Welcome to the pre-season fantasy football tips series “FPL bargain options”, the four-piece series where we find the fantasy football bargains for all positions.
We ran this series last season and it was a success to say the least with players such as; Schmeichel and Alderweireld suggested and it’s worth bragging that in the strikers article, the four players suggested were; Wilson, Defoe, Deeney and JAMIE VARDY! Nailed it! Lets hope we can find some FPL bargain options this season too!
It’s well known that most fantasy football points are scored from the outfield positions and having an expensive goalkeeper isn’t necessary. These four suggestions should provide a solid point count and leave you a nice chunk of cash for the more important positions.
Victor Valdes (Middlesbrough, 4.5m)
Victor Valdes plays for Middlesbrough, football is crazy. Middlesbrough were the best team in the Championship defensively last season and only conceded 31 goals in 46 games. Karanka knows how to tune his players and knows how to make it very hard for the opposition to break his team down, it’s no coincidence considering that he’s worked with Jose Mourinho in the past.
Valdes is a solid goalkeeper with bags of winning experience, he’s reliable to have and Middlesbrough’s opening fixtures are reliable for fantasy football managers; Stoke (H), Sunderland (A), West Brom (A) and Crystal Palace (H). The fixtures, the manager and the goalkeeper himself should be enough to tempt you to put Victor Valdes in your teams.
Ben Foster (West Brom, 4.5m)
Ben Foster’s 15/16 season was cut short after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury, but now he’s fit and ready to start the new season with West Brom. West Brom goalkeepers/defenders are always a solid cheap pick that gives you a good chance of the odd clean sheet, this is thanks to Tony Pulis being in charge who values clean sheets more than the cap on his head and that’s saying something!
Gameweek 8 will be the first time in the season that West Brom will play a team that finished in the top four last season meaning they have a fairly nice start and have fixtures such as Middlesbrough (H), Sunderland (A) and Bournemouth (A) in that period of time. Foster is a solid keeper, playing in a solid team with cheap price, it’s worth a shot.
Steve Mandanda (Crystal Palace, 4.5m)
Steve Mandanda has signed for Palace? What a signing! Said everyone that plays FIFA Ultimate Team. No, but seriously, Mandanda may well be a great bargain for your team. The Frenchman has won the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year award 4 times, more than any other goalkeeper and has 43 Champions League appearances, these achievements don’t come easily and it’s clear to see the Crystal Palace have signed a goalkeeper with bundles of talent.
Fixtures are important to look at when making your first squad as you want to get off to the best start and Crystal Palace’s first five fixtures may just tempt you to put Mandanda in your teams; West Brom (H), Spurs (A), Bournemouth (H), Middlesbrough (A) and Stoke (H). Apart from the Spurs game there is a very good chance Pardew’s players can pick up some early clean sheets and Mandanda can pick you up some nice, cheap points thanks to you taking this suggestion!
Tom Heaton (Burnely, 4.5m)
When suggesting a Burnley goalkeeper it’s likely most of you are laughing at the idea, but believe it or not, Heaton kept 10 clean sheets when Burney were last in the Premier League, which for a 4.5m goalkeeper is very respectable. It seems Sean Dyche’s men go off the radar when it comes to their defensive reputation but maybe Tom Heaton is a dark horse when it comes to point scoring.
Heaton made 127 saves in the 2014/15 season which would’ve topped the save leaderboard last year. If he’s not earning clean sheet points there’s a good chance he will be picking one or two points up from shot stopping. It’s a good differential and will allow you to add more fire power outfield with the money you have saved.
Hopefully this article will help you decide a goalkeeper for your team, good luck!
Written by Tom Mellor (@MellorFootball)
