Fantasy Premier League

FPL World Cup Lessons: Ward still proving popular

13 Dec 2022

The Scout on why Leicester No 1 is most-bought goalkeeper in unlimited transfers period

The Scout assesses how the FIFA World Cup 2022 has impacted the most-popular players in Fantasy Premier League during the current unlimited free transfers period.

Goalkeepers

The most-popular goalkeeper in Fantasy, Leicester City’s Danny Ward (£4.1m), has continued to grow in ownership over the season break.

The Foxes’ No 1 is the most-bought stopper in the current period, earning 246,000 new owners.

Although he was part of the Wales squad in the FIFA World Cup 2022, Ward started only one of their three matches, the 3-0 defeat against England on 29 November.

Most popular goalkeepers in Fantasy

	Ward	Pope	Alisson	Ederson
Fantasy ownership	28.6%	21.6%	16.0%	13.8%
World Cup mins	94	0	380	90
Last World Cup app	29/11	-	9/12	2/12

Ward was the top form ‘keeper heading into the season break, with 52 points in his final eight fixtures.

Pairing him with his deputy Daniel Iversen (£3.9m), at a cost of only £8.0m, looks an absolute bargain.

Pope in front

Newcastle United’s Nick Pope (£5.3m), the top-scoring goalkeeper in Fantasy, has amassed more than 180,000 transfers in across the break.

He was named in the England squad, but failed to feature in any of their five outings.

FPL fixture analysis: Newcastle primed for more success

Pope now looks well-placed to maintain his spot at the top of the goalkeeper standings.

According to the Fixture Difficulty ratings (FDR), five of Newcastle’s next seven matches score just two.

Alisson well rested

Brazil’s elimination at the quarter-final stages is good news for owners of Liverpool’s Alisson (£5.5m), as well as Manchester City’s Ederson (£5.4m).

Alisson was Brazil’s favoured goalkeeper, playing four of their five matches.

Nonetheless, as his last appearance was on 9 December, he will have had more than two weeks' rest before the season resumes on Boxing Day.

Finally, two of the 'keepers among the World Cup semi-finalists are from Premier League clubs.

However, each of the players concerned, Argentina and Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez (£4.9m) and Hugo Lloris (£5.5m) of France and Tottenham Hotspur, are low-owned in Fantasy and are found in no more than five per cent of squads.