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The Premier League has been a very competitive league and in the past few years it has been seen that it is not just the attack and defence that matter more, but the man between the sticks who also holds a key place to achieve success in England. The league has witnessed some of the best goalkeepers play in the history of the tournament and even with Thibaut Courtois’ departure, the Premier League proudly has some of the finest goalkeepers in the world right now.
Let's take a look at them.
#5 Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Pickford has come a long way in his career. He started out by joining Sunderland’s academy at the age of eight. From there, he went on multiple loan spells to clubs like Darlington, Alfreton Town, Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End. Finally, he was recalled by Sunderland to play with the senior team in 2016, meaning by the age of 21, the English goalkeeper had played in the top five leagues of English football.
After some impressive displays with the Black Cats, Pickford was signed by Everton last summer. It has all been uphill since then for the young Englishman. Pickford had a productive and impressive first season with the Merseyside club, ending up named Everton’s Player of the Season. His good form earned him a call to the national team and Pickford played a major part in the 2018 World Cup for the Three Lions, helping them reach the semi-finals.
Pickford has looked decisive and commanding in the box and his calmness on the ball has been of immense help. At the age of 24, Pickford looks set for a bright future and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if within the next few years, he’s seen playing for one of the top English clubs. Pickford made the most number of saves (100) in the league last season.
#4 Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)
The French international has been a long servant for Tottenham Hotspur ever since he joined them in 2012 from Lyon. The Frenchman led the national team successfully both to reach the Euro 2016 final and win the 2018 World Cup this year. In his six years at the North London club, Lloris has played quite an important role between the Spurs goal. His smart positioning and sharp reflexes have helped the English club a number of times. Although his passing abilities haven’t been the best, that hasn’t seem to become a hurdle on the pitch.
His vast experience has been the key to his success at Spurs and the London club will expect to get the best out of the 31-year old Frenchman to secure some silverware this season. Lloris made the most number of clearances (26) last season by a goalkeeper in the Premier League.
#3 Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
The Brazilian goalkeeper had a stunning time at Roma last season, helping him become Brazil’s No. 1 in the 2018 World Cup. Alisson had been longing for a long time before getting a breakthrough at Roma and he sure did capitalise with the opportunity he received following Wojciech Szczesny's departure to Juventus.
Alisson was very instrumental in helping Roma having a successful time as his performance helped them go without conceding at the Stadio Olimpico until the semi-finals against Liverpool took place. He kept a total of 22 clean sheets with the Italian club last season and he surely had attracted a lot of attention with that. With a number of clubs wanting his signature, Alisson finally signed with Liverpool this summer. So far, the Brazilian has looked good keeping three clean sheets and barring the mistake he made against Leicester City, it seems Liverpool have found a very good goalkeeper.
The Reds needed a reliable figure between the sticks from quite some time and Alisson sure seems to be the answer to it. There is no doubt that the former Internacional goalkeeper will have a key role to play if Liverpool are to successfully challenge for the title this season.
#2 Ederson (Manchester City)
When Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City, it seemed like Claudio Bravo fitted the bill for the man to replace Joe Hart between the sticks. But somehow Bravo struggled with his composure on the ball and made a significant amount of errors, instigating Pep to look elsewhere for a new goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Ederson was making quite a name for himself at Benfica and Pep wasted little time in bringing the Brazilian to Manchester last summer. It is safe to say that the former Rio Ave goalkeeper took very little time to settle in the Premier league and looked quite comfortable in his very first season as if he has been playing in it for years.
His composure on the ball was phenomenal last season, having a distribution accuracy of 83%, the best in the league. His shot-stopping and reflexes too helped City immensely to win the title last season and it was only unfortunate that the Brazilian had a tough competitor in Alisson Becker for the No. 1 spot in the World Cup in Russia this year. Pep would love to see Ederson perform the same way and hopefully win the Golden Glove too this season.
#1 David de Gea (Manchester United)
There have been very few goalkeepers who have been as influential for a club as David de Gea has been for Manchester United. The Spaniard has been the messiah for United, especially post Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
May it be under David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal or Jose Mourinho, De Gea has been outstanding between the sticks on a very consistent basis. His reflexes have been too good to let the ball easily go past him, his passing and composure too has been impressive but it is his acrobatics and reading that have made him a wonderful goalkeeper.
It has not at all been easy for the opposition attackers to score past him and had it not been for De Gea, United would surely have been in more mess than they have been post Fergie’s retirement. His aerial prowess, decision making and positional sense has turned him into one of the best goalkeepers in the world, if not the best. Having won Manchester United’s Player of the year four times in the last five years speaks volumes of the performances he has given and without an iota of doubt, it can be said that De Gea is the best goalkeeper in the Premier league right now.
He won the Golden Glove last season and in spite of not having the best of starts this season, De Gea would be looking to turn it around and win the feat once again.
