Hennessey form presents new FPL option

With four clean sheets in his last six starts and a Double Gameweek to come, Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey (£4.3m) provides Fantasy Premier League managers with an emerging cut-price contender in goal.

A resurgent Palace side welcome Leicester City to Selhurst Park on Saturday, before facing a trip to Liverpool and a home encounter with Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 34.

An average of 1.8 goals conceded per match by the Eagles before Gameweek 25 has since fallen to 0.7, with the form of centre-back Mamadou Sakho (£4.8m) a key factor in the recent defensive improvement. 

The additions of midfield enforcer Luka Milivojevic (£5.0m) and Patrick van Aanholt (£5.0m) and Jeffrey Schlupp (£4.7m) have also helped to bolster the Palace defence.

Hennessey has reaped the rewards, averaging six points a match over his last six Gameweek starts.

The Wales international is second only to Tom Heaton (£5.2m) for FPL form among goalkeepers, scoring 5.3 to the Burnley man’s 6.3 over the past 30 days.

See: FPL goalkeepers by form 

Hennessey has also made an eye-catching 17 saves across the last three Gameweeks, bettered only by Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford (£4.1m and 21 saves) in that spell.

Palace have kept three consecutive home clean sheets, and with Saturday’s match against Leicester City arriving between the Foxes’ two UEFA Champions League quarter-final ties, their manager Craig Shakespeare may rotate his line-up as he did in last weekend’s 4-2 defeat to Everton.

The Eagles also have promising home fixtures against Burnley and Hull City to come, but it is the two Gameweek 34 fixtures that are key to Hennessey’s appeal. The goalkeeper is arguably the go-to candidate in Palace’s back line.

Sakho will miss the opening fixture of Gameweek 34 as he is ineligible to face parent club Liverpool. 

Plus, with Martin Kelly (£4.2m) likely to face stiff competition for his starting place once James Tomkins (£4.9m) recovers from a calf injury, Hennessey is set to provide the cheapest option on offer.

With outstanding recent form, a modest 2.7% ownership and the lure of a Double Gameweek, Hennessey has the platform to flourish as a budget selection over the remaining Gameweeks.