Stats highlight De Gea’s improvement and importance

Ian Watson
Premier League goalkeepers Illan Meslier, David De Gea and Jose Sa.

We haven’t needed stats to understand how reliant Manchester United have been on David De Gea this season. But here they are anyway…

Only four keepers have faced more shots on their goal this season and only a couple have made more saves. But the metric in which De Gea really stands out is ‘post-shot expected goals against minus goals allowed’ (PSxG+/-).

‘What the f*** is that?’, you might ask. Statsbomb explains all here. In a nutshell, a positive number suggests an above average ability to stop shots that a keeper might not have been expected to, or perhaps better luck. PSxG+/- does not account for own goals.

What this season’s figures show is that De Gea has over-performed more than any other Premier League goalkeeper, keeping out 7.6 goals that he might have been expected to concede. Only Jose Sa of Wolves pushes him close and De Gea’s number highlights a vast improvement on last season’s performances.

Some other takeaways from PSxG+/- numbers…

– Illan Meslier has gone from one of the best-performing stoppers in the Premier League to the worst regular No.1 – though he has had very little protection, with Leeds allowing a whopping 97 shots on their goal.

– Alex McCarthy has put his miserable form last season behind him to be a steadier presence in Southampton’s goal.

– Emiliano Martinez and Nick Pope’s influence has dipped dramatically.

– Edouard Mendy is still a positive presence in Chelsea’s goal despite his recent struggles.

– Alphonse Areola, last season’s best goalkeeper in terms of PSxG+/- with +7.6 while at Fulham, is being kept out of West Ham’s side by Lukasz Fabianski’s consistency.

– Ederson’s dip in form doesn’t appear to be affecting leaders Manchester City.

– Aaron Ramsdale is the best-performing English goalkeeper, with the Arsenal keeper, Ben Foster, McCarthy and Pope all producing better numbers than Jordan Pickford.

 

Here are the Premier League keepers ranked on PSxG+/-
Only keepers with five or more appearances included. All numbers taken from FBREF/Statsbomb.

 

1) David de Gea (Manchester Utd) +7.6
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: -0.2 (26th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 17
Goals conceded: 23 + 2 own-goals
xG against: 30.6
Shots on target faced: 81
Saves percentage: 70.4%
Last season’s saves percentage: 67.1%


From last season: De Gea’s deputy tops PL keepers ranked on saves percentage


2) Jose Sa (Wolves) +6.7
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-:
Games played: 18
Goals conceded: 14
xG against: 20.7
Shots on target faced: 67
Saves percentage: 85.1%
Last season’s saves percentage:

 

3) Robert Sanchez (Brighton) +2.2
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +4.8 (8th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 17
Goals conceded: 16
xG against: 18.2
Shots on target faced: 64
Saves percentage: 78.1%
Last season’s saves percentage: 71.3%

 

4) Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham) +2.0
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +4.8 (7th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 19
Goals conceded: 25
xG against: 27
Shots on target faced: 84
Saves percentage: 71.4%
Last season’s saves percentage: 69.4%

 

5) Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) +1.9
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +0.1 (24th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 19
Goals conceded: 13 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 14.9
Shots on target faced: 58
Saves percentage: 82.8%
Last season’s saves percentage: 70.5%

 

6) Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) +1.2
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +5.0 (5th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 17
Goals conceded: 19 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 20.2
Shots on target faced: 62
Saves percentage: 69.4%
Last season’s saves percentage: 75.7%

 

7) Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal) +1.2
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +1.9 (14th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 16
Goals conceded: 14
xG against: 15.2
Shots on target faced: 66
Saves percentage: 81.8%
Last season’s saves percentage: 70.7% (for Sheffield United)

8) Alisson (Liverpool) +0.6
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +5.9 (3rd of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 18
Goals conceded: 15 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 15.6
Shots on target faced: 49
Saves percentage: 67.3%
Last season’s saves percentage: 74.8%

 

9) Martin Dubravka (Newcastle Utd) +0.6
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +1.4 (15th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 7
Goals conceded: 15
xG against: 15.6
Shots on target faced: 35
Saves percentage: 60%
Last season’s saves percentage: 69.5%

10) Alvaro Fernandez (Brentford) +0.6
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-:
Games played: 9
Goals conceded: 15 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 15.6
Shots on target faced: 42
Saves percentage: 64.3%
Last season’s saves percentage: 67.4% (for Huesca in La Liga)

 

11) Ben Foster (Watford) +0.3
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-:
Games played: 8
Goals conceded: 13
xG against: 13.3
Shots on target faced: 34
Saves percentage: 61.8%
Last season’s saves percentage: 73.8% (in EFL Championship)

 

12) Alex McCarthy (Southampton) -0.2
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: -8.1 (42nd of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 15
Goals conceded: 21
xG against: 20.8
Shots on target faced: 60
Saves percentage: 65%
Last season’s saves percentage: 63.8%

 

13) David Raya (Brentford) -0.8
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-:
Games played: 9
Goals conceded: 9
xG against: 8.2
Shots on target faced: 29
Saves percentage: 69%
Last season’s saves percentage: 74.2% (in EFL Championship)

 

14) Ederson (Manchester City) -1.3
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +2.2 (12th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 19
Goals conceded: 12
xG against: 10.7
Shots on target faced: 44
Saves percentage: 75%
Last season’s saves percentage: 75%

 

15) Tim Krul (Norwich City) -1.6
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-:
Games played: 17
Goals conceded: 32 + 2 own-goals
xG against: 30.4
Shots on target faced: 85
Saves percentage: 64.7%
Last season’s saves percentage: 80% (in EFL Championship)

 

16) Daniel Bachmann (Watford) -1.9
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-:
Games played: 9
Goals conceded: 21 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 19.1
Shots on target faced: 50
Saves percentage: 62%
Last season’s saves percentage: 76.1% (in EFL Championship)

 

 

 

17) Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) -2.5
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +7.4 (2nd of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 17
Goals conceded: 24 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 21.5
Shots on target faced: 70
Saves percentage: 68.6%
Last season’s saves percentage: 76.8%

 

18) Nick Pope (Burnley) -2.6
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +4.9 (6th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 15
Goals conceded: 21
xG against: 18.4
Shots on target faced: 65
Saves percentage: 67.7%
Last season’s saves percentage: 77%

 

19) Jordan Pickford (Everton) -2.7
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +0.7 (17th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 16
Goals conceded: 26
xG against: 23.3
Shots on target faced: 75
Saves percentage: 66.7%
Last season’s saves percentage: 71.1%

 

20) Karl Darlow (Newcastle Utd) -3.4
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: -4.0 (40th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 8
Goals conceded: 14 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 10.6
Shots on target faced: 37
Saves percentage: 64.9%
Last season’s saves percentage: 66.7%

21) Vicente Guaita (Crystal Palace) -3.8
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: -2.2 (36th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 17
Goals conceded: 22
xG against: 18.2
Shots on target faced: 70
Saves percentage: 70%
Last season’s saves percentage: 63.7%

 

22) Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) -4.2
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +0.5 (20th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 18
Goals conceded: 32 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 27.8
Shots on target faced: 85
Saves percentage: 67.1%
Last season’s saves percentage: 65.7%

 

23) Illan Meslier (Leeds United) -4.8
Last season’s PL PSxG+/-: +5.3 (4th of 42 PL keepers)
Games played: 18
Goals conceded: 35 + 1 own-goal
xG against: 30.2
Shots on target faced: 97
Saves percentage: 66%
Last season’s saves percentage: 75.1%