David de Gea and Alisson Becker: Who is the best goalkeeper? | Football News

Manchester United face Liverpool on Sunday

David de Gea and Alisson are two of the best goaltenders in the Premier League

Manchester United against Liverpool invites all sorts of comparisons, but the relative merits of the two goalkeepers could make one of Sunday's most intriguing debates.

David de Gea's reputation as an outstanding goalkeeper in the Premier League in recent years is hard to win and well deserved, but Alisson Becker's Liverpool performances have been decisive in bringing his club to the top of the table. this season. For the first time in a long time, must Liverpool have the top goalkeeper?

This is a big claim considering De Gea's record. While it has been almost six years now since he won his one and only Premier League title with Manchester United, the team's decline in fortunes has not reflected in his own performance at during this period. The Spanish international has been named in the PFA team of the year over the past four seasons.

De Gea continues to produce backups that others can not, especially during his draw against Tottenham at Wembley last month. De Gea made no less than 11 saves in United's 1-0 win in the second period – a series of unlikely stops to prevent the Spurs from reminding his team that he was able to score points .

How De Gea uses futsal

David de Gea incorporated futsal techniques to save the ball with his feet.

However, its shape was not as impressive at the beginning of the campaign. De Gea started the season after being accused by many in his country of being for Spain's poor performance at last summer's World Cup. On his return to Manchester, his levels dropped slightly and he managed to keep only two blank sheets in Jose Mourinho's first 17 games.

This is reflected in the underlying statistics of De Gea's season. The post-shoot target data is used to calculate the probability that the goalkeeper will get a shot that gives a goal based on the origin of the attempt, the type of attempt and the direction in which it was hit. These figures do not tell the story of the excellence one could expect.

De Gea was brilliant this afternoon at Wembley. The number of goals expected after Tottenham's shot for this match was 1.5 – which means that on average, these launches would give as many goals per game. But take this extraordinary performance out of the total and De Gea has conceded more goals this season than expected due to shooting.

Man Utd against Liverpool

February 24, 2019, 1 pm

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In total, United has scored 35 goals this season. Statistics suggest that the opposing throws should have given 36.06 goals – so De Gea saved one goal more than expected. It's a positive contribution, but not nearly as remarkable as last season's record, when the same stats really highlighted its importance to the US team.

De Gea only conceded 28 goals in 37 Premier League games last season, ensuring that Mourinho United would get one of the best defensive records in the competition. They left only one goal more than defending champion Manchester City, but this was largely due to De Gea's excellence. Statistics suggest that he expected to concede nearly 40 goals.

These dozens of goals could have been the difference between United's second place and a place outside the top four. When De Gea stopped saving them, Mourinho had problems. It is interesting to note that his form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is much improved – conceding six times when the data suggest that these shots should have given nine goals.

De Gea's shape is further improved under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

This recent form is more in line with what Alisson has produced for Liverpool for a good part of the season. Despite the fact that they kept fewer sheets clean, the team of Jurgen Klopp still has the best defensive record of the Premier League. Indeed, their three-point advantage over Manchester City is largely explained by the efforts of their new goalkeeper.

Although Ederson conceded 20 times on shots suggesting 20.71 goals – an impact similar to De Gea -, Alisson's difference is more evident in the numbers. Liverpool's shots were scored at 19.84, which suggests that by positioning and stopping the shot, Alisson denied nearly five more goals.

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Alisson on the challenge of learning English – and to try to learn Scouse

The Brazilian has been far from flawless. His mistake against Leicester in August gave Kelechi Iheanacho a goal and was one of four errors of this type leading to shots this season, according to Opta. De Gea has only made one mistake. But Alisson was encouraged by Klopp because he wants his goalkeeper to be proactive. It's a very different approach.

Alisson has made 15 badists this season, coming off the line to help his defense. De Gea has only done it once, partly because his default reaction is to retreat and support his prodigious ability to stop shooting. In reality, Alisson prevents these chances from becoming chances and allows Liverpool to play with a higher defensive line.

"Alisson is incredibly important," Klopp recently explained. "They all have their specific importance, of course, but Ali is not just the goalkeeper, he's also a field player and that helps of course." This is not only because of Alisson's appetite for getting out of his line, but also because of his general distribution when the ball is at his feet.

De Gea and Alisson Premier League statistics this season

Opta sequence data is now helping to explain why this is so important for Liverpool. When a goal is scored, there are more players involved than the scorer and the provider of help. Sequence data tracks the involvement of each player in the build. Alisson has been involved in more goings-on goals than any other goaltender this season.

Conclusion

De Gea and Alisson have very different styles but both are vital figures for their respective clubs. The Liverpool goalkeeper is more of a risk taker and is therefore more prone to making mistakes that could be costly to his team. However, Alisson's ability to sweep and distribute the ball from behind has given her team a new dimension this season.

What is perhaps more surprising is that Alisson's record numbers have also been first clbad, even better than De Gea during the season. This can be explained by the hollow shape that United suffered in the fall. De Gea seems to be at his best now – and that makes a compelling comparison when they face this Sunday.

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