The new year comes with new promises and new challenges for FPL managers. Today, the new fantasy football world order prevails, with managers not getting too excited to invest heavily in GKs.
They have their reasons for it. Firstly, keeping clean sheets has become a real test. If we closely monitor the ongoing campaign, hardly any team has consistently churned up CSs, one after another.
On the other hand, managers were not too interested in allotting one free transfer to the last man of defense. Using it to bring an outfield player with the potential to deliver attacking returns seemed more plausible.
However, there’s a little tweak this time. Now, you can hold up to five free transfers, which used to be two till last season.
Therefore, saving up a couple of free transfers and swapping your out-of-form GK appears to be a smart idea.
However, only a handful of GKs have a kind run of fixtures, solid defensive organisation, and great form. You may bring any of them to find another interesting route to collect points every week.
Here we go! The Best GKs in FPL to get hold of in the new year.
Matz Sels (£4.9m)
When the 2024-25 PL season kicked in, hardly anybody would have put their money on Matz Sels to be the highest-scoring GK in the game after the halfway mark.
But now, Sels sells well. His ownership has only risen with the passing of every gameweek and now stands at 12%.
Forest has again broken into the top four! And the coming gameweeks look very promising for Sels. Nottingham no.1 has the most number of clean sheets between his trusted pair of gloves.
There was one crazy moment in GW9 when the Belgian goalkeeper got credited with an assist against Leicester City! Hence, don’t be surprised if you get more than just CSs with Sels at the back.
Apart from Liverpool in GW21, his fixtures look pretty solid until GW26, making him a long-term hold.
Jordan Pickford (£5m)
With 83pts after GW19, he is just behind Sels in the ladder. I brought Pickford into my fantasy team at the start of the season. However, benching him has cost me several times.
The best part about him is that he comes out with flying colours and unexpected returns in tough fixtures. Like, he saved Haaland’s penalty against City.
Playing behind an Everton defense is not the ideal cover. However, Pickford can make amends with extra points for saves even when he is not delivering a CS.
The ongoing GW20 is another testament to this when he made it up to his FPL managers with two extra points while missing out on a clean sheet against Bournemouth.
Pickford is blessed with a kind run of fixtures now. He enjoys an apparent smooth run till GW29, making him another long-term goalkeeping solution.
