Fantasy Allsvenskan Goalkeepers

Introduction

After a delay, Allsvenskan has been cleared to start on the 14th of June and there’s no better time to start properly planning our teams for the Official Allsvenskan Fantasy game. Today we’ll start by looking over some of the Goalkeeping options available to us this season.

Goalkeepers in Fantasy Allsvenskan get points for the same things as in FPL (time played, clean sheets, every three saves and every penalty save) but with a few extra points thrown in as defensive bonuses. That means they get 1 point for every 6 clearance, block, or interception and 1 point for every 6 ball recoveries – with a maximum of 2 defensive bonus points per game. This, in turn, leads to “active” keepers having quite a decent floor and complements a lack of clean sheets for some of the less premium options. That’s not to say premium keepers aren’t worth it as the best options combine all avenues to points like Norrköping’s Isak Pettersson (6.5m) who came in third in the overall points last season with 166, just behind defender Lars Krogh Gerson‘s 174 points (6.5m) and midfielder Muamer Tankovic (11.0m) who got 181.

With that in mind, let us take a look at some of the main goalkeeper options!

Premium Goalkeepers

Isak Pettersson

Isak Pettersson (6.5m) had a great season for IFK Norrköping and became the highest scoring goalkeeper, for the second season in a row. He managed to get 16 clean sheets in 30 games and sprinkled that with 97 saves and an incredible tally of 281 ball recoveries (second-best in the league). In terms of defensive in and outgoings for Norrköping, semi-regular wingback Ian Smith and central midfield figurehead Gudmundur Thórarinsson have left the squad while defensive midfielder Eric Smith rejoined on a season-long loan. Manager Jens Gustafsson played around a lot more with a four-man defence in pre-season (rather than wingbacks which he deployed most of last season) which could create a different dynamic in the defence but in all likelihood, Pettersson will continue to be a great option this season as well.

Peter Abrahamsson

BK Häcken keeper Peter Abrahamsson (6.5m) was 15 points behind Pettersson last year and he got there thanks to 11 clean sheets, 83 saves, 236 ball recoveries and 3 penalty saves in 29 games. Penalty saves are in general not to be relied upon as a source of points but Abrahamsson is starting to develop a bit of a reputation in that department as he’s let in just 4 goals from the 9 penalties he’s faced in the last 2 seasons. Häcken manager Andreas Alm also has a reputation for promoting a solid defence (he previously coached AIK with great defensive results). 6.5m is a bit on the expensive side though and Abrahamsson is going to have to keep up the pen-saves if he’s to justify that price.

Johan Dahlin

The third and final 6.5m goalkeeper is Johan Dahlin from Malmö FF. Malmö had a (by their own standards) slow start to the season last time around but recovered after a while and pushed Djurgården for the title up until the very last game, finishing second. Dahlin’s biggest selling point is that he keeps plenty of clean sheets (15 in 29 games) and lets in very few goals – just 16 in total last season. He hasn’t been kept very busy though which we can see in other fantasy stats:

• 62 saves (8th best in the league).
• 3 blocks/clearances/interceptions (worst in the league!).
• 199 ball recoveries (7th best in the league).

All in all, 6.5m is a lot to shell out for a keeper who’s not that involved in actions favoured by the bonus point system, but he remains a popular choice given Malmö’s defensive prowess. Malmö also have a new head coach this season so maybe Dahlin will find new avenues to points as well, time will tell.

Tommi Vaiho

An unlikely hero for the league-winners Djurgården last season, Tommi Vaiho (6.0m) swooped in to claim his place from the bench when starting keeper Per Kristian Bråtveit (5.0m) fell out of favour as his head was turned by a move abroad, that later fell apart. Vaiho who has a long history at Djurgården wasted no time in cementing his place and kept 12 clean sheets in 20 games, letting in just 10 goals overall. There’s no doubting his performances last season (he was brilliant) but they have to be viewed somewhat through the lens of an extremely solid back-line led by central defender Marcus Danielsson who has since left to play in the Chinese league.

Given the current pandemic Danielsson has been unable to feature for his new club though, and some rumours are placing him back in Djurgården on a season-long loan. It remains to be seen how it all unfolds but early signs in pre-season seem to indicate that Djurgården might have a slightly harder time this season keeping it as tight without their defensive general leading the line. Some have high hopes in Erik Berg (5.5m) replacing him efficiently but his consistent injury problems in the last three years sheds some doubt on that line of thinking. Keep a close eye on the defensive developments at Djurgården as rival Bråtveit will no doubt be hoping to reclaim his spot if he is unable to secure a move away this summer.

Jakob Haugaard

AIK’s Oscar Linnér has left to play for Arminia Bielefeld and Jakob Haugaard (6.0m) was signed as a replacement. Haugaard most recently comes from a few years at Stoke where he’s struggled to get any game-time, he hasn’t really been a regular since the 2014/2015 season for Danish side FC Midtjylland where he kept 7 clean sheets in 23 games. Haugaard faces competition from Budimir Janošević (5.0m) who could be a real value pick should he manage to oust Haugaard as the season progresses. As things stand however, Haugaard should be first choice for an AIK side that always does well defensively.

