It can often seem as if the men between the sticks are only one high profile error from being resoundingly chastised by fans and pundits alike, and sometimes the remnants of such a mistake can have a lingering effect on a keeper’s reputation.
We’ve already seen it in the top flight this term, with Chelsea manager Frank Lampard moving quickly to bring in Edouard Mendy as an alternative for the struggling Kepa Arrizabalaga before the transfer window shut earlier this month.
By contrast, other, altogether less expected candidates – such as Leeds United stopper Illan Meslier and Newcastle United deputy Karl Darlow – have caught the eye with a number of impressive displays.
But which goalkeepers have been the most dependable so far this season, and which ones need to be worriedly looking over their shoulders?
We’ve compared the xCG of each Premier League club’s first choice* stopper to the amount of efforts they have actually shipped to find out the best and worst of the campaign to date:
*For the purposes of this article, we have defined ‘first choice’ as the goalkeeper who has made the most appearances in the Premier League for any given club so far this season. xCG is a measurement is of chance quality, and reflects the number of goals that a goalkeeper is reasonably expected to concede. Each xCG is a total taken from across the overall number of appearances that the player has made so far this season.
By contrast, other, altogether less expected candidates – such as Leeds United stopper Illan Meslier and Newcastle United deputy Karl Darlow – have caught the eye with a number of impressive displays.