Best goalkeeper in the Premier League revealed | Andre Onana, David Raya and Robert Sanchez transfers analysed
Could Arsenal have David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale competing for No 1? Were Man Utd right to let David De Gea go and sign Andre Onana? Why did Chelsea sign Robert Sanchez? Who was the best Premier League goalkeeper last season? How many points did Alisson win Liverpool last season?
Tuesday 15 August 2023 15:07, UK
Who's the best goalkeeper in the Premier League? Factoring shot-stopping, handling, cross claiming, sweeping and distribution, we reveal the league's true No 1...
Using unique data from Goalkeeper xG - part of the Goalkeeper.com Group - we break down how every goalkeeper performed in each category last season alongside former Premier League stopper Brad Friedel and goalkeeper expert Dr John Harrison.
Friedel and Harrison also provide their thoughts on whether Arsenal will benefit from signing David Raya and having two No 1s at the club, whether Manchester United were right to let David De Gea go and why Chelsea signed Robert Sanchez.
- David Raya joins Arsenal on initial loan with £27m option to buy
- Aaron Ramsdale or David Raya? 'No automatic first choice'
- Chelsea complete £25m Robert Sanchez signing from Brighton
The data has been used on Monday Night Football and is highly-regarded among the industry, with former 'keeper Richard Lee also looking to incorporate the metrics at his player agency. "Until now, I think goalkeeper data has been far inferior, compared with outfield players," says Lee.
"It started off with 'saves made', which was quite interesting - but the goalkeeper who played for the bottom club usually topped that stat. Then you had save percentage - but, again, that was all dependent on the types of teams.
"Expected goals has been the best new metric in recent times, but, again, it still only tells a bit of the story. There are so many different facets to a goalkeeper's game and this data takes it to the next level."
So, what does this new breed of data tell us about Premier League stoppers last season?
Shot-stopping and parries
Fulham 'keeper Bernd Leno outperformed all of his counterparts for pure shot-stopping last term - helping the Cottagers secure a top-half finish in the Premier League table.
"Leno had a crazy shot-stopping season," says Harrison. "He was average or below average in every other category. So maybe he just had a freak season - but he saved 38 out of 54 1v1s he faced, far above the 50 per cent usual 1v1 save rate - which is outrageously good."
Trailing by some distance, the next top shot-stoppers were Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez and Raya.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth's Neto, Lukasz Fabianski and Raya lead the way for parrying - with a clutch of stoppers not far off the trio, including Danny Ward, Jose Sa, Alisson and Martinez.
Sweeping and cross claiming
Claiming crosses and sweeping are both shot-preventing actions, with more traditional 'keepers typically being better at claiming but poor at sweeping - while the opposite is often true for modern stoppers.
Liverpool's Alisson produced league-topping scores for sweeping - pipping Saints 'keeper and former Manchester City reserve Gavin Bazunu, Martinez and Ramsdale.
In terms of claiming crosses, Martinez was more dominant than his counterparts across the campaign, followed closely by Newcastle's Nick Pope, Alisson and Ederson.
Shot prevention and distribution
What about preventing shots overall? This combines numerous factors, such as shot handling - to prevent fumbles falling into the path of opponents - rushing out to sweep up through balls and distribution skills.
"Clubs like Liverpool and Manchester City have taken things to the next level and started competing in the Champions League," says Harrison.
"They've gone to this model of having more of the ball and facing very few shots because the 'keeper prevents shots against them and helps to keep possession. So, teams appear to be moving towards this idea. These 'keepers aren't necessarily the best shot-stoppers - but they stop shots happening in the first place."
Unsurprisingly, Ederson leads the way for distribution - boosted by his sumptuous assist for Erling Haaland against Brighton in October, which ranks as the best goalkeeper pass last term. Everton's Jordan Pickford is the only other stopper to come close - with the England No 1 typically firing long balls to team-mates.
In terms of overall shot prevention, Alisson and Martinez come out on top - followed by Pope and Ederson.
At the other end of the scale, De Gea and Hugo Lloris are among the bottom three - which, arguably, highlights the pair's decline after typically ranking among the elite in previous campaigns.
Overall rankings
Factoring all six categories above, the overall rankings present Martinez as the top-performing 'keeper last season, adding 0.44 goals for his side per 90 minutes.
The Argentine played an instrumental role in helping hoist Aston Villa to a seventh-placed finish under Unai Emery after lifting the World Cup in December.
Alisson claims runner-up spot to maintain his consistent form across seasons, while Leno's 'outrageously good' first season at Craven Cottage - after leaving the Gunners - sees the German secure third spot.
In terms of topical 'keepers, potential Arsenal signing Raya outranks current No 1 Ramsdale by three spots - with the latter penalised for several costly errors.
At Chelsea, Kepa soars clear of Sanchez after the Spaniard endured a difficult period and lost his starting berth at Brighton.
Finally, De Gea finished mid-table in ninth - boosted by his customary shot-stopping ability but hindered by his growing reluctance to come off of his line, several blunders and distribution struggles.
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Best and worst
You can watch the best and worst example from each category in the video below.
Were Man Utd right to let De Get go?
David De Gea leaving Manchester United after 12 years of service has been one of the biggest shocks this summer, with the club splashing £47.2m on Inter Milan stopper Andre Onana to fill his boots.
