How Liverpool's amazing Alisson is the man to rival De Gea

Perhaps the pick of the bunch out of Liverpool's excellent transfer window so far would be the 65 million euro acquisition of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker from Italian side AS Roma.

With the Merseyside reds often seen as a side with sub-par goalkeepers the past few seasons, the addition of Alisson will bring some much-needed stability at the back. That is something that the Anfield faithful have demanded for the longest time now.

Manchester United's David De Gea, who has been arguably the best goalkeeper in the league for a couple of seasons now, will get a fierce competitor in the form of the ex-Roma goalkeeper. And whatever the outcome of their potential rivalry, it is safe to say that the performances of both keepers will be a treat to watch once the new season begins.

Here is a comparison of a few of their significant stats (all stats via Squawka) from last season:

Clean Sheets

In arguably the most important stat for any goalkeeper, Alisson just edges his opposite number in Manchester by a single clean sheet. The Brazilian has kept 15 clean sheets in Serie A, while De Gea has kept 14 for Jose Mourinho's Red Devils in the Premier League.

Goals Conceded

In this stat, there is separation between the 'keepers. Both De Gea and Alisson conceded 27 goals each in the Premier League and Serie A respectively.

Total Saves Made

The Brazilian once again narrowly edges his Spanish counterpart in this statistic, making a total of 92 saves through the course of the Serie A season compared to De Gea's 90 in the Premier League.

Saves Per Goal

David De Gea emerges victorious in this stat. The Red Devil's #1 amassed an average of 3.46 saves per goal compared to Alisson's average of 3.41.

Distribution Accuracy

This is a stat whose importance has been increasing by the day in the modern game. Goalkeepers are now required to be equally competent with their feet along with the saves that they make with their arms.

Alisson emerges the clear winner in this category, with an average distribution accuracy of 83% compared to David De Gea's 63%.

Conclusion

Alisson played a total of 34 games for AS Roma in the Serie A while De Gea played a total of 37 games for Manchester United in the Premier League.

De Gea was vital for Manchester United through the length of the season, often the one to bail his side out of a certain goal. He was deservedly named the Manchester United Player of the Season at the club awards ceremony towards the end of the season.

Frequently tipped to be on the move to Real Madrid, it now looks like De Gea is going to stay at United for the foreseeable future. And his performances in the Premier League season to come are expected to be amazing, as they regularly are.

As for Alisson, he was a relatively new name on the block at the start of the season. But with his performances for Roma in Serie A, he is slowly but surely making the world sit up and take notice.

Putting in brilliant performances in the league and guiding the Gladiators to a place in the Champions League semifinal, Alisson certainly made a massive positive impact on his side. Liverpool would now be hoping for a similar impact on their side as they made him the most expensive goalkeeper ever by signing him for £65M in the summer.

Though Alisson may just edge out his opposite number in Manchester stats-wise, the Premier League is often a completely different beast for any footballer compared to where they plied their trade previously. It is yet to be seen if Alisson is able to replicate his previous performances at Anfield.