Best FPL goalkeepers 2025/26: the top picks ranked

Start here. David Raya at £5.5m. If you have him, keep him. If you don’t, get him. Everything else in this article is context.

Goalkeepers are not the most exciting position in Fantasy Premier League, but picking the wrong one quietly kills your season. Clean sheets, save points, bonus. Done right, your goalkeeper slot runs itself for the whole campaign. Done wrong, you’re chasing form all season and burning transfers on it. This is the guide to getting it right in 2025/26.

HOW GOALKEEPERS SCORE IN 2025/26

Two things. Clean sheet potential and saves. The updated bonus points system this season rewards saves more heavily than before, with two BPS for any save and an extra point for stops from inside the box. That matters. It means a keeper behind a leaky defence who faces 119 shots, as Caoimhin Kelleher has this season, can rack up save points on weeks without a clean sheet. Last season, the top seven goalkeepers were separated by just 38 FPL points. Clean sheet count alone does not tell the whole story any more.

RAYA: START AND FORGET

David Raya, Arsenal, £5.5m

15 clean sheets in 31 appearances this season. He is chasing a third consecutive Golden Glove, a feat only three keepers in history have managed. Arsenal have conceded 17 league goals all season, the fewest in the division. Raya faces so few shots that his 50 saves this season actually rank him low for save volume, but he makes up for it every week in clean sheet points and bonus. At £5.5m, he is also the cheapest way into Arsenal’s defence by £0.50m, with Gabriel and Saliba both priced at £6.0m.

Start him. Sell him only when Arsenal’s fixture run turns completely red. That is it.

IF YOUR BUDGET ALLOWS £5.5M ELSEWHERE

Jordan Pickford, Everton, £5.5m

The top-scoring FPL goalkeeper last season with 158 points. He outscored every other keeper and every defender in the game. 12 clean sheets, 122 saves, two penalty saves, and an assist. He plays every minute of every game and has done for two seasons running. Second in Squawka’s current 2025/26 goalkeeper rankings with 10 clean sheets this season. Everton face shots. Pickford saves them. That combination is what makes him so consistent in FPL terms. The fixture list decides whether Pickford or Raya is better week to week, but both are reliable season-long picks at this price.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City, £5.5m

12 clean sheets in 29 appearances this season. His save percentage of 73% is the second best of any goalkeeper in the Golden Glove race, better than Raya. He came to the Premier League from PSG and has not missed a beat, sitting third in Squawka’s rankings. City’s defensive structure means he faces fewer shots than most, but when they do come, he stops them. The problem for FPL is straightforward: at £5.5m, he is the same price as Raya and Pickford, and Arsenal keep more clean sheets than City right now. Donnarumma is not wrong but he is third choice among the premium trio.

HENDERSON AND THE £5.0M CASE

Dean Henderson, Crystal Palace, £5.0m

Palace finished the 2024/25 season in eighth and won the FA Cup. Henderson played every minute, kept 11 clean sheets and made 104 saves. Fourth in FPL points that season behind only Pickford, Sels and Raya. This season he has ten clean sheets from 30 appearances and is leading Squawka’s goalkeeper rankings. At £5.0m he is a quid cheaper than the premium three and that buys you options elsewhere. Palace fans know how much he has kept them in games this season. FPL managers are starting to figure it out.

KELLEHER AND THE BRENTFORD FACTOR

Caoimhin Kelleher, Brentford, £4.5m

Brentford defend the same way they did under Flekken. Sit back, let teams shoot from range, make saves. 115 shots on target faced, 80 saved, three penalties stopped in the league this season. Eight clean sheets from 30 games. Flekken scored 138 FPL points last season with just seven clean sheets because the saves and bonus stacked up. Kelleher is following the same path at the same price. If budget is the concern, he is the answer.

LEAVE ALISSON ALONE

Alisson at £5.5m. Missed ten league games through injury this season. His numbers when fit are fine but this is the second consecutive season where fitness has been the conversation around him. There are three reliable keepers at £5.0m or below right now. Paying premium price for someone who may not be there every week makes no sense.

SO, WHO DO YOU PICK?

Raya is the pick. Fifteen clean sheets, Arsenal’s defence behind him, and £0.50m cheaper than their centre-backs. Henderson at £5.0m is the one if you want to save budget. Kelleher at £4.5m if you need every penny elsewhere.

Pick your keeper, move on, and don’t look back until the fixtures actually force you to.