Everyone knows that Alisson is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and this ridiculous statistic proves how important he is for Liverpool.
Since arriving at Anfield in 2018, the Brazilian has become one of the key figures in turning Liverpool into modern European heavyweights.
However, now, when the “reds” are falling from the high heights of the last few years, the importance of Alisson is emphasized even more.
Expected goals (xG) are not always reliable statistics, but when applied to a large sample, it can reveal certain facts about the performance of a team.
Alisson has been a constant presence at Liverpool’s 26 Premier League matches this season.
During this time, the Reds conceded 29 goals — the fifth result in defense in the league.
This number is only 29 people, largely thanks to Alisson’s talent.
Using FBref, we see that, excluding autogalls, Liverpool should have missed 37.2 times this season.
In fact, without taking into account the goals, the Reds conceded only 27.
This means that the quality of Alisson’s goal has saved Liverpool just over 10 goals already this campaign.
This makes him the best goalkeeper in the league by this indicator. In fact, on average this season, goalkeepers have conceded one more goal than their xG predicts after the throw (PSxG).
XG after the throw is the ratio of expected goals minus the number of goals actually conceded.
The best goalkeepers of the Premier League (PSxG)
- 1. Alisson (Liverpool) – +10.2
- 2. Edouard Mendy/Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) – +5.1
- 3. Bernd Leno/Marek Rodak (Fulham) – +4.4
- 4. Jordan Pickford/Asmir Begovic (Everton) – +3.4
- 5. David Raya (Brentford) – +2.6
Alisson scored 10.2 goals for Liverpool, which is twice as much as the next best player in the league: Eduard Mendy and Kepa Arrisabalaga combined to reflect 5.1 goals for Chelsea.
Only six other clubs have a positive xG score after the strike: These are Fulham (+4.4), Everton (+3.4), Brentford (+2.6), Newcastle (+2.3), West Ham (+1.3) and Arsenal (+1.3). 1.3).
Meanwhile, Tottenham (-3.3), Manchester United (-3.8) and Manchester City (-4.1) conceded more goals than the quality of shots they faced would suggest.
The worst goalkeeper in the Premier League, unsurprisingly, is Gavin Bazanu from Southampton, whose xG score after a throw is -12.1.
If you took away Alisson’s exceptional form at Liverpool, which allowed him to save 0.39 PSxG per game, and instead replaced him with a statistically average league goalscorer, Liverpool would have conceded 40 goals this season.
It would be the joint 13th worst result in the league, and, of course, Liverpool would drop even lower in the table.
He has won everything that could be won with Liverpool and is already on a par with the best goalkeepers who have ever played for the club.
At 30, the Brazilian is still in the prime of his goalkeeping career, and it’s almost certain that his name will stand alongside such great goalkeepers as Ray Clemens and Bruce Grobbelaar, if he hasn’t already.
