In the first of a multi-part feature, I run the rule over Fantasy Premier League goalkeepers.

The Official Fantasy Premier League game is out, and with it, are the excitement and anticipation that accompany it. In this article, I will give my tips and opinions on the goalkeepers in the game. This will be followed by defenders, midfielders and forwards in further editions.

Price Brackets

Goalkeepers are divided into four price brackets in the game. They are –

£5.5m – This bracket includes starting goalkeepers of the top 5 defensive teams. £5.0m – This bracket includes starting goalkeepers of the next 6 defensive teams and backup goalkeepers of the top 5 teams. £4.5m – This bracket includes starting goalkeepers of the bottom 9 defensive teams and backup goalkeepers of the middle 6 defensive teams. £4.0m – This bracket includes backup goalkeepers of the bottom 9 defensive teams and third choice goalkeepers of the other teams.

Goalkeeper Strategies

Every team must have two goalkeepers. There are two primary strategies when it comes to goalkeepers.

One £5.5m and one £4.0m goalkeeper. Two £4.5m goalkeepers.

On the face of it, the first strategy might seem awfully tempting. It seems easy to go with a goalkeeper from a top 5 defensive team, say Hugo Lloris, and play him every week. However, I recommend the second strategy – going with two £4.5m goalkeepers and rotating them as necessary.

The Benefits of Goalkeeper Rotation

You must be wondering – why go for two goalkeepers of lower teams instead of one reliable goalkeeper from a top team? But it is often a better idea to go for two £4.5m goalkeepers instead.

Firstly, an advantage it offers is extra funds to spend up top. Two £4.5m goalkeepers will set you back £9.0m in total, whereas a £5.5m goalkeeper and a £4.0m goalkeeper will cost you £9.5m, freeing up an extra £0.5m. When the forwards will do the bulk of the point scoring for you, it makes sense to free up the budget at the back to spend up top.

Secondly, it offers you time in case of an injury. If your £5.5m goalkeeper was to get injured/suspended, you would have to use up your weekly free transfer in replacing him, since no £4.0m goalkeeper is likely to start as of now. With two starting goalkeepers, you have an immediate instant back up at the ready.

Thirdly, it’s not just a cost and transfer saving policy – it actually will offer you more points, by offering you a better chance at clean sheets!

But how?

Let’s take the case of Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the top scoring £5.5m goalkeeper of the 16/17 season. And let’s take the case of Asmir Begovic (Bournemouth) and Mathew Ryan (Brighton & Hove Albion), who are the top £4.5m pairing by Fixture Difficulty Rating.

Lloris’ first 10 fixtures…

GW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fixture NEW (A) CHE (H) BUR (H) EVE (A) SWA (H) WHU (A) HUD (A) BOU (H) LIV (H) MUN (A) FDR 2 5 1 4 2 2 2 2 4 4 Total 28

*FDR – Fixture Difficulty Rating. 1 is lowest, 5 is highest, the lower the better. Taken from the official Premier League site.

And what you would get, if you rotate Begovic and Ryan, playing the one with the more favorable fixture..

GW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fixture WBA (A) WAT (H) WAT (A) WBA (H) BHA (H) NEW (H) LEI (H) EVE (H) STK (A) SOU (H) FDR 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 Total 21

The latter seems much better, doesn’t it? And that too, for a cheaper cost and provides you with a cushion in case of an injury/suspension.

More advantages to rotation

Two more advantages offered by goalkeeper rotation are that goalkeeper rotation is often based on players from lower teams. Goalkeepers from top teams often have a disadvantage. Their point scoring is usually only through clean sheets.

However, goalkeepers from lower teams contribute points through saves as well. Simply put, weaker defense, more shots faced, more saves, more points. This may come as a surprise, but the top scoring goalkeeper last season was actually Burnley’s Tom Heaton (149 pts), lending credence to this theory. The Englishman was ahead of Hugo Lloris (143 pts), Thibaut Courtois (141 pts), David de Gea (136 pts), and Petr Cech (134 pts), all of who cost £5.5m, without any rotation. This was despite the fact Heaton only grabbed 10 clean sheets, whereas Courtois kept 16 and Lloris 15.

More saves lead to more bonus points, which is another avenue of point scoring not many top team goalkeepers are able to exploit. Heaton scored a remarkable 21 pts from bonus last season, almost twice as many as Lloris (6), Courtois (0), de Gea (5) and Cech (2) combined.

So what are some other good £4.5m pairs?

The aforementioned Begovic and Ryan are the most favorable, with a combined FDR score of 21 for the first 10 weeks, if you choose the one with the more favorable fixture each week. Here are some alternatives.

Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion) and Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea)

GW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fixture BOU (H) BUR (A) STK (H) NEW (H) WHU (H) WAT (H) WHU (A) HUD (H) LEI (H) MCI (H) FDR 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 4 Total 22 Mathew Ryan (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield)

GW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fixture CRY (A) NEW (H) WAT (A) WBA (H) BOU (A) NEW (H) TOT (H) SWA (A) WHU (H) SOT (H) FDR 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 2 Total 22 Heurelho Gomes (Watford) and Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace)

GW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fixture HUD (H) BOU (A) BHA (H) BUR (A) SOT (H) SWA (A) WBA (A) ARS (H) NEW (A) STK (H) FDR 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 4 2 2 Total 22

Other factors to consider

Goalkeepers should not be looked at in isolation. They are also part of your defence, whose primary source of points is also clean sheets. Thus, you should base your goalkeeper picks in accordance with your defensive picks, where there are more factors to consider (to be covered in the next part). You ideally don’t want a goalkeeper from a team that you already have a defender from, because then you’ll be having two eggs in the same basket; it’s wiser to spread the risk.

Author’s Take:

My personal recommendation is Foster-Fabianski. Goalkeepers can be covered by defenders, and the Begovic-Ryan pairing can be replaced by a similar pairing in defense for £9.0m. However, you cannot cover Foster-Fabianski for £9.0m, since there are no £4.5m West Brom defenders. West Brom are especially tight in defense owing to their manager Tony Pulis’ strategy of being resolute at the back. The Swansea defense has also shown resilience under Paul Clement. This makes this the best pairing, according to me.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them using the comments section.