The Gameweek 1 deadline is rapidly approaching. At FPL Cheat Sheet, we have spent the summer running the numbers in our Planner Tool to find the ultimate setups between the sticks. Here is your definitive, data-driven guide to picking the perfect goalkeeper for Gameweek 1.

Clean Sheets vs. Saves: The Promoted Team Trap

When finalizing your decision, remember the golden rule of FPL goalkeeper scoring: Elite teams (like Arsenal and City) offer the highest probability of 4 points for Clean Sheets. Weaker teams will not get many clean sheets, but they will face significantly more shots, earning you Save points. A keeper who secures a clean sheet while making plenty of saves will sweep the Bonus Points.

However, you must avoid the "punching bag" trap. We strictly advise staying away from promoted teams. You don't always know how their defense will translate to the Premier League, and teams like Hull conceded an enormous amount of goals in the Championship. The save points will not save your overall rank if your keeper is shipping three or four goals every weekend.

Goalkeeper Pricing Brackets & Strategies

Let’s go through the price segments and see which players to target based on our data.

The 6.0m Premium: Set and Forget

At the absolute top, we only have David Raya. He scored an incredible 162 points last season, almost 20 points more than the second-best keeper. If you spend 6.0m on Raya, you are committing to playing him every single week. Pair him with a 4.0m non-playing keeper to save cash.

The 4.0m Landscape: Last year we had Dubravka as a playing 4.0m keeper, but this year it looks like no 4.0m keeper will start. Dubravka is now at Tottenham, where he has to compete with both Vicario and Kinsky for the spot.
Crucial Arsenal Warning: Raya and the Arsenal defense were clean-sheet magnets last year. But right now, William Saliba is injured. Gabriel is missing his primary center-back partner, which is important to keep in mind for their immediate clean sheet potential.

The 5.5m Bracket

In this segment, we have Pickford, Alisson Becker, and Donnarumma. Our expected points data clearly favors Donnarumma here, making him a fantastic and relatively safe choice to lock into a set Manchester City defense.

The 5.0m Mid-Tier

There are plenty of options in the 5.0m segment. Our data loves players like Kelleher (Brentford), Lammens (Manchester United), and Roefs (Sunderland) for steady points.

Roefs surprised everyone last season and did exceptionally well for a promoted team, scoring right at the top.
Manchester United is looking very settled under Michael Carrick and they have really good fixtures right from the start, making Lammens a top pick.
Warning: We wouldn’t go for Nick Pope right now—who knows what is happening with Newcastle this season. (Sánchez, Henderson, and Sels are the other 5.0m alternatives).

The 4.5m Bracket & Rotation Strategies

Dropping down to 4.5m frees up crucial millions for the rest of your squad. You can rotate a 5.0m and a 4.5m keeper, or pair two 4.5m keepers based on our FDR tool.

The 5.0m + 4.5m Rotation: Pair Lammens (5.0m, Man Utd) with Leno (4.5m, Fulham). When United faces a tough red fixture away, Fulham typically has a home game against a weaker side, allowing you to perfectly ride the fixture swings.
The 4.5m + 4.5m Bench Boost Swing: If you want to save even more money, pair Petrović (Bournemouth) with Verbruggen (Brighton). Petrović has City in Gameweek 1, but rotating these two provides a fantastic fixture swing, especially if you plan to Bench Boost in GW4:
- GW1: Play Verbruggen (Home vs. Villa)
- GW2: Play Petrović (Home vs. Everton)
- GW3: Play Verbruggen (vs. Leeds)
- GW4 (Bench Boost): Verbruggen plays Coventry, and Petrović plays Brentford.

The Club Handcuff

If you want the safest budget play and are delaying your Bench Boost, take two goalkeepers from the exact same club (a starting keeper and their cheap backup). If the starter gets injured or suspended, the backup automatically steps in, guaranteeing a playing goalkeeper without needing to use a transfer.

Secondary Data: The xStart Trap

If you head over to the Players List on FPLCheatSheet.com/players and sort goalkeepers by Average Expected Points (xP) next to their price, you might walk straight into a trap if you don't use our filters.

For example, Sunderland's Ellborg currently sits at the top of the list with an incredible 4.64 average xP. However, he only played three matches last season where he hauled and secured bonus points. This is where our xStart Percentage filter becomes your best friend. Ellborg currently has a 0% expected start rate. If he isn't going to start, you must filter him out to reveal the true actionable data.

No more spreadsheets, just Cheat Sheet.

The Ultimate GW1 Goalkeeper Guide: Strategies, Price Brackets, and Rotation Pairs

AI Summary