With the hectic festive period now behind us, and with the Winter Wildcards available (and, for some, in play), we’re focusing on our refreshed Watchlist rankings over the next few days.
We begin our four-part series reviewing the current standings by looking at the options in goal.
The Watchlist is designed to offer a view on our current mid-term player recommendations, based on the prospects spanning the next four-to-six Gameweeks.
You will find our current Watchlist standings in your right-hand menu on the homepage on desktop, or via the fourth button on your right slide-in menu on mobile or tablet.
Second to only Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) standings, Burnley’s Tom Heaton remains our go-to option between the sticks.
Heaton delivered a nine-point haul against Middlesbrough in Gameweek 18, registering his fourth clean sheet of the season, while he still tops the charts for saves with 83.
The Clarets do face a mixed upcoming schedule, though, with clashes against Arsenal and Chelsea in their next five, which will likely see us relying on his save point potential.
But as a one-stop shop option in the sub 5.0 bracket, it’s difficult to overlook Heaton in the mid to long term.
With 20 points returned from saves and 13 bonus points accrued – seven more than his nearest rival – Heaton’s overall package remains convincing.
To put that into perspective, Manchester United’s David de Gea, as the most popular FPL goalkeeper with 34.8% ownership, has recorded six save points and two bonus.
Looking at that gap purely in terms of clean sheet returns, it would put Heaton the equivalent of five ahead of the United stopper, who has seven to his name, yet the Burnley man is still 0.6 cheaper.
Lee Grant now looks a hugely attractive prospect now that his move to Stoke City has been made permanent.
Mark Hughes’ side have kept two clean sheets in their last five matches, and face Sunderland, West Brom and Crystal Palace in their next five.
While Grant’s price has risen to 4.4 in FPL, that still looks to represent great value, given that Jack Butland continues to struggle with an ankle injury and appears some way off a first-team return.
West Bromwich Albion’s favourable upcoming schedule after the Gameweek 21 trip to White Hart Lane (SUN, mid, STO, whm, BOU, CPL) pushes Ben Foster up to third place on our ladder.
Whereas Heaton is the standout option for the Clarets, both Chris Brunt (5.0) and Gareth McAuley (4.9) offer ample attacking potential and are similarly priced to Foster’s 4.7, denting his appeal.
Also available at 4.4 in FPL is West Ham United’s Darren Randolph, who has established himself as the Hammers’ first-choice keeper on the back of nine successive starts.
The Republic of Ireland international registered bonus points in the 1-0 wins over Burnley and Hull City last month, has five save points in his last four outings and, with four favourable fixtures (CPL, mid, WBA, wat) in the next six, continues to enjoy a rise in stock.
Randolph also benefits as he offers the cheapest route into the Irons defence by some distance, with Angelo Ogbonna the next best, coming in at 4.8.
Favourable upcoming schedules also see Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey and Bournemouth’s Artur Boruc enjoy a slight rise in our rankings.
While we’ve yet to see Sam Allardyce impact on the resilience of the Palace defence, he will now have more time on the training pitch following a busy start to his reign at Selhurst Park, which is expected to see the Eagles eventually tighten up at the back.
Palace, according to our Season Ticker, have the second most favourable schedule (whm, EVE, bou, SUN, sto, MID) over the next six Gameweeks.
The Wales international isn’t totally nailed on, though, with Steve Mandanda likely to return from a knee injury in the next few weeks, although the France international has been linked with a return to Marseille.
Boruc is slightly more expensive than Hennessey, setting us back 4.6 in FPL, but he has kept an impressive five clean sheets so far this term.
Bournemouth’s short-term fixtures (hul, WAT, CPL) look hugely obliging, with the Poland international expected to garner further defensive returns for his 6.7% ownership in FPL.
Like Foster, though, there’s obvious attacking competition from Boruc’s backline team-mates. Charlie Daniels has risen to third in the FPL defender standings and sets you back just 0.6 more than the Pole, while Nathan Ake – at just 4.4 – has notched three times in eight starts.
Middlesbrough’s Victor Valdes sat out Gameweek 20, missing one of four favourable fixtures on his schedule, with Brad Guzan claiming a clean sheet against Leicester City.
Even so, a return for the Spaniard at Watford in Gameweek 21 would still set him up for a favourable run of matches that would justify a modest 4.6 outlay.
Aitor Karanka’s side have a favourable run right up to Gameweek 32: only ties with Spurs and Manchester United offer stern tests in that period.
Middlesbrough remain resolute at the back, so much so that Valdes can struggle for save point returns: he has gathered points from stops in just two of his last seven Gameweeks.
Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet has taken his opportunity since ousting Loris Karius to the bench.
The Belgian has kept three clean sheets in his five starts but has gathered just two save points in that run.
At 4.7, Mignolet is the cheapest method of claiming cover in Jurgen Klopp’s backline, though Liverpool’s fixtures are certainly a barrier to investment.
The Reds face five of the top six over their next nine Gameweeks.
Having conceded four goals in his last two matches, and with difficult clashes against Liverpool and Arsenal to come in the next four, Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois remains towards the bottom of our ladder, along with Southampton’s Fraser Forster, who has shipped nine goals in his last three appearances.
Courtois still offers the cheapest route into the Blues defence at 5.9 but the gap to Marcos Alonso and David Luiz is negligible enough to edge us towards investment in the defenders.
Equally, Forster at 5.1 is more expensive than full-back Cedric (4.9), although he is undoubtedly more secure. However, with Jose Fonte filing a transfer request in the last 24 hours, we could even have Yaya Yoshida available to us as an alternative in the Saints defence at just 4.2. The Japanese defender has started three of the last four for Claude Puel.
