EVERY competitive Dream Team needs a reliable figure between the sticks.
In hope of helping you select a goalkeeper for the 2025/26 season, we’ve analysed the position in detail to single out the premium stars and bargain options.
PLAY DREAM TEAM AHEAD OF THE NEW SEASON: OVER £100,000 IN PRIZE MONEY!
Premium Stars
We have to start with David Raya (£4.5m).
Arsenal’s No1 earned more points than any other player in his position last season.
The Spaniard kept 19 clean sheets in all competitions on his way to 259 points and ranked joint-seventh for saves too.
The Gunners have been solid at the back for three successive years and there’s seemingly no reason to expect anything different this coming season.
Raya is the joint-most expensive keeper alongside Alisson (£4.5m), who is expected to continue as first choice despite the arrival of Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili (£3.5m).
The Brazilian is one of the more injury-prone keepers but he rarely disappoints when available.
Dean Henderson (£3.5m) deserves a mention in this top category.
Crystal Palace’s last line of defence ended up claiming the bronze medal last season with a total of exactly 200 points.
Only the aforementioned Raya kept more clean sheets in all competitions with just four rivals above him in the save count.
Henderson, good value at £3.5m, benefited from the Eagles’ triumphant FA Cup run and he could capitalise on additional Conference League fixtures in 2025/26 (appeal pending).
Bargain Options
James Trafford (£3.5m) is a very, very interesting option.
His starting price appears on the high side for a newly-promoted asset given the punishment dished out to Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton last term.
But he would suddenly look very affordable upon a transfer back to Manchester City, as rumoured.
Burnley rewrote history last season when they conceded just 16 in 46 Championship games and Trafford was a key contributor to that immense record.
Touted as a future England No1, watch the 22-year-old’s ownership go through the roof if he puts pen to paper at the Etihad.
Another tempting option in the £3.5m bracket is Matz Sels.
Nottingham Forest performed well above expectations last season and their superbly consistent keeper was a big reason for their success.
2025/26 will bring extra fixtures in the form of Europa League commitments (as things stand).
If Nuno Espirito Santo’s side keep punching above their weight then the Belgian stopper has a chance of making 200 points - he banked 190 last time around from almost exclusively league appearances.
Sels shared the Golden Glove with Raya in 2024/25.
Jordan Pickford (£3.5m) has been a consistent performer in recent years; only Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea conceded fewer league goals than Everton last season.
Caoimhin Kelleher is available for just £3m following his move from Liverpool to Brentford.
The Irishman performed well whenever he was required to deputise for Alisson and became something of a Dream Team cheat code between October and December when he enjoyed a sustained run in the team.
Naturally, clean sheets will be harder to come by at the Gtech and the Bees do not have European commitments to bolster their schedule but Kelleher is a potential set-and-forget at a reasonable price.
His predecessor, Mark Flekken, made more saves than any other keeper last season.
While that can be the sign of a porous defence, gaffers should remember that every two saves (per match) yields a point - there’s more than one way to skin a cat!
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