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Squawka / Gaming / FPL best goalkeeper picks: Should you make the switch from Onana?

FPL best goalkeeper picks: Should you make the switch from Onana?

Who should you be picking between the sticks? We’ve got all the info you need ahead of Gameweek 8. 

One of the underrated assets of a successful fantasy football team is a safe pair of hands behind your defence churning out consistent points hauls.

Using our brand new rating system, the Squawka Score, we look at the best goalkeeping options for Gameweek 8. Our tool judges a player’s output per 90 minutes for a group of selected stats and spits out a percentage based on their potential to score FPL points.

What is the Squawka Score? You can learn more about how we devised our fantasy football ranking system here

If you think you can beat our FPL boffins, you can join the Squawka Challenge League here.

Best FPL goalkeepers
Top goalkeeper pick for Gameweek 8
Best cheap goalkeepers for Gameweek 8
Best goalkeepers with easy fixtures

Vicario tops our goalkeeper charts

Here are the top 10 Premier League goalkeepers based on their FPL Squawka Score from the 2023 calendar year.

PlayerFPL Squawka Score23/24 Team23/24 FPL Price
David Raya73%Arsenal4.8
Robert Sanchez68%Chelsea4.6
Ederson65%Man City5.6
Bernd Leno63%Fulham4.7
Guglielmo Vicario63%Spurs5.1
Nick Pope62%Newcastle5.5
Aaron Ramsdale60%Arsenal4.9
Alphonse Areola59%West Ham4.2
Alisson59%Liverpool5.5
Sam Johnstone55%Crystal Palace4.5

Who should be your Onana replacement?

As part of our FPL coverage, we are going to pick out a Differential Duel ahead of every Gameweek.

The idea is to pit two comparable assets against each other — one who isn’t necessarily being selected by most FPL managers, and one who is proving popular.

We will then give you the stats and it is your call as to who gets the final nod.

This week, we look for an alternative to Andre Onana (19.3%), the Man United stopper that has had a tricky start to start in the Premier League.

Man United have had their troubles so far this season, losing four of their seven games in the Premier League, with Onana conceding 11 goals in just seven games. Despite this the Cameroonian goalkeeper is still owned by nearly 20% of FPL players.

Looking for an alternative might be a wise move but who should you turn to?

We believe the answer lies with David Raya (3.2%) of Arsenal. The Spaniard has been instilled as the number one at the Emirates Stadium and, as you can see from the Comparison Matrix below, he is outperforming Onana in almost every important metric this season.

As a small bonus, you’d also gain 0.1m by making the switch and could gain a key differential goalkeeper in the process.

Here is a closer look at how their 2022/23 stats compare on our Comparison Matrix

Areola the best cheap option available

It is fair to say that goalkeepers at the bottom end of the price scale might not start you many games, but that does not mean they should be completely ruled out when it comes to FPL.

For genuine starters, you might want to focus on our 4.5 picks, although Matt Turner looks like keeping the gloves for Nottingham Forest as things stand. The below selections have been produced after running this year’s numbers through our Squawka Score super computer ahead of Gameweek 8.

The best 4.0 picks for 23/24 FPL

  1. Robin Olsen, Aston Villa (52%)
  2. Matt Turner, Nottingham Forest (46%)
  3. Fraser Forster, Spurs (37%)

The best 4.5 picks for 23/24 FPL

  1. Alphonse Areola, West Ham (59%)
  2. Sam Johnstone, Crystal Palace (55%)
  3. Mark Flekken, Brentford (46%)

 Raya to shut out the Cherries

Giving you further food for thought, we have crunched the numbers using both the FPL’s official Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) and our Squawka Score tool to determine the best player to pick from each club facing an ‘easy’ fixture this weekend.

TeamTop pickFPL Squawka Score23/24 FPL Price
Aston VillaEmiliano Martinez57%4.8
BournemouthNeto42%4.5
ChelseaRobert Sanchez68%4.5
Crystal PalaceSame Johnstone55%4.6
EvertonJordan Pickford35%4.4
FulhamBernd Leno63%4.5
Nottingham ForestMatt Turner46%5.6
Sheffield UnitedWes Foderingham38%4.9
SpursGuglielmo Vicario63%5.5
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