There will have been a time this summer when Joe Hart was pencilled in as the first name on your FanDuel team sheet.
With Pep Guardiola in charge of Manchester City you just know they’ll be a force this season and, with that, will be less likely to concede as they were last season.
But then the unthinkable happened. Joe Hart is now deemed surplus to requirements and Guardiola is signing Claudio Bravo to replace him. So who do you go with now? Man City’s situation hasn’t changed, but are Caballero or Bravo better than Hart? We’ll let you be the judge of that.
Regardless, there’s only one thing you’re normally looking for when picking your goalkeeper– clean sheets. They’re the only points that matter, right? Wrong.
Unlike in other Fantasy Football games, FanDuel goalkeepers can earn the same points as outfield players, as well as the additional points awarded to goalkeeping actions.
This means you have to pay closer attention when picking your keepers, with Manchester City’s current situation the perfect example.
Guardiola wants a goalkeeper who has good footwork and is comfortable with passing the ball out from the back – effectively being City's 11th outfield player.
Which means picking a Man City goalkeeper would still be a smart option – though they’re likely to be expensive.
This means you’ll need to do your research – or perhaps let us do it for you.
In GW2, Burnley’s Tom Heaton was the highest scoring goalkeeper with 26.75, but it’s too risky to expect the Clarets to continue the level of performance that saw them beat Liverpool 2-0 last weekend.
Unsurprisingly, Man City’s Willy Caballero earned the highest points for passing with 1.25, as did Tottenham’s Michel Vorm.
Caballero is relatively cheap at £5.7m, while Vorm is even cheaper at £4.3m. However, here are three goalkeepers who should net you maximum points from between the sticks this weekend…
Michel Vorm - £4.3m
Spurs’ defence is one of the best in the Premier League, and with Hugo Lloris sidelined for a lengthy period, Vorm has his chance to shine between the sticks. As mentioned above, the Dutch shot-stopper earned the most points from passes completed last week and, incidentally, earned the highest points per million (4.01).
Spurs host Liverpool at White Hart Lane and, if the first two weekends of the season are anything to go by, Mauricio Pochettino’s side shouldn’t have too many issues in seeing off the Reds – but Vorm should expect to be busy and will have plenty of chances to collect some valuable points from saves.
Maarten Stekelneburg - £5.6m
Everton have enjoyed a good start to the season under new manager Ronald Koeman and with a home tie against Stoke at the weekend, they’ll be hoping to maintain their unbeaten start.
Stekelenburg has been impressive for the Toffees thus far and although he should keep a clean sheet against Mark Hughes’ side, he’ll no doubt be a lot busier than he was against West Brom last weekend. He’s cheap as well.
Heurelho Gomes - £8.6m
Gomes isn’t cheap, but he’ll certainly be one of the busier keepers this weekend.
Watford host Arsenal who, as we’ve seen in the opening two weekends, are struggling in front of goal despite creating lots of chances. This should give Gomes plenty of opportunities to collect valuable save points, as well as a probably clean sheet to boost his return.
An expensive risk worth taking.
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