Welcome to a pre-season series “FPL bargain hunting”, the four-piece series where we find the bargains for all positions. It’s important to find THAT little gem that scores high and costs low. As frustrating as it is, the budget in fantasy football will never allow us to have star players across all places in our team, we need to fill some of those gaps with cheap but effective players to ensure we score points and have a nice chunk of cash for the big buys.
This is the first edition in the series and we are covering the men between the sticks, the goalkeepers. We only get two places available for the goalkeepers, so having two expensive goalkeepers is possible, but it would cost you a total of 11.0m, what’s the point? We need that vital spare cash for the real point scoring positions further forward. So, what do we class as a bargain price tag for a goalkeeper? The most expensive will cost you 5.5m and the cheapest priced goalkeepers are 4.0m, we’ve decided that a bargain for the goalkeeper is 5.0m or less and here you will see a mixture of both 5.0m and 4.5m goalkeepers that could quite be a bargain once the season is underway.
Maarten Steklenburg (Southampton, 5.0m)
Maarten Steklenburg was the first player I put into my team, it seems with Fraser Forster out for months into the season that Southampton have called upon Steklenburg to replace him while he is out. At only 5.0m the goalkeeper will be a great addition to the team. He’s cheaper than goalkeepers such as; Cech, Courtois and Hart and I can see him keeping the same amount, if not more clean sheets this season while he is covering for Fraser Forster. Saving yourself 0.5m is vital in fantasy football and can allow you to go from a Wayne Rooney to a Diego Costa! Steklenburg is a solid transfer and should be considered straight away.
Simon Mignolet (Liverpool, 5.0m)
The first half of the season, Simon Mignolet was a laughing stock! Brendan Rodgers dropped the Belgium from the team last December and he came back with brilliant form and showed us great character (Had to get that one in there). Mignolet is only the 9th most picked goalkeeper at this present time (MAY CHANGE) and I can’t believe this considering that Liverpool’s first three home fixtures are against Bournemouth, West Ham and Norwich, surely three clean sheets! Mignolet is only 5.0m and this can save you the vital 0.5m that you may need for further positions.
Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester 4.5m)
Kasper Schmeichel was unfortunate to miss a chunk of last season due to suffering a broken metatarsal, I still don’t think we have seen the best of the Leicester goalkeeper yet but I do believe it will come soon. At 4.5m this is a great goalkeeper to have in your team whether it is your first choice or second choice, a guaranteed starter with every chance of keeping clean sheets and picking up bonus points every week. I can only see Schmeichel’s price going up as the season goes by so get him in your team while he’s cheap.
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, 4.5m)
This one may come as a slight shock taking into account how poor Aston Villa was last season. But, I feel that Brad Guzan for only 4.5m is a bargain for several reasons. Firstly, with Aston Villa recently letting Shay Given move to Stoke, it looks like this means Guzan’s position in the starting XI is cemented. Another reason is the price, spending only 4.5m will save you some important cash for more attacking, high point scoring positions! Unless the goalkeeper saves a penalty or picks up a bonus point or two, the maximum we can expect is 6 which is still a rarity in the Premier League. Guzan will play, save and save you money in fantasy football, it’s a safe one.
Tom Mellor
@MellorFootball
