Adelaide United winger Craig Goodwin will begin the 2022-23 Isuzu UTE A-League season as the most expensive player in the Official A-Leagues Men Fantasy game.
The Reds skipper leads a top 10 made up of five midfielders, two forwards and three defenders set to cost the most for fantasy managers working with the $4,000,000 budget allocated to each 15-player roster.
With the top three players alone worth more than $1,500,000 combined, fantasy managers face a tough task selecting which players with a premium price tag make it into their squad.
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1) Craig Goodwin
Midfielder: $545,100
Goodwin comes into the 2022-23 campaign as the most expensive player in the game. Running last season’s stats through the scoring rubric put the Adelaide winger on top of the league as the highest average points scorer (13.4 per game).
He scored 10 goals and assisted eight more in 2021-22, providing more goals to George Blackwood (three) than any other player in the Reds squad.
With striker Hiroshi Ibusuki heading into his second ALM season, and fellow winger Ben Halloran back in Adelaide after a stint in Korea, expect Goodwin to continue the form which has seen him put 18 goals and 13 assists on the board across the past two seasons.
2) Craig Noone
Midfielder: $519,400
Two Craigs are the two most expensive players in the game this season, the latter being Macarthur FC’s Craig Noone. With just five goals and four assists in 23 games last season, Noone earned his points in a number of other categories, which go unrewarded in the scoring systems used in popular fantasy platforms such as the Premier League’s.
Noone was the fourth-best creator of chances last season, and completed more crosses (82) than any player in the game, whilst his dribbling success would have placed him in the top five for points accumulated from statistics last season.
Noone is an all-round attacking asset, forming part of Dwight Yorke’s exciting Bulls attack featuring Daniel Arzani, Al Hassan Toure, Ulises Dávila and Daniel De Silva.
3) Jake Brimmer
Midfielder: $490,800
Last season’s Johnny Warren Medalist is a valuable fantasy asset. The Melbourne Victory attacking midfielder scored seven goals and assisted seven more last season, creating the third-most chances of any player (74). The 24-year-old’s stock is rising as he continues to find the net with increasing regularity under Victory boss Tony Popovic.
He looms not only as a consistent fantasy asset, but a fun one to have in your team. Brimmer owners will lean forward in anticipation whenever Victory have a free-kick within scoring range.
4) Jay O’Shea
Midfielder: $487,600
Jay O’Shea has long been an excellent provider of chances in the ALM; he created 82 last season, second only to Goodwin, and got 10 assists for his troubles to go with three goals.
The arrival of Charlie Austin at the Roar could see those created chances lead to even more goals., and more points for O’Shea owners.
The Irishman would see his fantasy numbers skyrocket with greater accuracy off his own boot as well. His expected goals tally sat at 6.49 at the end of last season, but he only managed to convert three from 53 attempts. It’s exciting to think there’s room for O’Shea to improve his fantasy hauls considering he would have finished second in total points scored last season.
5) Anthony Caceres
Midfielder: $452,000
Anthony Caceres leads the way for Sydney FC, rounding out the top five most expensive players in the game (all midfielders).
Caceres created 60 chances last season – the same number managed by Daniel Penha, lauded for his creative output with the Jets. He put five goals and five assists on the board whilst completing 49 crosses.
Caceres is cheaper than both Brimmer and O’Shea, who play similar roles in attacking midfield, and could be a handy pick if you’re looking to spread your budget further whilst owning a premium midfielder.
6) Ben Garuccio
Defender: $446,900
The most expensive defender in the game is Western United’s ‘Scorpion King’, scorer of Goal of the Season in 2021-22 and part of an unbelievably stringent Western United defence.
Garuccio contributed to 11 Western clean sheets last season as John Aloisi’s side surged to the ALM championship. He finished in the top 10 for interceptions (43) whilst completing 39 crosses, just three less than Brimmer and the most of any defender.
Add his two goals and six assists to the mix, and there’s no wonder Garuccio is the prized defensive asset in the game.
7) Javi López
Defender: $427,400
The second Reds player to feature in the top 10 is Javi López, the Spanish full-back who made the most tackles of any player last season (101). With each tackle worth 0.5 points, López’s value to a fantasy squad would have paid off in that statistic alone. He also scored three goals, notched three assists and helped keep seven clean sheets.
López will have Halloran back in front of him on the right flank this season which may see an increase to his end product.
8) Mathew Leckie
Forward: $426,600
Socceroos winger Mathew Leckie is the most expensive forward in the game this season.
Ahead of November’s World Cup, Leckie will be eager to start the 2022-23 season in form, with a number of strikers jostling for spots in Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold’s final squad bound for Qatar. It’s what makes the City number seven an intriguing fantasy prospect – that as well as the 10-game run in which Leckie scored all of his nine goals last season.
Producing that kind of end-product on a consistent basis will make Leckie a must-own; but if points were given out last season, he would have finished the season as only the fourth-highest scoring striker in the game.
9) Beka Mikeltadze
Forward: $426,600
The Newcastle Jet, who gave Maclaren stiff competition for last season’s Golden Boot, comes into the new season as the ninth-most expensive fantasy asset.
He ended last season in equal-second on the goalscoring leaderboard, striking 13 times in 24 games – a better output than his 11.02 expected goals. Three assists was a handy contribution from the Georgian, however Aleksandar Prijović – who also bagged 13 goals – put six assists on the board. Goodwin who finished fourth on the scoring charts with 10 goals assisted eight.
Mikeltadze created 34 chances, took 78 shots, and enjoyed a league-high 38 shots on target. In the A-Leagues Fantasy scoring system, each accurate shot earns one point, helping the Jets spearhead become a top fantasy asset.
10) Josh Risdon
Defender: $413,500
It’s no surprise another Western defender makes the top 10, and with left-back Garuccio leading the way for defenders, right-back Josh Risdon comes close behind – and at a cheaper price.
Rison played seven less games than Garuccio last season, keeping nine clean sheets opposed to the latter’s 11 (Western goalkeeper Jamie Young kept 12, the most of any defender/goalkeeper in the game). His high price point comes despite Risdon neither scoring or assisting a goal last season, however his 91 tackles were the second-most in the league.
Full-backs add value to a fantasy team central defenders often cannot match, with the ability to get forward making players like Risdon more capable of scoring and assisting. Garuccio showed a greater knack in the final third than Risdon last season, but if you’re desperate for a Western full-back and can’t afford the Garuccio upgrade, paying less to get Risdon in your squad could be the compromise which opens up possibilities in other areas of the field.
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