Performance analysis of 2019 Ballon d’Or nominees for the period Jan to Oct' 19, Part 4: Goalkeepers

The 30 nominees for the 2019 Ballon d'Or award, announced by the French football magazine French Football, comprise players from 12 different clubs and 15 different nationalities.

Continuing on from the first part of the player report card for strikers, the second part which analysed the performance of the midfielders and the third part which analyses the defenders' performance for the period of January to October 2019, this fourth and concluding part attempts to analyse the performance of the goalkeepers.

The evaluation of the custodians entails the following: 4 points for a clean sheet, -1 point for every goal conceded, and 5 points for a title won. Let us now meet the three goalkeepers who have been nominated for the prestigious 2019 Ballon d'Or.

#3 Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur, France)

Widely considered one of the best custodians to have emerged from the other side of the English channel in recent times, Hugo Lloris is the captain for both his club Tottenham Hotspur and the French national team.

Lloris is renowned for his outstanding reflexes, good decision-making in one-on-one situations and total command of his box.

In 2019, Lloris has kept a clean sheet in nine out of 33 games for Tottenham en route to steering his side to a first ever Champions League final, where they came up short against fellow Premier League outfit Liverpool.

During the course of his career, Lloris has made 14 penalty saves out of 84 faced in all competitions, at a rate of 1 penalty saved for every 7 faced. In 39 games in all competitions for club and country during the first 10 months of the year, Lloris has kept 12 clean sheets.

#2 Marc Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona, Germany)

Following an erratic start to his playing career, Marc Andre ter Stegen evolved into one of the finest goalkeepers in the world after moving to Barcelona in the summer of 2014.

Ter Stegen, with his good reflexes, decision-making and effective communication with his backline, has all the key attributes for a top goalkeeper. That has been more than evident in 2019; the German has kept 13 clean sheets in 18 Liga games since the turn of the year to help Barcelona to another Spanish top-flight title.

Ter Stegen has been an understudy to Manuel Neuer in the German national team for a while and only featured in two friendlies during the year.

Over the course of his career, Ter Stegen has saved 11 penalties out of 42 faced in all competitions for club or country, which is a rate of roughly 1 penalty save out of every 4 faced.

During the first 10 months of the calendar year, Ter Stegen has kept an impressive 19 clean sheets in 40 games for club and country in all competitions.

#1 Alisson Becker (Liverpool, Brazil)

Alisson Becker became the first Brazilian goalkeeper in nine years to win the Champions League this past season. He played a key role in Liverpool's first triumph in 14 years in the blue riband event of European club football.

Widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of the modern era, Alisson has modeled his style of play on Barcelona's Víctor Valdés in a reprisal of the 'sweeper-keeper' role. He is renowned for his outstanding reflexes, athleticism, agility and shot-stopping ability.

Alisson impressively kept 5 clean sheets in 7 knockout stage games of the Champions League last season. Moreover, he did not concede a goal in 14 out of 18 Premier League games since the turn of the year as Liverpool narrowly fell short in a pulsating domestic title race.

The 27-year-old's strong form spilled over to the national team too, as his 5 clean sheets in 6 games led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title. That was before an injury in the early part of the 2019-20 season forced a lengthy break from the game.

During the course of his career, Alisson has made 5 penalty saves out of 21 faced, for an impressive rate of over 1 save every 4 penalties faced. The Brazilian custodian has kept 20 clean sheets in 38 games for club and country during the period January to October 2019.