Statistics

Alisson faces battle to retain Golden Glove

6 Feb 2020

Liverpool goalkeeper on course to claim Cadbury award but is being chased by Nick Pope and Dean Henderson

The race to win the Golden Glove award is hotting up and Alisson faces stiff competition as he bids to retain his crown.

The Liverpool goalkeeper has nine Premier League clean sheets, a total shared by Sheffield United's Dean Henderson and Nick Pope of Burnley.

Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City and Watford's Ben Foster stand only one behind with eight shutouts.

Solid rearguard

With the leaders conceding 15 goals so far, Alisson, who kept 21 clean sheets in 2018/19, is well-placed to win the award, presented by Cadbury, again.

The Brazilian's quest to become the leading contender for a second season is all the more impressive given injury and suspension have restricted him to 17 Premier League appearances.

Indeed, Alisson's nine clean sheets have come in his last 10 starts.

Not only does Alisson have the highest save percentage in the league this season at 87 per cent, he is also the top goalkeeper when it comes to Opta's new Stats Perform Goalkeeper Index.

Using the Index, Opta can simulate how each goalkeeper would perform if they faced all 2,108 of the shots faced by goalkeepers in the Premier League this season. This provides the number of goals that each goalkeeper would be expected to concede.

The best GKs by Opta Index

GK	Simulated goals conceded*	Simulated goals prevented*
Alisson	0.42	0.74
Ederson	0.93	0.23
De Gea	0.99	0.17
Gazzaniga	1.00	0.16
Leno	1.02	0.13

*Per match

At the top of the rankings, Alisson is expected to prevent 0.74 more goals per game than the league average, with Manchester City's Ederson charting second and David De Gea of Manchester United in third.

Alisson is also on course to break the record for best minutes per goal conceded in a Premier League season.

He is currently ahead of Petr Cech, who set a record of 24 clean sheets for Chelsea in 2004/05, and David Seaman for Arsenal in 1998/99.