Where does Jordan Pickford rank among Premier League keepers?
- Cameron Loftus
- 2 May 2022
Setting aside opinon and looking just at the stats, we see how Everton and England keeper Jordan Pickford ranks in regards to the rest of the top-flight's number ones.
Jordan Pickford proved the Everton hero on Sunday as they edged to a nervy win over Chelsea, producing a string of fine saves to help his side move to within two points of Premier League safety.
The England number one is not without his critics, with his timewasting antics against Liverpool once again threatening to overshadow his ability between the sticks.
But putting his marmite personality aside and just concentrating on the stats, where does the Washington-born keeper rank among his fellow top-flight keepers?
Clean sheets
Pickford has played in 31 of Everton's 33 matches this season, and kept six clean sheets as his side have conceded the fifth-most goals in the competition - 55.
It has meant Pickford has had to pull off more saves than the majority of keepers in the league.
In fact, in the Toffees' two matches against Chelsea this season, Pickford made an impressive 14 saves to help earn four points against the Champions League chasers.
Across the whole campaign, he has made 103 stops at an average of 3.3 per game.
Only Illan Meslier, David De Gea, Kasper Schmeichel and Jose Sa have saved more shots.
However, Pickford's save percentage is disappointing. He has only saved 65.5% of the shots he has faced, ranking him 19th out of the 22 keepers to have played in 12 or more games.
Sa tops the charts with a huge 82.6% shot save percentage, having made 115 saves from the 138 shots he has faced.
When it comes to spot-kicks, Pickford has only had to face one, failing to prevent Brentford's penalty king Ivan Toney from scoring.
Errors leading to goals
Fifteen keepers have made a mistake leading to a goal in the Premier League this season, with Pickford among them.
Watford's Ben Foster and Norwich's Tim Krul have both made two errors, with Pickford's coming in the 5-0 defeat to Tottenham in March.
Well that was a bit of a nightmare for #Pickford
— John Harrison (@Jhdharrison1) December 1, 2021
He faced 3 1v1s tonight & got his decision making horribly wrong on all 3
The 1v1s were at tight angles & far enough out that if #Pickford had stayed in his goalmouth he would’ve made the finishes far harder for MS& DJ!#EVELIV pic.twitter.com/YZdbEEoMqL
Another unwanted stat for Pickford is that in his 207 Premier League appearances, the 43-time England international has made 16 errors leading to goals. That ranks him 13th in the all-time list of Premier League keepers. However, he still has some way to go to pass team-mate Asmir Begovic, who holds the record with 27 mistakes leading to goals.
Punches and high claims
With Pickford not being the tallest of goalkeepers, standing at 6ft, it is no real surprise to see him comfortably in the middle of the table when it comes to high claims. His 20 catches put him a whopping 35 behind Brighton's 6ft 6in Robert Sanchez.
Pickford does lead the way in one area, and that's the amount of punches he has recorded. It's tight at the top but his 21 punches, mainly from crosses, put him one ahead of second-placed Sa, with Alisson, Meslier and Tim Krul also narrowly behind the left-footer.
