Who was the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season? Andre Onana 12th in ranking

Courtesy of the wonderful FBREF we’ve used the PSxG minus goals allowed metric to rank Premier League goalkeepers. ‘What the f*** is that?’ you might reasonably ask…

Post-shot expected goals is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot. When the number of goals they have conceded is subtracted, we are left with the figures below. FBREF explains that positive numbers suggest better luck or an above-average ability to stop shots.

Here’s how the Premier League shot-stoppers performed this season; they must have started 15 top-flight games.

1) Ederson (Manchester City): +5.0
He’s been a whole lot busier without Rodri; he’s been exposed far more than at any other time in his Manchester City career and emerged very much in the black. But he literally did not have a shot to save against Wolves or Southampton, and made just one excellent stop v Bournemouth. A clean sheet and three saves on the final day at Fulham helped him claim the unofficial best goalkeeper award.

2) Jordan Pickford (Everton): +4.8
Had 12 clean sheets for a team in the bottom half of the Premier League table. Almost kept out Manchester City and did actually under-concede despite losing 2-0. Then made a further six saves v Chelsea. But was exposed by Ipswich. Made five saves v Fulham as Everton returned to winning ways. Kept a clean sheet in Everton’s last ever game at Goodison Park and that was special. Almost as special as the ex-Sunderland man doing everything in his power to keep Newcastle out of the top five, making six saves. He did his all, but Aston Villa losing to the worst Manchester United side in Premier League history meant it was not enough.

3) Alisson (Liverpool): +3.7
Remarkably, he made nine saves v Brighton as a sloppy Liverpool lost 3-2. Alisson vs Giorgi Mamardashvili next season will be interesting.

4) Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace): +3.2
Was doing incredibly well until he conceded 10 goals in two games against Manchester City and Newcastle United. Redeemed himself with three clean sheets in his five games. And then he was brilliant in the FA Cup final. Almost kept a clean sheet at Liverpool on the final day but could do nothing about Mohamed Salah’s deflected shot.

5) Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest): +3.0
One among many incompetent Forest keepers last season but has a 73.9% save percentage this season and 13 clean sheets, which resulted in a shared Golden Glove with David Raya. They can get one hand each.

6) Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham Hotspur): +2.4
Spurs have faced the highest PSxG of any Premier League side outside of the relegated three clubs this season, which keeps the Italian pretty sodding busy. He was definitely culpable in the 5-1 defeat to Liverpool but he was not alone.

7) Kepa (Bournemouth): +2.0
Conceded 10 goals in five Premier League games before seven saves earned the Cherries a precious win v Fulham. And then had literally nothing to do v Palace. Made five saves v Manchester United, meaning he conceded just once from a PSxG of 1.7. He did similar v Arsenal as the Cherries remained in sniffing distance of a European place. He was an excellent loan signing by the Cherries.

8) Nick Pope (Newcastle): +1.7
Made four saves v Man Utd as Pope under-conceded for the fourth Premier League game in a row. And then saved a penalty. But he was exposed v Aston Villa. Had literally nothing to do v Ipswich but was then excellent in a crucial win over Chelsea. Couldn’t do anything to stop the attempts to bottle top five.

9) Robert Sanchez (Chelsea): +1.7
Has the best save percentage in the Premier League (76.4%) but still gets pelters from pundits. A clean sheet on the final day at Nottingham Forest got Chelsea in to the Champions League.

10) Mads Hermansen (Leicester City): +1.4
Only one keeper has ever made more saves in a Premier League game than the 13 Hermansen managed against Arsenal. That was David de Gea against the Gunners in December 2017; the Foxes’ No. 1 was unfortunate that Mikel Arteta’s side are slightly better now.

Topped this list earlier in the season, got injured, then returned to find the Foxes worse than ever and decided he wanted a piece of that action.

11) David Raya (Arsenal): +1.2
He was poor v Crystal Palace and Bournemouth as more points were dropped, with Oliver Glasner making it clear he was targeted. But he under-conceded v Liverpool and made five saves in the 1-0 win over Newcastle to draw him level with Sels for the Golden Glove. Both goalkeepers conceded on the final day and shared the award with 13.

12) Andre Onana (Manchester United): +1.0
Conceded only once in three games in the Premier League but was dropped for the battering by Newcastle for his antics in the Europa League. Not at fault for Wolves’ goal as he was recalled. Not at fault as Man Utd lost to Chelsea before the Europa League final. Had nothing to do with Altay Bayindir being involved in one of the most controversial moments of the season.

13) Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa): +0.8
Three consecutive clean sheets when it mattered most were supposed to have rescued a below-par season for the Argentine, but then Manchester United away happened.

14) Mark Flekken (Brentford): 0.0
Consistently one of the worst goalkeepers on this metric last season, no keeper has made more saves than Flekken this season. But he had something of a ‘mare against Manchester United. A nice round zero feels right.

15) Arijanet Muric (Ipswich Town): -1.6
Was very poor in the 4-0 defeat to Newcastle United, taking him into the black for the first time this season. Then dropped after the Arsenal defeat in which he was much better. Recalled v Southampton and Ipswich somehow lost 2-1. Had the worst performance of the entire Premier League season.

16) Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton): -2.5
Was supposed to make a big difference to Southampton; has apparently not made a big difference to Southampton. No goalkeeper has conceded more goals from corners this season with 10.

17) Alphonse Areola (West Ham): -2.6
West Ham are now so bad that Areola remarkably under-conceded in the 3-2 defeat to Brighton.

18) Jose Sa (Wolves): -3.0
Incidentally has the same PSxG minus goals allowed as his back-up, Sam Johnstone.

19) Bernd Leno (Fulham): -3.2
A poor season compared to his usual standards. Only seven goalkeepers should actually have conceded fewer goals than Leno this season.

20) Bart Verbruggen (Brighton): -5.0
Kept a first clean sheet since February in Brighton’s win over Wolves but it has still been a very shaky season for the Dutchman. Conceding seven at Nottingham Forest earned him a 3.95 WhoScored rating – the second-worst of the season behind Muric.