Onana is renown for his sweeping and distribution - but was this what United were primarily looking for in their No 1?
"A goalkeeper's ability to save shots and keep the ball out of the net is more important than his distribution skills," says Friedel.
"Our data shows that," adds Harrison. "Obviously, for teams like Manchester City, distribution is a bigger chunk of the pie than for a team like Bournemouth. Shot-stopping is about two-thirds of a goalkeeper's 'worth', on average. About one-quarter of it is shot prevention and then the final segment is distribution - around 10 per cent.
"For teams like City, distribution becomes more like 18-20 per cent of the goalkeeper's worth - just because they only face around two shots on target every game.
"So, indeed, distribution - and shot prevention - aren't negligible - especially for the big clubs, and this applies to De Gea. In the past three or four seasons, he ranked top three or five as a shot-stopper, but bottom three or four for shot prevention and distribution - so he became average."
So were United right to let De Gea go? Friedel thinks the club made the right call: "De Gea has been one of the best in the Premier League over time, but we all age out - I know that from personal experience."
"But his cross claiming and shot prevention, statistically, were in decline - which means he's pretty much not coming out for crosses anymore and not being as aggressive off this line.
"Will Onana be the perfect replacement? Time will tell. He will get caught out at times, because of the way he plays, but he may end up being a fantastic Premier League goalkeeper."
Raya vs Ramsdale
Arsenal will have no definitive No 1 this season but Friedel does not believe having two No 1s vying for a starting berth can work effectively. "You can't really have two number ones," he says. "The psychology of a goalkeeper, for the one that isn't playing, it's just a difficult situation to be in and the longer that you don't play, the more frustrated you become.
"When you have two No 1s at the club, one eventually has to leave. It just doesn't work. If you want to have two goalkeepers to compete, realistically, the second goalkeeper needs to be a young goalkeeper coming through, who is also learning on the bench and with the squad.
"Or, a goalkeeper who is older and is coming to the end of his career but is also happy to be on the bench and teach. So, I completely disagree with having two number ones - it causes too many problems.
"If you're going just on shot-stopping, I think Raya is better. I think there's only one category that Ramsdale is possibly ahead of him last season. But Raya, being a goalkeeper at a new team is going to have to learn Mikel Arteta's style of play. Statistically speaking, Raya is better in certain categories, absolutely. And, if he gets his chance, he may stay in the team. If that happens, what does that do for Ramsdale's psychology?"
Harrison agrees: "Brentford were playing in front of 15,000 or so - the second-lowest attendance behind Bournemouth every week. Whereas Ramsdale had to do it at the Emirates. That's one of those things - the psychology Brad mentioned: it doesn't automatically mean Raya is going to translate that exact level of performance when he puts on an Arsenal shirt."
The data places Raya clear of Ramsdale for distribution - but that comes with a caveat: "Ramsdale gave it away to a striker right outside the box on four occasions last season, which penalises him heavily in this metric - but he actually played a lot more good, progressive passes," Harrison adds.
New-gen Steele? Why did Chelsea sign Sanchez?
Chelsea splashed £25m on out-of-favour Brighton stopper Sanchez, with Kepa Arrizabalaga leaving the Blues to join Real Madrid on a season-long loan deal. Statistically, Sanchez struggled last season - with the charts above suggesting he ranked particularly poorly for shot-stopping and handling,
"Sanchez was having a bit of a nightmare last season, in terms of his cross claiming and shot-shopping," explains Harrison. "So Steele, statistically, is only a bang-average shot-stopper and preventer but that steadied the ship at Brighton - so it wasn't just about his distribution, although that was a big upgrade on Sanchez.
"In 2021/22, Sanchez was exceptional but Brighton dropped him last season because of that ropey start. You can also look at his goalkeeper coach, Ben Roberts. When Roberts was at Brighton, Sanchez did amazingly. But then Roberts joined Chelsea and Sanchez was dropped at Brighton.
"So, the question is whether Ben can get the best out of him again. They have a great relationship, so I can easily see Sanchez coming straight in and starting. But, there is no question that Kepa had a much better campaign than Sanchez did last season."
Friedel provides further tactical insight: "Mauricio's [Pochettino] staff are always the same and he trusts them implicitly. Toni Jimenez will be the one who decides the No 1. Mauricio, unlike any other manager I've ever played for, comes over and joins goalkeeping training two or three times a week. He really makes the goalkeepers part of the squad - he knows how important they are.
"He will want the goalkeeper to be comfortable with his feet, of course. But, first and foremost, Toni and Mauricio will want the ball to be kept out of the back of the net. You have to be good on crosses, agile off your line - that's a big one for his system because Mauricio does like to press and he will like to play a higher if he can. That was one of Hugo Lloris' biggest assets - just how quick he was off the line for balls played through."
Stating the case for 'keepers
"Goalkeepers have a huge impact on the overall team," adds Harrison. "If you've got a world-class finisher up front, such as Lionel Messi, who, statistically, consistently overperforms every year, that's great - but even the best strikers will only take about a third of the team's shots - and that's dependent on how many shots your whole team creates.
"In contrast, a goalkeeper faces 100 per cent of the shots your team faces. They have an opportunity to stop every goal against your team, which is why a goalkeeper like Alisson can be worth nine points to Liverpool across a single season."
