Top Ligue 1 Goalkeepers in 2018/19: Alphonse Areola

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At the start of the season PSG’s number 1 goalkeeper Alphonse Areola would have taken a look around and gulped nervously a little when he saw that his club had just brought in Gianluigi Buffon from Juventus. While Buffon was 40 years old he is still regarded as a goalkeeping legend and as it turned out Areola had every right to be worried.

True Areola started the majority of games in the league for PSG but only just. Areola played 21 games to Buffon’s 17. Still the return was very good from Areola who produced 11 clean sheets from his 21 played.

In terms of a successful season, it can’t get much better as PSG won the league with ease, and in theory started to wrap up the title by the Christmas period. They finished on 91 points a cool 16 points in front of Lille and it would have been much more had the team not faltered towards the end once the league was wrapped up.

Areola’s value coming into this season was 6.5m and he finished 3rd in the European Fantasy League rankings for Ligue 1 goalkeepers, 29 points behind Nice’s Walter Benitez. Areola finished on 62 points and conceded 17 goals, his disciplinary was excellent with just 1 yellow card all season.

Areola did not start scoring points until his 3rd game of the season because PSG even though they won his first two games they kept conceding. His fortunes swiftly changed though and he went on a 5 game run without conceding a goal starting against Saint Etienne in mid September and running through until mid November. He earned a huge 35 points in that period where the bulk of his total points came from.

His worst game of the season was when PSG needed just 1 more win to secure the Ligue 1 title. Of course because of their massive lead in the league it was only a matter of time but it simply wasn’t coming. PSG had to play 2nd placed Lille away and Lille were up for a game that PSG didn’t really need to win, in the end and with full credit to Lille they inflicted PSG’s biggest loss of the season beating the champions 5-1. This in turn meant that Areola record -8 points for the game.

Just under 30% of his games ended where he didn’t score a point and his last game was the penultimate match of the season against Dijon where PSG ran out 4-0 winners and for that he got 7 points. He did not play in PSG’s final game of the season against Reims where Buffon was chosen instead, in a game that PSG eventually lost.

In the 2017/18 season Areola scored 103 points so this is a comedown for the goalkeeper although he will argue and rightly so that he wasn’t given enough games to prove his worth. Next season will be interesting. Will PSG stay with him in goal as their number 1 or will they opt to invest in another player?

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Top Ligue 1 Goalkeepers in 2018/19: Mike Maignan

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What has been PSG’s loss has been Lille’s gain and if anything is to be said of this season it’s that Mike Maignan has a bright future ahead of him.

The 23 year old from French Guiana has been superb this season and at one point it looked like he would be PSG’s number 1 goalkeeper. Coming up through their ranks he was instead overlooked as PSG spent big money dispensing with youth and Lille took the player under their wings, first in the B team and now the senior. He has been Lille’s first choice goalkeeper for the last 3 seasons, but has really broken through in the last two.

In the Ligue 1 football fantasy rankings Maignan finished in 2nd place with 84 points and just 7 shy of first place held by Walter Benitez. His value for this season was just 5m and that is sure to rise for the beginning of next season.

Lille of course had a successful season and while they did not win any trophies they finished 2nd and runner up to PSG which was no mean feat with Lyon chasing them until the final weeks of the season. In Ligue 1 only the first two places are guaranteed a Champions League group stage place with 3rd having to play in a qualifying round, so it was important for Lille to finish 2nd and now they have automatically qualified for Europe’s greatest prize.

Maignan was a huge part of this Lille side as he kept an impressive 15 clean sheets during the season. His overall ranking with all players would be 44th but his overall ranking with all goalkeepers in the major leagues would be an impressive 8th, that’s great going for such a young goalkeeper.

Maignan had many good highlights of the season, gaining what has become the maximum points for a goalkeeper unless they score a goal by achieving 7 points. One of his best periods was the final 16 games of the season when Lille and Lyon were battling each other in a Champions League run in that saw Maignan keep 9 clean sheets from the last 16 games.

With Maignan in such great form towards the end of the season it was ironic that on the very final game he earned the least points of his entire season as Lille lost 3-1 to Rennes and he ended up with -4 points.

It wasn’t all easy going for Maignan whose worst month was January when he earned 0 points but he was able to bounce back and in the end Walter Benitez and Mike Maignan were head and shoulders above any other goalkeeper in Ligue 1.

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Top Ligue 1 Goalkeepers in 2018/19: Walter Benitez

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Nice may have finished 7th and a huge 35 points adrift of champions PSG but they still had the best goalkeeper statistically in the league in 26 year old Walter Benitez. The Argentinian is still very much unknown so much so that he has never played for the senior national side and if you go to his Wikipedia page you get the following: ‘Walter Daniel Benítez is an Argentine footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Nice’. That is all the information on the world’s leading encyclopaedia on the internet.

And yet Benitez has been outstanding for Nice this season who just missed out on a European spot under coach Patrick Vieira who is in his debut season with the club in Ligue 1.

