Fantasy Bundesliga tips: Goalkeepers to consider for the start of the 2022/23 season
Need some help with your Fantasy Bundesliga team before the new season kicks off? Here are the goalkeepers you should consider bringing into your squad.
| Oliver Christensen. |
In the first of a series of articles, in which we will be making player suggestions for each position, we take a look at the goalkeepers you should have on your radar when you put together your squad.
As a rule of thumb, it's obviously a good idea to have two starting goalkeepers in your squad even though you can only field one at the time. This is particularly useful if your goalkeepers don't play at the same time, so you can make a substitution after the first one of them have been in action.
However, going with just one starting goalkeeper to begin with can be a viable strategy if you want to free up more funds for outfield players.
It's rarely worth breaking the bank for a premium goalkeeper, so you should consider some of the cheaper options in order to free up funds for expensive assets at other positions.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, as something new this year, you can make five transfers per matchday instead of three. This makes it more attractive to sacrifice a transfer on a goalkeeper.
You should also be aware that there will be an unlimited transfer period during the first international break between September 19 and September 30, meaning you only have to plan ahead to Matchday 7 when picking your initial squad.
Budget options:
Oliver Christensen (Hertha, 4M)
Priced at just 4 million, Christensen is the cheapest starting goalkeeper you can get. Suggesting a Hertha goalkeeper can seem strange considering they just conceded four goals in 120 minutes in the DFB-Pokal against newly-promoted 2. Bundesliga side Eintracht Braunschweig, who even ended up knocking the German capital club out on penalties after extra time. However, Christensen's low price combined with his prospect of picking up points from making saves make him a good option.
Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen, 5M)
If you have a million more to spend, Pavlenka is worth considering. Unlike Christensen, the 30-year-old has bags of experience in the Bundesliga, and Werder's opening schedule with games against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart doesn't look too bad.
Alexander Schwolow (Schalke 04, 6M)
Schwolow is the joint third cheapest starter in goal alongside Union's Frederik Rønnow and Augsburg's Rafael Gikiewicz. What speaks for the Schalke goalkeeper is that you can pair him with Oliver Christensen to get two cheap starting goalkeepers with different kick off times for the first three matchdays.
Mid-range options:
Robin Zentner (Mainz, 7M)
With Zentner in goal, Mainz had the fourth-best defensive record in the league last season. Another argument is that Mainz have a quote favorable run of fixtures, facing Bochum, Union Berlin and Augsburg in their first three games.
Manuel Riemann (Bochum, 8M)
Riemann was the third-best producing goalkeeper in the 2021/22 campaign, which saw him pick up a whopping 26 points from a single matchday. Not bad at all from a goalkeeper, but his price has been increased this season.
Premium options:
Yann Sommer (Gladbach, 9M)
The Swiss international is widely regarded as one of the league's best goalkeepers, and Gladbach arguably have the easiest opening schedule in the league, with 'Die Fohlen' locking horns with Hoffenheim (H), Schalke 04 (A) and Hertha BSC (H) in their first three games.
Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern, 12M)
With Neuer, you are likely to get plenty of points for clean sheets, but he might not make that many saves because Bayern tend to dominate most games. To put things in perspective, despite being the most expensive option in goal, the Germany captain was only the tenth-highest scoring goalkeeper last season.
For the second season in a row, we have partnered up with Over The Bar to create a joint Fantasy Bundesliga league. As part of the partnership, we will regularly be appearing on Over The Bar's Bundesliga shows to hand out tips. Want to compete against us? Feel free to join the 'Bulinews and Over The Bar' league here.
