The best and worst goalkeepers in the PL

The best and worst goalkeepers in the PL - according to stats

Matt Morley 6 years ago 4.1k |

Reading time: minutes

Butland is statistically the PL's worst goalkeeper. AFP

Following the creation of the new expected goals stat (xG), Opta may have revolutionised how we look at goalkeepers' performances forever. We take a look at the Premier League's best and worst goalkeepers so far this season according to the metric.

According to Opta, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League is Burnley's second choice stopper! Nick Pope came into the side after 'Clarets' captain Tom Heaton dislocated his shoulder and has flourished, having conceded 5.9 goals less than he would reasonably have been expected to. Impressively, the former Charlton man also has the best save percentage in the competition, having made 37 stops at an average of 88.1% in his eight games, conceding just five.

It will come as little surprise that Manchester United's David De Gea is statistically the second best goalkeeper in the league, having prevented 5.7 expected goals. The Spaniard has more clean sheets than any other player so far this season (eight) and has conceded just five goals in 11 games. His save percentage isn't bad either, having made 32 stops at an average of 86.5%.

At the other end of the scale, there is bad news for England fans. Stoke's Jack Butland is the Premier League's worst-performing stopper having conceded 5.7 more goals than he should have done, he is closely followed by Everton's Jordan Pickford with 3.7 and the top three is rounded off by West Brom's Ben Foster with 2.3.

The save percentage stats don't make for particularly good reading either, with only Liverpool's Simon Mignolet (21 saves at 54.1%) posting a worse return than Butland (27 saves at 54.2%) with England No 1 Joe Hart closely following them (31 saves at 56.6%).