Benitez finished top of the Fantasy Football rankings in Ligue 1 with 91 points, 7 more than Mike Maignan of Lille and interestingly 29 points more than PSG’s Alphonse Areola. Benitez kept 16 clean sheets the most for any goalkeeper in Ligue 1 and had a superb period in the season which we must talk about.

It started against Amiens in November when Nice beat them 1-0, and it was to be a superb run of games for Benitez where he went the next 5 games without conceding one goal. It was at this time that the 26 year old started to garner attention from other teams and then other leagues including the Premier League. It is true to say that Benitez’s performances this season are like a catch 22 for a club like Nice. Good in the fact that he has undoubtedly won the club many points 10-15 at least but at the same time bad in the fact that they will almost certainly have to sell him at one point and that could be as early as this summer.

Overall Benitez ranks as the 6th best goalkeeper in Europe’s major leagues this past season. If you had Benitez in your fantasy team then you would have picked up a bargain as he is just 6.5m. He is sure to rise next season. There is little doubt that he is arguably one of the most underrated goalkeepers playing in Europe today.

Benitez has impressed Vieira and has been one of the real breakthrough talents in Ligue 1 even with his age in consideration. His benefit is that in his position he can be a goalkeeper easily for another 10 years.

Surely after this season and being ranked No.1. in the Ligue 1 Fantasy Football rankings he will get his break to be the number 1 choice for the Argentina national team. He recently said that getting the chance would be like touching the sky, but surely that will simply be the beginning for him, the sky in his case will not be the limit.

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Ligue 1: Week 35: Player Picks for the Weekend

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PSG are champions as we know but there is still the prospect of sorting out Champions League, Europa League and relegation places, and this is what will be on everyone’s minds come the 35th week of Ligue 1 football.

Below we will take a look at the players that could make all the difference this weekend and some of them you may want to add to your team, as they look to gain maximum points depending on the upcoming fixtures.

Formation 4-4-2.

Goalkeeper: Walter Benitez- Nice

Walter Benitez is one of the best up and coming goal keepers in Ligue 1. But he makes this list and you should choose him given his fantastic recent form, where he has kept 4 clean sheets from the past five games. It’s true they are playing PSG, but their form has not been good and they have already won the league. Benitez costs 6.5m.

Defender: Christopher Julien- Toulouse

Julien has been a rock in defence for Toulouse and has played the most games for the club this season. Toulouse will be at home against Rennes who shouldn’t offer much trouble up front. At home Toulouse have kept 2 clean sheets in a row. He is valued at 6.5m.

Defender: Issiaga Sylla- Toulouse

Keeping with Toulouse is the experienced Issiaga Sylla who has had a decent season and has a good chemistry with Julien. Again Toulouse are at home and have decent opposition in a game where they could well keep a clean sheet. Sylla can also score goals and has 2 so far this season so could be worth some bonus points. He is valued at 6.5m.

Defender: Pierre-Yves Polomat – Saint Etienne

Saint Etienne are the team right now and not only are they winning but they are keeping it very solid at the back too. It might be worth taking Polomat into your team given that the player likes to come forward too- and can score and create goals, plus he is only going to cost a bargain 3m. Saint Etienne play Monaco away this weekend.

Defender: Dani Alves – PSG

Dani Alves has been one of the brighter lights for PSG even though their form has suffered in the past few weeks. PSG are at home to Nice and there is a big chance for the club that they can at least keep Nice quiet in Paris. Alves has 6 assists so far this season too. Alves cost 7.5m.

Midfielder: Wahbi Khazri – Saint Etienne

Simply put Khazri has been one of the best pound for pound players in Ligue 1. His club are chasing the Champions League, they are in superb form, scoring goals, and for his position Khazri has an incredible 13 goals- what else do we need to know, not to pick this player? And he will cost just 7.5m.

Midfielder: Remy Cabella- Saint Etienne

Cabella was brilliant last week and there is no reason to see the player slowing down given that Saint Etienne have to keep pushing and winning in order to try and take 3rd place from Lyon. Cabella is a bargain price- all things considered at 7m.

Midfielder: Valentin Rongier- Nantes

Valentin Rongier has 3 goals and 4 assists for Nantes and has shown a lot of quality especially in recent weeks. Plus Nantes are going through the best form of their season and have won the last 4 games including beating PSG, Lyon and Marseille. They just keep winning and they are at home v Dijon this weekend, which should be another victory. Rongier to buy is just 4.5m.

Midfielder: Nabil Fekir- Lyon

True Fekir will cost you 10m but at the weekend Lyon have a massive game against 2nd place Lille and this is where Fekir need to step up and make this game his own if he ever wants to be a regular French international. He has scored 9 goals and has 7 assists so there are plenty of points in him.

Striker: Edinson Cavani- PSG

Cavani has been knocked down to 3rd striker in the PSG pecking order because of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. But Neymar has been in the news for all of the wrong reasons while Mbappe is suspended for this game. This is Cavani’s chance to get back in the starting 11 and back on track scoring goals. Cavani is valued at 13m.

Striker: Andy Delort- Montpellier

The man of the moment Andy Delort is trying his best to fire Montpellier into a final European position. Delort is scoring goals and did so last weekend against PSG. He has scored 14 so far and is 7m.

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