Following a 150-point campaign in 2014/15 with Burnley, Tom Heaton was quickly installed on many pre-season watchlists. The early adopters were to be proved correct as the Claret’s keeper excelled to deliver another outstanding top-flight season.
Heaton proved to be the perfect “fire and forget” option for our 15-man squads, providing consistent returns right until the final weeks of the season.
Such was Heaton’s dominance as the stand-out option, he gained selection in our Team of the Season with a massive 77% of the vote.
The Statistics
With a starting price of just 4.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), and based on his 2014/15 output, it was something of a surprise to see Heaton only owned by 144,402 managers back in Gameweek 1.
The England international first displayed his potential as a budget option with a 10-point haul in the 2-0 victory over Liverpool in Gameweek 2, when he picked up his first maximum bonus point haul.
That ability to dominate the bonus points whenever Sean Dyche’s side kept a clean sheet would prove pivotal to Heaton’s appeal throughout the season.
He only delivered one more clean sheet prior to Gameweek 10, when he registered his second double-digit score of the season in the goalless draw against his former side Manchester United.
The Burnley keeper made 11 saves at Old Trafford – already the second time in the season he’d reached that figure in a single match – and scooped maximum bonus points once again.
A calf injury then forced him to miss two matches before he embarked on his most productive run.
Between Gameweeks 16 and 23, Heaton averaged 6.1 points per match (ppm) in a spell which included three clean sheets, eight save points, a penalty stop and 11 bonus points.
It was during this period that his price in FPL hit the 5.0 mark, with more than 800,000 managers owning the Burnley captain by Gameweek 24.
Heaton maintained his form with a further three shut-outs between Gameweeks 29 and 32 and finished the campaign with 10 clean sheets from 35 starts, with six of those coming at Turf Moor.
His price and ownership peaked in Gameweek 33, at 5.2 and 900,000 respectively, although Dyche’s men did fail to record a clean sheet in five of their last six encounters.
Heaton ended the season as the top scoring goalkeeper in FPL with 149 points – one shy of his 2014/15 tally.
He averaged 4.3 ppm, significantly better than any Burnley defender, with Michael Keane the next best with 3.2 ppm.
His total of 21 bonus points set a new record for an FPL keeper in a season, surpassing Vito Mannone’s 16 points gained with Sunderland in 2013/14.
Heaton also ranked top for saves (142) and was the number one player for value (29.2) in terms of points per million across all four positions.
The Prospects
Due to his impressive production in 2016/17, a price hike for Heaton seems almost inevitable, although if he remains under the 5.5 mark, he will doubtless prove a popular option once again.
Given that Dyche’s men eventually finished 16th in the Premier League, a price point of 5.0 would appear likely.
Heaton has shown over two seasons that he can be relied upon for around 10 clean sheets, as well as save and bonus points, so that price should still represent solid value.
Something to monitor will be the future of centre-back Keane, who is expected to leave the club in the summer.
Keane’s outstanding performances at the heart of the Clarets defence brought him his England debut in March, and he would need to be adequately replaced in order for the Burnley rearguard to remain as resilient next season.
Heaton’s ability to keep clean sheets in less difficult home matches is the primary reason for his appeal as a Fantasy asset.
But as he demonstrated with his two double-figure hauls on the road, he also has the ability to produce in any match via save points.
While 4.5 options are always popular when budgets are tight at the start of a season, Heaton’s output over the last nine months suggests that we can’t overlook him when we begin to formulate our 15-man squads in July.
Jordan Pickford’s destination and price could influence matters, but Heaton could well remain the obvious one-stop shop option again, paired with a £4.0m asset – perhaps even Burnley’s second keeper – in a £9.0m configuration.
