Scout Reports

Alisson capture furthers case for FPL investment in Liverpool defence

Liverpool have made Alisson Ramses Becker the most expensive goalkeeper of all time after signing the Brazilian international for £66.8m from AS Roma.

The 25-year-old shot-stopper is the Reds’ fourth signing of this transfer window after the captures of Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri, and the move takes Jurgen Klopp’s summer spending well past the £150m mark.

Alisson has been priced up at £5.5m in Fantasy Premier League, half a million more expensive than fellow Liverpool goalkeepers Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet.

The Brazil number one, who played at this summer’s World Cup, falls into the same premium bracket as Hugo Lloris, Ederson and Thibaut Courtois, with only David de Gea (£6.0m) a more expensive goalkeeping option in FPL.

Klopp said of his latest big-money capture:

There was a world-class goalkeeper on the market, and the club gave us the opportunity to sign him.

Of course, for a long time it’s been clear that Alisson is a top-class goalkeeper, but there was never a real chance to do it. This year there was the chance.

We have three outstanding goalkeepers and two very young and very talented goalkeepers but we need that, so I’m happy about that.

While Klopp is diplomatic in his quotes regarding Karius and Mignolet’s abilities, there is no doubt that Alisson will usurp his two rivals for the Liverpool goalkeeper’s jersey next season.

With Andrew Robertson (£6.0m), Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.0m) offering the possibility of attacking returns to go with potential clean sheet points, Fantasy managers might consider the Brazilian goalkeeper a less appealing route into the Liverpool backline.

Unlike the Reds’ two full-backs, however, Alisson is likely to be rotation-proof and comes in at £0.5m cheaper than van Dijk, who, it should be said, failed to score in the league last season.

The History

Born in Novo Hamburgo in southern Brazil in October 1992, Alisson spent his youth career with Internacional, progressing through the Brazilian giants’ ranks and into their first-team squad.

Initially a back-up to his brother, Muriel, Alisson made his senior debut in February 2013. The 2015 season saw Alisson finally establish himself in the starting XI (keeping 15 clean sheets in 26 league appearances) and indeed make his international bow with Brazil in a World Cup qualification match against Venezuela.

After 44 league starts and 115 overall appearances for Internacional (winning the domestic league title in each of his four seasons with the club), Alisson departed for Roma in July 2016.

I Giallorossi‘s new €7.5m signing didn’t make a single Serie A appearance in his first season in the Italian capital, however, playing understudy to Wojciech Szczesny and only featuring in the domestic cup and European competition.

Szczesny’s departure for Juventus at the beginning of last season paved the way for Alisson to make 37 Serie A and 12 UEFA Champions League starts in 2017/18, with the Brazilian custodian keeping 17 league clean sheets and conceding just 28 Italian top-flight goals.

Alisson, indeed, came up against his future employers in the Champions League semi-finals, as Roma narrowly fell to a 6-7 aggregate loss to Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The Prospects

Alisson’s underlying goalkeeping statistics bring to mind David de Gea’s excellent performances for Manchester United last season. Both goalkeepers played 3,330 minutes of league football and conceded 28 goals, with de Gea recording just one more shut-out than Alisson managed (18) – no other Premier League goalkeeper could better Alisson’s clean sheet count.

The United custodian registered nine more saves than Alisson (who made 107 stops), meanwhile. Alisson’s save percentage of 79.3%, the best in Serie A, was only bettered by de Gea among first-choice Premier League goalkeepers last season. Karius and Mignolet’s save percentages, by contrast, were a more modest 68.9% and 61.0% respectively.

De Gea and Nick Pope were the only Premier League goalkeepers with a better “expected goals (xG) prevented” total than Alisson, who saved a net total of eight shots that he was expected to concede.

Alisson also made more stops in the UEFA Champions League (46) in 2017/18 than any other goalkeeper.

The Brazilian’s ability to help improve his sides’ defensive record was evident in Serie A last season; Alisson conceded ten fewer goals than Szczesny had shipped in the previous campaign and kept four more clean sheets.

Liverpool fans still having nightmares about Real Madrid’s opening goal in the Champions League final will be heartened to hear that Alisson is regarded as being as adept on the ball as he is saving it.

Their new sweeper-keeper rushed off his line to clear the ball more than twice as many times (41) as the next-most involved Serie A custodian and completed three times as many dribbles (six) than any other shot-stopper in the Italian top tier. A passing accuracy of 79% was over 10% better than Karius’s success rate, too.

