Alisson became only the 12th goalkeeper to record 50 clean sheets in the history of Liverpool on Tuesday, with his shutout-to-games record only bettered by one other.
The Brazilian has come under fire of late for mistakes in back-to-back defeats to Man City and Leicester, but returned to form in the 2-0 win over Leipzig.
While Alisson looked less assured in possession at points in Budapest, he grew over the course of the game and made a number of timely interventions to ensure a shutout.
It is the first clean sheet the No. 1 has recorded since the 0-0 draw with Man United on January 17, with goals conceded in his six appearances between that evening and the clash with Leipzig.
And it was also the 50th in his Liverpool career, joining an esteemed list of goalkeepers to hit a half-century during their time on Merseyside.
Only 11 have managed this feat previously, with those being Cyril Sidlow, Sam Hardy, Simon Mignolet, Arthur Riley, Jerzy Dudek, David James, Tommy Lawrence, Elisha Scott, Pepe Reina, Bruce Grobbelaar and Ray Clemence.
Of those, Clemence (48.57%) is the only stopper to produce a higher shutout percentage than Alisson (44.99%), albeit justifying his status as the Reds’ all-time greatest goalkeeper having kept the most clean sheets for the club (323).
Alisson‘s record is similar to that of Reina (44.92%), with the 28-year-old undoubtedly the best to represent Liverpool since the Spaniard left in 2014.
He is cementing his reputation as one of the finest to play for the club in its storied history, and a convincing argument can be made that he is already the most distinguished of the Premier League era.
Liverpool’s No. 1 is clearly proud of his feat, taking to social media to respond on Wednesday morning:
— Alisson Becker (@Alissonbecker) February 17, 2021
This comes after a good night’s sleep on the flight back from Hungary, with Klopp attesting to the confidence-boosting powers of a clean sheet after an uncharacteristically sloppy run for his first-choice ‘keeper.
“To be honest, he had big moments in the Leicester game. He made brilliant saves, that’s how it is,” the manager told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“But of course, it helps, a clean sheet. I can imagine Ali will sleep really well in the plane on the way home.
“How [he] always [has], he helped us a lot.”
Clemence, Grobbelaar, Reina, Scott, Lawrence and James are the only Liverpool goalkeepers to make it to 100 clean sheets, and that should now be Alisson‘s next target.
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