Giannis Anestis

IFK Göteborg keeper Giannis Anestis (6.0m) was a solid pick last year but then he was priced at 5.0m. The new price-tag puts increased pressure on him to perform but he does have some things going for him, namely Göteborg’s impressive displays at home. In 15 games at home last season they only let in 7 goals, keeping 8 clean sheets in the process. Away from home however they let in 24 goals in 15 games so that is something that they’re going to have to work on if they want to finish higher up the table. Even so, Anestis could still be a solid pick even with the new price-tag, if he can keep building upon the 10 clean sheets he managed in 30 games last time around.

Mid-priced Goalkeepers

David Ousted

Signed by last season’s bronze-medallists Hammarby to replace the retiring Johan Wiland, David Ousted (5.5m) will probably be one of the more busy “top team”-keepers, if last year is anything to go by. Hammarby try to win games by attacking non-stop and as such, tend to leave themselves well exposed on the counter. The goal difference 75-38 from 30 games really says it all and even if Hammarby are looking to improve defensively, unless something drastic changes, it’s likely that Ousted will be tested frequently and thus (in theory) has a chance to prove his worth. Keep in mind though that he takes up a Hammarby spot that might become precious if they can keep up their attack (an offensive double up and at times treble up was very viable last season).

Oscar Jansson

Örebro’s keeper Oscar Jansson (5.0m) had a solid season last time around and remains an interesting proposition this year. Though clean sheets are few and far between (just 4 in 30 games) he racks up the saves with 118 in total last season, the best in the league by a margin of 17 saves. He was also top for ball recoveries (323) and second-best for clearances/blocks/interceptions (27). That means defensive bonus points are likely to keep flying in, though unfortunately they seem to come at a price of letting plenty of goals in as well with 56 conceded last year – worst in the league. Jansson finished last season as the fifth-highest scoring goalkeeper and could very well be a good option again.

Lucas Hägg Johansson

Another 5.0m option who doesn’t really do clean sheets is Lucas Hägg Johansson (3 in 30 attempts last season) but he somewhat makes up for that in saves and defensive bonus points. He’s ranked second-best for saves (101), third-best for ball recoveries (260) and best in the league for clearances/blocks/interceptions (29). Kalmar is now managed by Nanne Bergstrand who’s back in charge of the club for the fourth time where he’s had mixed results recently, though he famously guided them to their first and only league title back in 2008. One thing Lucas Hägg Johansson has going for him is the fact that back-up keeper Tobias Andersson comes in at a cost of just 4.0m, making them a very viable 9.0m combination for our squads.

Budget Goalkeepers

Marko Johansson

Quite possibly the pick of the budget bunch, Marko Johansson (4.5m) is on loan at Mjällby from Malmö. Johansson is a young talent who has spent the last three seasons on loan to different Swedish clubs and impressing enough to earn quite a few games for Sweden’s national youth teams. Mjällby’s starting keeper last season was Carl-Johan Eriksson (4.5m) but it seems likely that Johansson has come to Mjällby to play, otherwise Malmö wouldn’t have loaned him out. Marko Johansson arrives at a Mjällby squad who earned promotion last season many thanks to a solid defence (31 goals conceded in 30 games, second-best in the league). Mjällby also advanced to the quarter-final in the Swedish cup in pre-season, at the expense of title winners Djurgården. With three wins and a goal difference of 10-2, they showed encouraging signs ahead of the new season in the top division, though the level of the opponents (besides Djurgården) has to be taken into account. In three cup games Johansson got one game while Carl-Johan Eriksson got two, but I wouldn’t make too much of that yet – just try to stay updated on how that particular situation develops.

Lukas Jonsson

IK Sirius goalkeeper last season was Lukas Jonsson (4.5m) but they’ve since reinforced with Jonathan Viscosi (4.5m) who’s set on challenging Jonsson for the starting spot. As things stand Lukas Jonsson appear to remain the first-choice keeper but it is something to keep track of as the season draws closer. Jonsson managed to keep veteran keeper John Alvbåge on the bench last season (admittedly the latter struggled a bit with injuries as well) and he got 6 clean sheets in 23 games. He was kept quite busy and managed 75 saves, 174 ball recoveries and 26 clearances/blocks/interceptions while he let in 35 goals.

FFS will be covering Fantasy Allsvenskan to a certain extent this season and you can look forward to future articles on defenders, midfielders and forwards to help build your initial squad! The Fantasy Allsvenskan launch article on FFS is here and the English landing page where you sign up to the game is here. Finally, the code to the FFS League is v5ajyz.

So, there you have it! Which goalkeepers are you looking at recruiting? Anyone pique your interest, or do you have your heart set on someone not mentioned here? As always, if you want to chat about fantasy football either comment here below – or hit me up @FF_Meltens on Twitter!

Allsvenskan Fantasy 2020

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