Liverpool’s defence markedly improved last season, conceding the fewest amount of goals (38) in a single campaign since 2009/10. The Reds’ defensive record at Anfield was particularly impressive, with only ten goals conceded and 12 clean sheets registered (out of a total of 17) across the season.

The signing of Virgil van Dijk in January was significant, with Klopp’s side recording more shut-outs from the Dutch centre-back’s debut in Gameweek 24 onwards than any other Premier League side.

READ MORE: Further analysis on van Dijk’s impact on the Liverpool backline

With van Dijk stationed in front of him and Liverpool’s defence in general showing signs of improvement last season, the signs are positive for Alisson’s debut campaign as an FPL asset.

The Reds have home matches against West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton in the first six Gameweeks and investment in the Liverpool side during the first few months of the season looks essential. With Fantasy managers only allowed a maximum of three players from one club, and the likes of Robertson, van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to factor into our thoughts, Alisson faces a tough task to worm his way into our FPL squads.

Given the Brazilian’s underlying statistics at Roma, however, Alisson could threaten de Gea’s status as the go-to premium goalkeeping option – and costs half a million less. Even those overlooking the Brazilian international will surely feel more confident about the clean sheet prospects of van Dijk, Robertson et al, knowing that they have a more-than-competent shot-stopper playing behind them.

Read more with Scout

Visit our PRE-SEASON PAGE to get the latest pointers from pre-season friendlies and read scout reports on new players by CLICKING HERE.

Pick your FPL team for 2018/19 using our list of best available players, sorted for your convenience by position and price:

Also check out our detailed statistical analysis articles on every team comparing data for the last two seasons to highlight the players to sign and the players to avoid:

Become a Member and access our data

Memberships for the 2018/19 campaign are now available for the pre-season price of just £12.50. This will increase to the regular price of £15 after the first Gameweek of the season.

Join now to get the following:

  • Plot your transfer strategies using the fully interactive Season Ticker.
  • Get projections for every Premier League player provided by the Rate My Team statistical model.
  • Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers.
  • Get access to over 130+ exclusive members articles over the season.
  • Analyse our OPTA-powered statistic tables specifically tailored for Fantasy Football Managers.
  • Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats.
  • View heatmaps and expected goals data for every player.
  • Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head.

CLICK HERE TO BECOME A FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MEMBER

704 Comments Post a Comment
  1. oah03
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Mane Eriksen Hughes

    Final 2x spots?

    A) David Silva & Ralls

    B) Mhiki & Jota

    Ralls is designated penalty taker for Cardiff.

    1. Viiksisika
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      A but Ralls to 4.5 mid and upgrade one of ur 4.5 defs to Douglas 🙂

      1. oah03
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Good suggestion.

        You reckon Hughes ahead of Ralls you reckon?

        Douglas was a wonder in the Championship...I'm tempted.

        My defence at the moment is Tomkins, Cedric, Bailly, Robertson, Coleman.

        1. Viiksisika
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          I wouldnt pick any of the 5.0m mids. Maybe Tomkins to Douglas then and play with back 4?

          1. Viiksisika
            • 9 Years
            5 years, 8 months ago

            Actually Salah should be in that team also 😀 So maybe just back to the drawing board to add him.

          2. oah03
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            5 years, 8 months ago

            Yeah, that's what I'm thinking...cheers!

            Team is..

            Fabianski

            Douglas Bailly Roberton Coleman

            D Silva Eriksen Mane

            Aguero Tosun Firmino

            Foster Cedric Hughes Stephens

            1. Viiksisika
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 8 months ago

              I would do Mane and Firmino to Salah and Austin. Only if Austin seems to be nailed at the start of the season ofc.

  2. Viiksisika
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Current draft:

    Fabianski | Foster
    Baines | TAA | Douglas | Cedric | 4.0
    Salah | Martial | William | Lamela | 4.5
    Aguero | Auba | Austin

    Looking to Wildcard for GW5. One option is to change Baines and TAA to Mendy/Bavies/Robertson and 4.5 but dunno.

    Thoughts?

    1. SAKA AND EMILE SMITH ROWE
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Good team but I'd go for one of Mendy/Davies/Robertson and Holebas/Tomkins

  3. Red Dagger ✪
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Ok how's this for a little tinkering around....?

    Alisson
    Robbo PVA Davies Schelotto
    Richarlison Salah Mahrez Martial
    Aguero Zaha

    Button Wood Masuaku Bednarek

    1. Bedknobs and Boomsticks
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Like mine about 5 iterations further in, so that all the fat has been paired away to leave nothing but raw fpl point scoring potential.

