Highlight: the Goalkeepers of the Ligue 1
Welcome to "Highlight," our exclusive series dedicated to the heroes of the beautiful game – the goalkeepers.
In this series, we embark on a journey to shine a spotlight on the remarkable talents and stories behind the gloves. From sure Sorare starters to which goalie not to buy. Washed-up talents to rough diamonds.
In this first chapter, we'll highlight a few goalkeepers of Sorare of the French Ligue 1. There is no real lay-out to follow, we pick the goalkeeper we like to talk about for whatever reason.
The Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons. Also called the Farmers League, not for sponsorship reasons. The term 'farmers league' is used to describe Ligue 1 by fans of rival leagues in a tongue-in-manner with an edge of mockery. This is because of two reasons: the league is mostly dominated by one team. In recent times PSG, but also because the Ligue1 is the lesser league in the Big Five. Just to be clear, this isn't my view on things. The name of the series is Highlight so let's highlight a few goalkeepers!
The Sorare goalkeeper to use in the second division next year: Mory Diaw (Clermont)
There are currently three teams in the relegation zone and I know it's still very early in the season, it's always a sign of bad things to come for the smaller teams.
Clermont is one of those three. The other two are Lens, whose team got gutted, chopped up, and sold, and Lyon. Lyon has had a very poor start to the season, I guess the biggest problems are in the boardroom with John Textor running the show.
Clermont has 4 losses and one draw. It's not looking good so far.
The goalkeeper is Senegalese Mory Diaw who recently signed a new contract till 2026. Which is also one of the biggest reasons to promote his cards.
Mory Diaw is a former youth product of PSG and ended up at the French Lique 1 club Clermont. You can't know everything in life, my girlfriend reminds me every day. So I went to Discord asking the good people for their opinion on the goalkeeper situation. Clermont added two young goalkeepers to their roster as backups. I've gotten a response from Discorduser: pastisleflamb
Diaw is a sure starter and great GK. Clermont might have the lowest quality team in the league though and will have to fight hard to avoid relegation. I wouldn't expect a lot of clean sheet from him.
So that is a clear and shut case and a perfect goalkeeper to (probably) use in the Ligue2 next season.
The Ultimate Sorare CAP240 Goalkeeper: Matz Sels (Strasbourg)
Matz Sels is in his sixth season with Strasbourg. The goalkeeper is a real star at the first-division club. This summer, Sels was also handed the captain's armband by head coach Patrick Vieira, and that armband is giving him wings.
Strasbourg has new owners (the same as Chelsea) and Sels is happy with that evolution. The French club is spending money in the transfer window and is making steps to join the top of the Ligue 1.
Sels was the best goalkeeper in the Ligue 1 in 2022 before the likes of Donnarumma, a trophy awarded by the French Goalkeeper Trainers Association.
With the injury of Courtois and Casteels and the retirement of Mignolet, Sels found himself between the stick of the Belgian National team in June of this ear. From 4th to first in a couple of months. However, he should be the third goalkeeper when everyone is fit.
He is a sure starter for Strasbourg whose had a mediocre start of the season so far. Two wins, two losses, and a draw. With an L15 of 49; a sure starter for an ambitious club, he's a very good pick for your CAP240 line-up.
The Goalkeeper who's on the Bench that you should buy: Alfred Gomis (FC Lorient)
Gomis had no future in Rennes so he left on loan for FC Lorient in the French Ligue 1 this summer. At Rennes, he was the second goalkeeper behind Steve Mandanda, a 38-year-old goalkeeper with midweek utility and still expensive to pick up (and high L15 scores). It's not much of an improvement so far for Gomis, as he's the second goalkeeper at Lorient behind Mvogo.
Gomis contract ends in the summer of 2025 so that probably means Rennes will try and sell the goalkeeper soon. You can follow all the transfer rumors during the Mercato's on our curated list on our website.
The Best Sorare u23 goalkeeper in the Ligue1: Guillaume Restes (Toulouse)
Born and raised in Toulouse, Restes is a youth product of the superb youth academy.
He signed his first professional contract with the club in 2021. His promising performances with the youth teams at a young age soon earned him comparisons to former Toulouse player Alban Lafont.
Despite the arrival of two other strong goalkeepers, Alex Domínguez and Kjetil Haug, Reste started the season strong with some good performances. He's currently the second-best on the Save Percentage statistic with 80%, just behind Donnarumma, who has 81,8%. On average goalkeepers save 69% of the opponents’ shots on target. The save ratios differ greatly depending on whether the shots are taken inside or outside the box (60% and 85%, respectively).
He's obviously not cheap to pick up, the fact that he has almost no cards minted is not helping of course. He's currently the 8th most expensive goalkeeper on the platform.
The Goalkeeper for the Sorare Whale: Donnarrumma (PSG)
I don't think we are inventing hot water with this shout. Donnarumma featured numerous times on our Sorare blog before. He was the second most expensive goalkeeper on the platform in the summer of last year. You can read that article right here.
He still is in the top 10 of the most expensive Sorare goalkeepers although here are others currently in the Ligue 1 who are currently more costly. Like Chevalier (Lille) and Restes (Toulouse).
Paris Saint-Germain is looking back on a mediocre start in the league. The top French club barely picked up 11 points in its first six games. Without Neymar and Messi.