Owing to his concessional price complemented by some consistent performances by West Ham, Alphonse Areola has been one of the most popular keepers in the FPL 23/24 as of now, as he finds himself in 37.8% of aggregate Fantasy Premier League squads. But despite his popularity, if you look at his returns… he hasn’t been as impressive to consider him as your first-choice FPL keeper. West Ham & Areola have only kept one clean sheet all season with West Ham having conceded more goals bar only five other teams in the Premier League this season and that means it’s time we consider his future in our FPL squad.
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A considerable run of fixtures upcoming can be something that holds you back from getting rid of Areola, with a considerable FDR – they face Palace at home followed by a depleted Tottenham away before a trip to Craven Cottage & ending up back home against Wolves.
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Nevertheless, that’d be a personal forecast on how he & West Ham performs in the upcoming fixtures. We shall take a look at potential alternatives you can consider for your FPL squad in place of Alphonse Areola:
1. Caoimhin Kelleher [£3.9m]
Top of the list has to be Caoimhin Kelleher, with Alisson Becker out for atleast couple of weeks with an hamstring injury the Irish goalie is in-line to start for Liverpool. The Reds from Merseyside have a favourable run of fixtures with them facing atleast Fulham, Sheffield United, & Crystal Palace before Alisson comes back. Liverpool are one of the best teams defensively, with four clean sheets on the board and that complemented by the run of fixtures they have – you can bag on the 25-year-old especially at that price.
2. Mark Flekken [£4.5m]
Brentford have consistently been one of those sides that have been defensively adept over the years, and the fixture list looks decent, with a possible double fixture gameweek on the horizon. Flekken finds himself in only 2.9% of the teams, making him an interesting differential for your FPL squad. Although his recent run of games hasn’t yielded considerable returns, it’s important to note that he faced Liverpool and Arsenal in the last couple of matches.
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3. Robert Sanchez [£4.6m]
He is an interesting choice, especially with the fixtures at hand. Chelsea have been one of those teams that have a positive xGC, atlthough they just have 3 clean-sheets to show for it. Roberto Sanchez has been making an average of 2.76 saves per game, which indicates there is always a possibility of a save point with him.
On paper, Brighton and Manchester United present tough fixtures, though Roberto de Zerbi’s team has been struggling a bit, which could play into Chelsea’s hands. Considering Manchester United’s recent form, especially away from home where they haven’t been in firing form and tend to take numerous low expected goals (xG) shots, this improves the probability of saves for Sanchez – before Chelsea enter in that sweet run of fixtures.
4. David Raya [£4.9m]
A team with lowest xGC, complemented by the lowest goal conceded. David Raya has to be one of the players on your watchlist. There may be a competition on paper with Aaron Ramsdale, but after last week’s performance form Rams… Raya looks like he doesn’t have lot to worry about. Arsenal have a sweet run of fixtures to complement that.
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If you have Gabriel? Well, you can double on Arsenal’s defence with the fixture run they have.
