaign.

And yet, Alisson (£5.4m) still sits second in the FPL goalkeeper points table. An assist and a penalty save contributed to his tally but 10 clean sheets have arrived, too, chiefly thanks to his efforts and not the players in front of him.

Liverpool are one of just two teams (the other being West Ham) who double twice and don’t blank in the next six Gameweeks.

Anyone playing their Bench Boost in Gameweek 29 and Free Hitting in Gameweek 37 (drafting in a ‘doubling’ goalkeeper) can therefore get 15 fixtures out of this pairing, with Iversen’s only contribution being appearances in Gameweeks 29 and 30.

A final word on Nick Pope (£5.4m), who like Alisson doubles twice before the end of 2022/23 and doesn’t blank.

His fixtures probably dovetail better with those of Iversen rather than Steele’s, with Leicester facing Bournemouth, Wolves, Fulham and West Ham when Newcastle negotiate trickier tests in Gameweeks 30, 32, 35 and 38.

The Steele-Pope combination has quantity on its side, of course, and will be worth 16 fixtures to Gameweek 29 Bench Boosters.