As Fantasy Premier League managers can now select their 15-man squads, The Scout analyses standout budget and premium players in each position.
Dean Henderson (MUN) £5.0m
Manchester United’s potential for clean sheets has been lifted by a kind opening set of fixtures.
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Man Utd face only one of last season’s top eight sides in their first six outings, visiting West Ham United in Gameweek 5.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), their other five matches score no more than three.
Man Utd’s first six Gameweeks
| GW | Opponent | FDR |
| 1 | LEE (H) | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | SOU (A) | 2 |
| 3 | WOL (A) | 3 |
| 4 | NEW (H) | 2 |
| 5 | WHU (A) | 4 |
| 6 | AVL (H) | 2 |
Henderson appeared to secure his place as Man Utd’s No 1 in the latter stages of 2020/21, starting 10 of their final 12 matches.
His underlying numbers look strong when assessed against fellow United goalkeeper David De Gea (£5.0m).
Henderson conceded a goal every 93.8 minutes last term, compared with De Gea's 71.7 minutes.
He also produced a save at a quicker frequency, with 28.1 minutes per stop compared with 37.6 minutes.
That was almost identical to the 27.9 minutes of Fulham’s Alphonse Areola, whose total of 116 saves was bettered by only four other goalkeepers last season.
This suggests that Henderson’s potential in Fantasy will be boosted by save points as well as clean sheets this term.
However, the Man Utd goalkeeper has largely been overlooked by managers.
He is owned by only 3.2 per cent, compared with the 33.5 per cent and 12.6 per cent of full-backs Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (both £5.5m) respectively.
On top of his favourable schedule, Henderson’s potential for clean sheets and saves can reward those looking for a differential between the posts in their opening squads.