      I like it.
      (Googles shelotto)

    2. J ⚒ Gimme ur Mané
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      I think it looks good.

      Personally I don’t think Richarlison is a good pick, he has some of the worst finishing I’ve ever seen. Prefer others such as Jota/Walcott etc.

      Masuaku won’t be starting or us IMO, so Your probably better off with a different 4.5 mid such as Stephens.

      Is Schelotto nailed?

    3. Ghost Gooner
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      If you can't play Wood v Sou then you should downgrade him

  4. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Thoughts on this team? Pretty happy with it.

    Foster Fabianski
    Robertson Mendy Tomkins Cedric Peltier
    Salah Mahrez Sigurdsson Martial Chalobah
    Auba Zaha Wood

    0.0ITB is the main concern; see any obvious places I can downgrade to get some ITB for flexibility? Obvious big one for me is Wood to Kamara, wouldn’t be too averse to that.

    Don’t want 4.5 and 4.0 keepers though

    1. Harry Ball Bag™⚽⚽…
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Salah to mane?

      1. Top Lad Dakes.
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Scary going without salah imo. Much easier to sell than buy

        1. J ⚒ Gimme ur Mané
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Ignore him, he’s trolling.....

    2. Dont choose VW. Pickford
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Probably best way to get money would be to downgrade mahrez if his place becomes insecure, maybe mkhitaryan, willian or pogba once hes back. Either that or Firmino for auba.

  5. Harry Ball Bag™⚽⚽…
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Isn’t Lacazette a better option than Aubameyang as Lacazette will be playing central instead of out wide

    1. Top Lad Dakes.
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Don’t know that for sure, but potentially. Auba better player and on pens though, still better pick imo. But Lacazette could be good also

    2. J ⚒ Gimme ur Mané
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      How did you work that one out then?

  6. dbeck
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Why are there hardly any Burnley defenders in RMT? Granted they have all had 0.5 price hike and have Europa league, but dyches teams are always hard to break down. Or are there better 5m options out there?

    1. Harry Ball Bag™⚽⚽…
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Europa league

    2. Red Dagger ✪
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Better options. Not the best 2nd half of last d=season and Europa league.

    3. dbeck
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      In their place, what team with 4.5 defs may emerge? Which teams in the lower/mid part of the league will be hard to break down?

  7. New Post
  8. Wheyyyy
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    2nd year in FPL - looking for thoughts on this team. Going for a 433. I know my mids are weak but will rotate 3rd mid with fixtures...

    Patricio, Fabianski

    Azpi, Coleman, Robertson, PVA, Cedric

    Salah, Sigurdsson, Kenedy, Gray, Masuaku

    Auba, Firmino, Arnautovic

    1. McGinn and Tonic
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Strong def, are u relying too much on Salah in mid?
      Firmino would be my one to swap...Salah is a points machine, Firmino could be firing blanks this season...

      1. GREEN IS GOOD
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Why would Firmino be firing blanks? Liverpool score lots of goals. He plays in a front 3 of him + Salah and Mane. He's quality.

    2. AandyzZ
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Lack of city players, I'd not auba - aguero and swap firmino for lacazette personally

  9. raoulduke71
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Any good?

    ........................Ederson......................
    .......Robertson PVA Cedric Shaw.......
    Salah Mahrez Sanchez Jota Richarlison
    ....................Aubameyang..................

    1. Marmalade Forest
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Filth bench?

  10. Bow Locks
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Nice article.

  11. Adambailey
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Please rate my team

    Pickford

    Douglas, Daniels, tarkowski

    Keita, Sanchez, Son (gw1), sane, mkhit

    Aubam, tosun

    Subs: speroni, Tomkins, malone, arnautovic

    1. AandyzZ
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Why get son for 1 week?
      Mkhi might not start/ be nailed
      Defence is pretty weak

      1. Adambailey
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        He always scores against Newcastle but then he has to go to the Asian games.

        Made some changes, how does this look:

        Pickford

        Stones, Shaw, taa

        Pogba, Salah, carney, sane

        Aubam, tosun, firmino

        Subs: speroni, chalobah, malone, 4m def

        Unsure whether Shaw or Pogba will start though.

  12. Jack John
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Does anyone have a "bargain players" list for the first 5 fixtures?

    Cheaper options (Price below 8 for forward, 7M or lower for midfielder) i can choose from?