Fantasy Football Tips 2013/2014 – Goalkeepers
Manchester City’s Joe Hart topped the goalkeeping charts with 158 points last year, but the England international is expected to have a much tougher battle on his hands to retain his number one spot in the fantasy football charts this season.
Sportingly Better takes a look at the best goalkeeping options in this year’s fantasy football competition, with Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet catching early attention.
Budget Goalkeepers
Southampton’s Artur Boruc (£4.5m) leads the way as the Premier League’s top budget-priced goalkeeper after cementing his place in Maurico Pochettino’s starting line-up last term. Boruc picked up five clean sheets last season, but a full season of game time this year along with the defensive reinforcements of Victor Wanyama and Dejan Lovren could leave the Polish goalkeeper on course to significantly improve on his tally of 63 points from last term.
The Saints kick off their campaign with games against West Brom, Sunderland, Norwich and West Ham, whilst an opening set of seven good home fixtures at St Mary’s could see Boruc attract plenty of initial investment.
Elsewhere Cardiff’s David Marshall (£4.5m) represents arguably the best choice from any of the three promoted clubs, after the Bluebirds picked up 18 clean sheets during their title-winning campaign in the Championship last year.
Marshall rotates well with both Michel Vorm (£5.0m) and Simon Mignolet (£5.5m) throughout the whole season, but Cardiff’s tricky opening fixtures may deter suitors of the Scottish goalkeeper initially.
Julian Speroni (£4.5m) and Allan McGregor (£4.5m) offer an excellent home/away rotation pairing for managers shopping on a budget right across the season, but both sides may struggle to attract clean sheets after securing promotion from the Championship last term.
Mid-Price Goalkeepers
Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet (£5.5m) and Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny (£5.5m) remain the standout choices for the mid-priced bracket range with both goalkeepers likely to be assured of game time throughout the new season.
Mignolet finished last season with 140 points for Sunderland, but the Belgium international’s switch to Liverpool could see the stopper go beyond that figure, with the Reds having kept 16 clean sheets in the Premier League last campaign.
Liverpool have a favourable run of fixtures for the opening nine gameweeks, with Mignolet a cheaper choice ahead of the more costly Jose Enrique, Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson in the Liverpool defence.
Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny is also well priced in this year’s fantasy football competition at £5.5m, but form concerns along with competition from Lukasz Fabianski make drafting in the goalkeeper initially, a sticky dilemma.
The Gunners conceded just 37 goals in the league last time out, with Szczesny and Per Mertesacker at £5.5m providing the best route into the Arsenal backline this season.
Jussi Jaaskelainen and Asmir Begovic have both been handed price increases and now cost £5.5m and although West Ham enjoy arguably the best opening six fixtures in the Premiership, neither goalkeeper is expected to attract too much attention.
Midlands goalkeepers Ben Foster (£5.0m) and Brad Guzan (£5.0m) offer an attractive mid-priced home/away rotation pairing this season should any managers wish to pair the two toegether, but there are better value options in defence for each of the Birmingham-based sides.
Premium Goalkeepers
Last year’s top-performing goalkeeper Joe Hart (£6.5m) will likely find favour given Manchester City’s early set of fixtures, but Manuel Pellegrini’s brand of attacking football could cost the Citizens plenty of clean sheet points over the season.
Hart has picked up consistent clean sheets over the past three years (18, 17, 18), but with only Vincent Kompany more expensive than the England stopper, the chances are that managers might shelve signing Joe Hart to make cost-savings on the Citizens squad.
Hugo Lloris‘ price tag of £6.0m is also likely to significantly reduce the French number one’s appeal in the transfer market, with Spurs managing just nine clean sheets in the Premier League last term. Add to that the cost of both Younes Kaboul (£5.0m) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (£5.0m) in the Tottenham backline and the price tag on Lloris seems largely unjustified.
Meanwhile the ever-improving David de Gea (£6.0m) could well court attention from Gameweek 6 onwards, with the Manchester United goalkeeper likely to pick-up a large number of save points for the Premier League champions over the coming season. The club’s managerial change and difficult opening fixtures is likely to deter initial investment, but a lesser toll on injuries for the Red Devils could see an improvement on the Spanish goalkeepers 118 points from last season.
Finally, Chelsea’s Petr Cech (£6.5m) is unlikely to disrupted under Jose Mourinho’s second reign at Stamford Bridge. With increasing uncertainty surrounding the London club’s line-up, the Czech Republic international could pick up plenty of suitors this year.
Reference
Fantasy Football Tips – Goalkeepers
Fantasy Football Tips – Defenders
Fantasy Football Tips – Midfielders
Fantasy Football Tips – Forwards
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Author Credit: Jonathan Day
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/7332125@N04
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