Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez showed the value in having a reliable goalkeeper on Fantasy Premier League last season by amassing the second-highest points tally of any shot-stopper in the game’s history.
The Argentinian ended up on 186 FPL points after joining Villa from Arsenal last summer and just missed out on matching former Villan Brad Friedel’s long-standing record by a single point.
With a starting price of just £4.5m, Martinez was the best value player in the game and although he has been given a £1m price hike for 2021-22, he will be extremely popular once again.
There are plenty of other good options to consider, though, ranging from premium options like Liverpool’s goalscoring goalkeeper Alisson to newly-promoted stars such as Watford’s Daniel Bachmann, who is an excellent rotation choice at just £4.5m.
As ever, there are two strategies to weigh up when making your goalkeeper transfer decisions. Either opt for a set-and-forget No 1 (ideally with his club back-up as your bench option) or else buy two first-choice goalies and rotate them depending on who you think has the better fixture that gameweek.
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Here are the five best goalkeeper options to consider for 2021-22.
Ederson (Man City)
Ederson isn’t an especially inspiring pick considering he rarely collects bonus or save points as his teammates generally do a pretty decent job of giving him very little to do.
Nevertheless, the tattooed Brazilian is a clean sheet magnet, keeping more (19) than any other goalkeeper in the division last season to claim his second consecutive Golden Glove award. Only Martinez (with 186) had more FPL points among goalkeepers than Ederson (16) in 2020-21.
Price: £6.0m Points (in 20-21): 160
Emi Martinez (Aston Villa)
Despite being more expensive compared to this time last year, Martinez is by far the most popular goalkeeper in FPL ahead of Gameweek 1 with 39 per cent ownership.
According to Fantasy Football Fix, Martinez should have kept 12.88 clean sheets based on the quality of shots he faced, but he ended up with 15 in total, demonstrating his qualities as a shot-stopper. That total was only bettered by Ederson (19) and Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy (16).
Price: £5.5m Points (in 20-21): 186
Nick Pope (Burnley)
Nick Pope was the fifth-top scoring goalkeeper last season and his underlying numbers demonstrate his quality as an FPL asset. According to Fantasy Football Fix, Pope saved more than eight goals he would have been expected to concede, letting in 37 despite having an expected goal conceded (xGC) rate of 45.52.
The 29-year-old missed Euro 2020 after undergoing shoulder surgery so keep an eye out on updates from Sean Dyche before Burnley’s opener against Brighton. If Pope is unable to feature, new signing from Crystal Palace, Wayne Hennessey (£4.5m) is expected to deputise.
Price: £5.5m Points (in 20-21): 144
Robert Sanchez (Brighton)
Robert Sanchez started the 2020-21 season as Brighton’s fourth-choice goalkeeper and ended it in Spain’s Euro 2020 squad after a string of impressive displays to help the Seagulls stay up.
The 23-year-old kept 10 clean sheets and conceded a goal per game on average in his 27 appearances and the underlying numbers suggest that there is more to follow. Sanchez was expected to keep 12.92 clean sheets, according to Fantasy Football Fix, and if he continues to develop his game next season, Brighton can expect more frequent shutouts in the future.
Price: £4.5m Points (in 20-21): 101
Daniel Bachmann (Watford)
Had the European Championship taken place on time last summer, Daniel Bachmann probably wouldn’t have made Austria’s squad for the finals. Instead, a superb season for Watford in the Championship led to the 27-year-old starting in all four of his country’s matches at Euro 2020 in June.
Bachmann seized his chance to impress for Watford after Ben Foster broke his finger in January, keeping 13 clean sheets in only 23 games to help the Hornets clinch an automatic promotion place.
Price: £4.5m Points (in 20-21): N/A
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