Best goalkeepers to start the season with in FPL

The new Premier League campaign is edging closer and the fantasy game is live which means managers can now check out all of the player prices, build drafts and more. We focus on the pool of players available and pick out the best goalkeepers to start the season with in FPL

Drafting teams ahead of the new season is a standard planning process within the FPL community. It gives us a great indication of how we want set-up and how we are going to spend our budget. Picking out the best goalkeepers to start the season with in FPL could be hugely beneficial to managers and a great starting point to building the rest of our squads.

The fixtures

The fixture ticker orders teams with the easiest matches at the top, all the way down to the teams with the toughest matches at the bottom. We can see that Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Luton and Brentford all rank amongst the top five teams with the best early fixtures.

Aaron Ramsdale

Arsenal finished second in the league last season and a large contributing factor towards that was their defence. The ‘Gooners’ picked up 14 clean sheets in their 22/23 league campaign. This number was bettered by just one other team.

To highlight the strength of Arsenal’ defensive strength, amongst all teams in the league last season they ranked in the best four for shots in the box conceded, attempts conceded, shots on target conceded and headed attempts conceded.

Arsenal rank at the top of the fixture ticker. They face Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham in the first six matches.

Considering all of the above Aaron Ramsdale (£5m) should be a consideration for FPL managers. The Arsenal shot stopper ranked third for returns last season (14) when compared to every other goalkeeper in the division.

David Raya

Brentford may have been just short of a European place but they impressed throughout last season. Defensively strong they collected 12 clean sheets making them the joint fourth best in the league. They also sustained some solid underlying data ranking joint third best for goals conceded (46) and fourth best for big chances conceded (67).

‘The Bees’ sit fifth on the season ticker. They face matches against Tottenham, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Everton in their first six matches. Interestingly, three of their opponents ranked amongst the seven worst teams last season for goals scored.

David Raya (£5m) became fantasy gold last season as he reached 166 points and bettered every other goalkeeper in the game. Amongst all goalkeepers who played over 2000 minutes Raya also came joint first for points per start (4.4) and first for bonus points (20).

Jason Steele

Brighton were brilliant last season and became one of the go-to sides for fantasy investment. There was some uncertainty around their form when manager Graham Potter left but they overcame that and finished their season in sixth place whilst also securing European football for the season ahead.

They rank sixth on the fixture ticker and face Luton, Wolves, West Ham, Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth in their first six. Not only is one of their opponents a newly promoted side (Luton) but Wolves, West Ham and Bournemouth also ranked amongst the worst eight teams in the league last season for goals scored.

Although there could be some confusion around which goalkeeper will take the starting role, Jason Steele (£4.5m) started the last five league matches of the 22/23 campaign. The Englishman picked up six clean sheets and an assist in his 15 league matches last time out. At his price Steele has to be considered.

Other great goalkeeper picks

Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5m) – Chelsea start the season with great fixtures. They face games against Liverpool, West Ham, Luton, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Aston Villa. Because of this it could be beneficial to start with their number one.

Ederson (£5.5m) – Manchester City maintained some of the best defensive stats in the league last season. One way of avoiding rotation could be to select Ederson. The Brazilian is their most reliable defensive asset in terms of minutes.