The goalkeeper is one of the trickiest positions to fill in fantasy football as a poor choice can end up costing you dearly. These are the top four stoppers to consider for your team:
Angus Gunn
The youngster has done really well to clinch a place in the Southampton starting 11 ahead of the experienced Alex McCarthy. He made his Premier League debut in a 0-0 draw with Chelsea in January 2019 and he was named man of the match after pulling off a string of fine saves. He has made a strong start to the current campaign and kept two clean sheets in five games. The Saints suffered a 3-0 defeat to Burnley on the opening weekend, but since then they have conceded just three goals in five games. The top betting sites no longer consider them among the favourites for relegation and they should be able to enjoy a comfortable season in mid-table, thanks largely to their defensive strength. Gunn is a lot cheaper than some of the big name goalkeepers, and that frees up money for you to invest in other departments.
David De Gea
Spanish superstar De Gea has just signed a new contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until 2023. He will earn £250,000 per week and his salary can rise to £350,000 through performance-related bonuses. That should provide De Gea with plenty of motivation to thrive between the sticks for Man Utd. He has developed a reputation as the world’s best shot-stopper during his time at the club, and his highlights reel is outrageous, jam-packed full of dazzling feats of agility and seemingly superhuman double saves. Man Utd look more solid defensively this season after spending £130 million on Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer, and they did well to beat Leicester 1-0 last time out. De Gea is cheaper than Ederson and Alisson, but he should rack up a great deal of points this season.
Leicester have also made a strong start to the season and they still sit fifth in the table, despite that 1-0 defeat to Man Utd at the weekend. Anyone expecting them to play kamikaze football under Brendan Rodgers has been sorely disappointed, as the Foxes have remained pretty disciplined and organised in their games so far this season. Schmeichel has just one clean sheet to his name thus far, but Leicester have had a tough start to the season and he should add to that tally once the fixture list eases up. They have only conceded four goals in five games and that bodes well for the Danish stopper’s chances of enjoying a good season.
Dean Henderson
Sheff Utd goalkeeper Henderson might represent another intriguing bargain offer for fantasy managers this season. The Blades look a lot more solid at the back than many people expected, and only three teams – Liverpool, Man Utd and Leicester – have conceded fewer goals than them so far this season. Yet Henderson will have plenty to do as his team is likely to engage in a ferocious battle to avoid relegation, and he has shown he has the ability to pull off some fine saves. He has taken 18 points from his opening five games, which is an impressive haul for a player that costs just £4.5 million. Tom Heaton of Aston Villa and Nick Pope of Burnley are alternatives in the bargain basement, but it is easy to see Sheff Utd conceding fewer goals than those two sides this season. Burnley have struggled since that opening weekend win over Southampton, while the jury is still out on Aston Villa’s defence.