Fulham save machine Leno among Fantasy Premier League's best value goalkeepers
It’s that time of year again with every aspiring manager in the country is tinkering with their Fantasy Football team ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season, which gets underway in just one month.
We take a look at three bargain goalkeepers that are more than worthy of consideration when choosing your stopper for the upcoming campaign.
The first keeper for consideration is Fulham’s Bernd Leno. The German stopper made 36 appearances for the Cottagers last season and he ranked second for saves (143) amongst Goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues last season. Fulham also kept a total of eight clean sheets with Leno in between the sticks, the tenth highest return in the Premier League.
If we take a look at his performance on FPL last year, he amassed 142 points, a total which saw him rank sixth amongst the other keepers in the league and of the 13 goalkeepers to make at least 30 appearances in the Premier League last season, only David Raya registered a higher WhoScored.com rating (6.97) than Bernd Leno (6.94) and at a meager 4.5m he should be a popular option.
🧤 Of the 13 goalkeepers to make at least 30 appearances in the Premier League last season, only David Raya registered a higher rating (6.97) than Bernd Leno (6.94) pic.twitter.com/FLKYTc9O6q
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 10, 2023
Next up is Alphonse Areola of West Ham. The Frenchman played second fiddle behind Lukas Fabianksi last season and only featured in five Premier League games for the Hammers, making just two starts.
However, at a price of just 4.0 there are no players cheaper than the stopper and he may be worth a shout. Particularly if Fabianski does fall out of the side, or leaves, as it is rumoured, Areola will be right on hand to provide his services and if he becomes number one then his inclusion in your FPL side would be a smart one.
Our final bargain buy is Brighton’s Jason Steele. The 32-year old made a total of 15 Premier League starts for the Seasiders last season, with Robert Sanchez (6.42) starting the lion-share of games (23), but it is the Englishman that received the higher WhoScored.com rating (6.73)for the previous campaign.
In the games that Steele did feature in he managed to accrue 65 fantasy points, a total which was bettered by 16 keepers, but as a second string keeper that’s not a bad return. He also saved one penalty, in those 15 apps and kept the same amount of clean sheets (6) as his colleague, Sanchez.
With Sanchez reportedly looking for a move away from Brighton, Steele could be a shrewd play. Even with the addition of Bart Verbruggen, it may take some time for the Dutchman to get up to speed in new surroundings, so Steele's inclusion, at least initially, could prove a shrewd one.
