Lloris vs Pickford – FPL Dilemma

The goalkeeper position remains one of the important roles in any fantasy football team forming the last line of defence. A great keeper can be the difference between victory and loss; one single mistake can be disastrous and remembered for all of time, whereas most of heroics saves are frequently overlooked.

A decent keeper can read the game making it very hard for the opponent to take his team by surprise, boosting his team’s confidence or lowering it to the point where fan’s tears start dropping.

With the start of 2019/20 season and with every FPL manager working on their initial drafts one of the main challenges remain is to find a good keeper who will consistently score points but also will not be costly.

The Spurs and French team captain Hugo lloris and the Toffees and English team keeper Jordan Pickford are on the top of the list of candidates in which managers are looking at, hoping they will attain a decent share of clean sheets. However, with both of them cost £5.5m which of them is considered as a better option?

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, £5.5m)

During the past few campaigns, Lloris has been able to make a name for himself, with his ability to make crucial saves during difficult times, like the late penalty that was saved in the north London derby which kept the score at 1-1 or the clean sheet against Dortmund in Champions League last 16 away tie. He also kept a clean sheet in the home leg of the quarter-final against Manchester City, saving a penalty in a 1–0 win that helped keep Spurs in the competition. On international level, despite his mistake which resulted a goal in an unsuccessful attempt to dribble past Madzukic, Lloris took the honour of lifting the World Cup trophy as his team’s captain as France defeated Croatia with a 4-2 victory in the final.

Lloris scored 145 points last season, the fourth highest total in the league behind Alisson (£6.0m), Ederson (£6.0m) and Pickford (£5.5m). He also kept 12 clean sheets in the premier league last season, starting in 33 of their 38 matches and conceded 33 goals in the league last season with no bookings.

This season it is expected that he will aim to enhance his form to contribute in the North London team’s title challenge. They’ll be desperate to bounce back from their Champions league final defeat, maintaining themselves at the top four and remain competitive in the Champions league. With the return of Kane, the signing of Ndombele and the strong performances from Son in their last campaign it seems that Spurs will be having the tools for it.

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Jordan Pickford (Everton, £5.5m)

Since the completion of the signing of Pickford in 2017, the talented Englishman had his good and bad moments with the Toffees. During the 2018/19 campaign he made a last-minute slip-up against their local rivals Liverpool, after he mistreated a volley allowing the rivals to score their winning goal in the stoppage time. Also another error was made against Newcastle as he misjudged a cross which ended up with a penalty, however he quickly redeemed his mistake by saving the penalty but unfortunately he conceded three times after that.

At international level, Pickford helped the Englishmen beating Columbia 4-3 on penalties, taking a place in the quarter final. He also managed to keep his first clean sheet of the world cup as England knocked out Sweden with a 2-0 win; the result earned the squad a place in the semi-finals for the first time since 1990. Also during UEFA Nations league, Pickford was able to score and then save the decisive penalty. It was the second penalty shootout in a row that England had won, with Pickford saving penalties in both, by that he became the first goalkeeper to save and score a penalty in a competitive shootout for England which ensured a win over Switzerland to finally finish in third place.

Pickford scored 161 points last season, the third highest total in the league behind both £6.0m Alisson and Ederson. He also kept 14clean sheets in the Premier League last season, starting in all Everton’s 38 matches and conceded 46 goals in the league last season, with one yellow card.

Comparison

Comparing the last season, you can see the two of them compare closely:

Player Hugo Lloris Jordan Pickford
Points 145 161
Minutes Played 2970 3420
Clean Sheets 12 14
Goals Conceded 33 46
Bonus Points 10 13
Price £5.5m £5.5m

Although Pickford scored more points, this was partly attributable to the Englishman playing more minutes, as Lloris has only made 33 appearances.

The Verdict

On the whole, both Keepers seem like a good option for FPL managers this season, however, Lloris may just be a better option to start the season despite Pickford strong performance last campaign. As Spurs have a better defence and will be looking to invest further in their team and push on from their fourth place finish, Lloris may just be the man to pick.

Written by Omar El-Sotouhy (@sotouhy9)

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