Alisson, De Gea, Ederson: Who is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League?

Alisson saved Liverpool an incredible 19 goals in the Premier League last season.

That’s according to brilliant research from goalkeeper data specialist, John Harrison.

Harrison’s work has previously been used by Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports and he’s now produced an in-depth research piece into the goalkeepers of Premier League’s top six clubs.

He’s looked at Manchester City’s Ederson, Liverpool’s Alisson, Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris, Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale and Manchester United’s David de Gea in a range of categories – general stopping, 1v1 stopping, shot handling, cross claiming, through-ball sweeping, general passing and pressurised passing.

Harrison has worked out how many goals each of the top six goalkeepers have saved their side compared to an average Premier League goalkeeper.

Let’s take you through the results with Harrison’s explanation for each position.

Harrison says: “While his shot-stopping was by far the best, saving 9.86 goals above what we be expected if an average goalkeeper faced those shots. For comparison, the next highest goalkeeper in the top six had +4.59. His cross claiming, through-ball sweeping and distribution was by far the worst meaning that his overall contribution to Manchester United was just +2.96 goals.

“By rarely coming off his line to claim crosses and sweep up, De Gea faced far more shots than an average goalkeeper would have if they had faced the same through-balls and crosses. So, whilst his saves may have often been eye-catching this year, on many occasions another goalkeeper would likely have never even faced a shot as they theoretically would have intercepted the ball at an earlier stage.”

Harrison says: “Ederson’s profile is almost the exact opposite to