Since the arrival of Alisson at Liverpool back in 2018, the conversation surrounding who is the best goalkeeper in the world has ramped up.
There are many options; his Brazilian teammate Ederson, Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy and Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak to name a few.
All have been crucial to the success of their side in the past few seasons.
The most successful is Ederson. He has won eight major trophies since joining Man City from Benfica, including three Premier League titles.
Chelsea would not have won the Champions League last season had they stuck with Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Mendy has helped the Blues win the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup since the 1-0 win over Manchester City in the final.
Oblak has only won four major trophies at Atletico. He’s been there since 2014 but has only won one Spanish Title, that of course was last season.
He did win the 2018 Europa League, though.
Finally, Allison has been an integral part of Liverpool’s success and was deemed to be the last piece of the puzzle by many.
He’s helped the Reds taste success both domestically and on the continent.
Individual opinions are one thing, however, statistics are another factor when talking about the best in the world.
So, who is the best keeper around at the moment, according to the stats?
Many would have Ederson in their team for his distribution, it really is second to none.
He boasts an 89% pass completion rate this campaign, according to Infogol.
Alisson is just below on 86%, Mendy is 80% and Oblak is down at 57%.
You might not have needed a graph to tell you, but Oblak just can’t hang with the other three.
It might be down to the way the four teams play.
The Premier League has an obsession of late with being able to play out from the back.
La Liga clearly doesn’t.
Playing out from the back can be a dangerous game at times.
However, that’s why clubs, especially in the Premier League, put such an onus on their stopper being an all-rounder.
And it’s why Liverpool struggled for years with the likes of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius, neither were confident with the ball at their feet.
One of the most important factors to judge when talking about goalkeepers is of course, goals.
It could be argued this is more of a defensive effort than just down to the goalkeeper.
That is a valid argument, though there’s no denying it’s the “keeper’s job” to stop shots.
This graph proves that Oblak is not the player he once was.
Conceding over half of the shots on target he faces, as well as conceding 34 goals this term, it’s easy to see why Atletico have slumped down the table.
The Premier League trio are relatively close in most aspects.
It is, however, Mendy who sticks out.
He’s faced 63 shots on target, the highest of the four, and boasts a save percentage which is much higher than his Premier League counterparts (81%).
It is at this point that Oblak is excluded from the conversation.
His poor season at Atletico Madrid makes it impossible for him to be the world’s best.
Even those at the top are susceptible to the occasional blunder.
Alisson has made eight errors leading to goals during his time at Liverpool.
Ederson has directly cost Manchester City six goals and Edouard Mendy has given away two goals against Chelsea.
Both Alisson and Mendy have made an error during this campaign, but Ederson is yet to make a mistake.
When it comes to claiming balls into the box, Mendy is by far the most commanding of the three.
The AFCON winner has made six more claims than Ederson who is second on 16 and nine more than Alisson who has claimed just 13 balls inside his box.
It must be said that Alisson does prefer to punch away.
He’s done this more times than anyone else in the Premier League this season with 15.
Ederson and Mendy are both tied on seven for this.
Liverpool’s number one is again on top when it comes to playing as a sweeper.
According to the official Premier League website, he’s made 18 clearances from outside his box.
Mendy is a close second with 17 with Ederson down below with 12.
Overall, it’s a subject that is too close to call.
It may come down to personal preference.
Do you prefer a keeper who can play 90-yard passes like Ederson?
Or do you want a man in goal who can do it all like Alisson?
Mendy is arguably just as important as the two Brazilians. Would Chelsea have won what they have without him?
The stats say the Senegalese man has been the best around this season.
The highest save percentage, the most crosses claimed, only one error leading to a goal and a respectable pass completion rate.
Whoever your preference, it seems the Premier League is in safe hands with these world stars
[Featured image courtesy of: Agencia de Noticias ANDES via Creative Commons]
