Onana on course for Golden Glove but Pope best in Premier League
Courtesy of the wonderful FBREF we’ve used the PSxG minus goals allowed metric to rank the top-flight stoppers. ‘What the f*** is that?’ you might reasonably ask…
Post-shot expected goals is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot. When the number of goals they have conceded is subtracted, we are left with the figures below. FBREF explains that positive numbers suggest better luck or an above-average ability to stop shots.
Here’s how the Premier League keepers have performed this season, and at this early stage they must have started six Premier League games.
1) Nick Pope (Newcastle): +3.7
Ranks joint-second for saves, while being singled out as “brilliant” by Pep Guardiola for his part in holding the champions. He did not have a single save to make v Arsenal, which is far more damning of the Gunners than Pope.
2) Andre Onana (Manchester United): +3.7
Currently on course for the Golden Glove as Onana is the only Premier League goalkeeper to keep five clean sheets, with the fifth coming against Leicester in a very uncharacteristic cruise for Manchester United.
3) Alisson (Liverpool): +2.5
The best goalkeeper on this metric two years ago, and is in the mix again. He has the best save percentage in the Premier League at a smidge over 88%. Currently injured.
4) Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham): +1.9
He struggles with set-pieces but his shot-stopping is pretty exemplary; he had under-conceded (is that a thing?) in all his Premier League games until that batsh*t game v Brighton. Made five saves v Crystal Palace and then none v Aston Villa. Only actually made one save v Ipswich Town but it was a belter.
5) Mads Hermansen (Leicester City): +1.7
Only one keeper has ever made more saves in a Premier League game than the 13 Hermansen managed against Arsenal. That was David de Gea against the Gunners in December 2017; the Foxes’ No. 1 was unfortunate that Mikel Arteta’s side are slightly better now. He was a little less busy v Bournemouth, too busy again v Southampton and then actually uncharacteristically poor v Forest, Ipswich Town and Manchester United.
6) Ederson (Manchester City): +1.6
It’s rare that Ederson is forced into four saves in one Premier League game but a Rodri-less City means a much busier Ederson, and he hit that mark v Brentford and Bournemouth; it wasn’t enough against the latter.
7) Bart Verbruggen (Brighton): +1.6
Faced 27 shots on target in his last four Premier League games so conceding five goals puts him way ahead of the game. He was excellent in Brighton’s win over Manchester City.
8) Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace): +1.3
Very motivated to make a point v Manchester United after their ‘criminal’ decision, but when not fuelled by spite you get two Dwight McNeil goals conceded from a PSxG of 0.6 against Everton. But he was brilliant in almost keeping out Nottingham Forest, then bagged another clean sheet v Spurs.
9) Arjanet Muric (Ipswich Town): +1.1
A very, very busy boy in that Ipswich goal but just about emerges in credit. He was excellent in victory over Tottenham.
10) Robert Sanchez (Chelsea): +0.6
Back-to-back clean sheets featuring a penalty save v Bournemouth, then partially culpable in a mad game against Brighton. Is behind only Alisson in terms of save percentage but still gets pelters from pundits.
11) Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest): +0.4
One among many incompetent Forest keepers last season but has an 77.5% save percentage this season. He was excellent to safeguard a point v Chelsea and then a clean sheet v Crystal Palace. Was barely tested v Leicester City and West Ham, but then exposed v Newcastle United.
12) Bernd Leno (Fulham): -0.2
Unusual to see Leno this far down the page, but conceding six goals in two games v Man City and Aston Villa put a big old dent in his numbers. Definitely better v Everton but had little to do v Brentford. Excellent in keeping a clean sheet v Palace.
13) Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton): -0.3
Made five saves to keep a first clean sheet of the season v Everton. He will need many more to keep the Saints in the Premier League.
14) Kepa (Bournemouth): -0.4
Kept one clean sheet in six attempts for the Cherries. Mark Travers might be wondering when he gets picked ahead of the Spaniard.
15) Jordan Pickford (Everton): -1.1
Made six saves to keep his third clean sheet of the season v West Ham so is edging away from the very bottom of this table.
16) David Raya (Arsenal): -1.9
Conceded the same number of goals (12) as Andre Onana, but the quality of the chances that Arsenal are conceding are significantly lower. Which is how he finds himself here.
17) Mark Flekken (Brentford): -1.9
Consistently one of the worst goalkeepers on this metric last season, no keeper has made more saves than Flekken this season. Unfortunately, nobody has conceded more goals.
18) Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa): -2.2
Not the sort of player you expect to see down here, but it took a rotten Manchester United for him to finally keep a clean sheet. Saved a penalty v Fulham to boost his numbers but was poor v Tottenham in 4-1 defeat.
19) Jose Sa (Wolves): -3.1
Kept his first clean sheet of the season v Southampton but was required to make exactly zero saves.
20) Alphonse Areola (West Ham): -3.6
Worst save percentage in the Premier League.