Ex-Manchester United keeper Peter Schmeichel makes Alisson admission that Liverpool won't agree with

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Liverpool news: The former Man United keeper commented on the debate in the Premier League.

Former Manchester United keeper Peter Schmeichel has made a claim about the current ranking of Premier League keepers that Liverpool fans won’t agree with.

Speaking on the latest edition of the Overlap’s ‘Stick to Football’ podcast, he joined Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, Jill Scott and Roy Keane for a special episode about his career. Naturally, the conversation turned to what his opinion was on the current crop of players in the league, with the likes of Arsenal’s David Raya, Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez, Liverpool’s Alisson and Manchester City Ederson all named.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When asked who he thought was the best keeper in the league, he gave a sharp response. “If you’re looking at a goalkeeper in the Premier League that you think ‘I think he’s the best at his job’ who is it?” Neville asked, to which Schmeichel responded ‘Ederson, for sure’.

“I think David Raya is coming close now, he’s really impressed me. I think once he got established as Arsenal’s number one and after Ramsdale left, he’s had a different aura around him. I think Alisson, in terms of one on ones and making really big saves he’s fantastic.”

Neville then queried. “I thought you’d go Alisson because there’s more of him than Ederson in you.”

Schmeichel responded: “I think Ederson struggles with his feet, I think there’s a few mistakes he makes that you don’t see. Emi Martinez has proven Arsenal wrong for sure, he’s a big personality and he’s helping that team a lot. He’s a winner and he’s getting there as well.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

One point that many football fans will point towards is the fact that Alisson has been the number one keeper for the Brazil national team across the past few years ahead of Ederson, seemingly ending any debate between the two. Digging a little deeper, we can compare the two in terms of their ability to prevent goals - using the ‘post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed figure’ which can estimate how well they have been able to prevent goals based on the quality of chances. It typically tells you who has been the highest performers.

Over the course of seven full seasons in the Premier League, Ederson has never prevented more than the +2.6 he managed in the 2019/20 campaign, with his worst coming in the 2022/23 season with a -4.8. Across his whole City career, his save prevention totals out at just +1.4.

Loading....

For Alisson, across six full seasons, he has been in the positive four times with a high of +10.1 in the 2022/23 season and a low of -2.3 in their 19/20 title-winning campaign. His total prevention figures across all of his Premier League campaigns (excluding 24/25) equal +17.1 - which clearly shows the differences between the two.

To use the other most prominent statistic to compare the two - save percentage - Alisson trumps his compatriot again with 74.4% compared to Ederson’s 71.1%. In terms of average clean sheet percentage across the years, Ederson shades it with 44.5% compared to Alisson’s 42% but it is clear that the figures are mostly in the Liverpool keeper’s favour.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice