The return of Fantasy Premier League on Friday saw great excitement amongst the FPL community. This season we will continue with our ‘Ones to watch’ series in which we pick out four players for each gameweek.
With the prices now revealed for the new campaign in the next few weeks, we will look at which players look to be good picks from different categories. We will start off by looking at the premium goalkeepers (value of between £5.5-6M). Here are the players who fall into that category:
Alisson (Liverpool, £6m)
The Liverpool goalkeeper finished as a highest-scoring player in his position last season. The Brazilian kept 21 clean sheets in his debut campaign in the Premier League, as the Reds finished second in the table.
No doubt he is a fine set and forget option for season 2019/20. However, the pretty big caveat to his selection is that it restricts your options for outfield players from the Merseysider’s.
Defensive trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk are all big assets to have in your team when it comes to defence. Then you have the midfielders of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, who will produce serious points next season. For us, Alisson is a top goalkeeper. However, the temptation of picking three of the aforementioned five outfield players may lead to looking elsewhere for our number one for the new season.
Ederson (Manchester City, £6m)
Just like his compatriot Alisson, Ederson looks like an attractive set and forget option. He produced just seven fewer points than his Liverpool counterpart last season, keeping just one less clean sheet. In terms of the difference in quality, there is not much between the two. Alisson is Brazil’s current number one. However, both are top players and good FPL options to have.
Ironically, despite City being favourites to claim the Premier League title, we wouldn’t say that Ederson’s selection would mean as much Alisson’s when it comes to picking City’s outfield players. At the moment, defenders Aymeric Laporte and Oleksandr Zinchenko, midfielder Raheem Sterling and forward Sergio Aguero are the most popular City players. However, midfield pair Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne are options.
The problem with City is Pep Guardiola’s rotation policy, so the Citizens players are not as likely to start every game like their Liverpool counterparts. If we were picking a premium goalkeeper then Ederson would be the man.
Jordan Pickford (Everton, £5.5m)
Despite Everton boss Marco Silva having a reputation for his teams not being able to defend, the Toffees finished the season with the joint third most clean sheets in the top-flight, as only Alisson and Ederson kept more clean sheets than the Merseysider’s 14.
A big part of that stat was the performances of England international Pickford towards the end of the campaign. It all came together in the last few months and Everton were suddenly hard to score against. The likelihood that centre-back Kurt Zouma will not be at the club next season may change the Toffees defensive display. The Chelsea-loanee produced some outstanding displays alongside Michael Keane at the heart of the backline.
The Everton hierarchy are reportedly attempting to sign Zouma on a permanent basis. That situation is one to follow if you are considering Pickford as your set-and-forget goalkeeper for the new season. He is slightly cheaper than the top two, but again the Toffees have some stellar outfield options too.
Will any of the above goalkeepers be your set and forget option for the new FPL season?
