LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, March 5, 2023: Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson Becker during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Ridiculous Alisson statistic shows how much he has saved Liverpool

Everyone knows Alisson is one of the world’s best goalkeepers – and this ridiculous set of statistics proves just how vital he is to Liverpool.

Since arriving at Anfield in 2018, the Brazilian has been one of the key figures in Liverpool’s transformation into modern-day European heavyweights.

It is now, though, as the Reds fall from the lofty heights of the last few years, that Alisson‘s importance is being highlighted to an even greater extent.

Expected goals (xG) is not always a reliable statistic, but applied across a large sample size it can reveal definite truths about a team’s performance.

This season, Alisson has been an ever-present across Liverpool’s 26 Premier League matches.

During that time, the Reds have conceded 29 goals – the fifth-best defensive record in the league.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, March 8, 2022: Liverpool supporters on the Spion Kop with banners of Roger Hunt and goalkeeper Alisson Becker before the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd Leg game between Liverpool FC and FC Internazionale Milano at Anfield. Liverpool won the tie 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-0 defeat. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

That number is only 29 largely thanks to Alisson‘s brilliance.

Using FBref, we can see that, excluding own goals, Liverpool were actually expected to concede 37.2 times so far this season.

In reality, excluding own goals, the Reds have conceded just 27.

This means that Alisson‘s quality in goal has saved Liverpool just over 10 goals already this campaign.

This makes him by far the best ‘keeper in the league by this metric. In fact, on average this season, goalkeepers have actually conceded one more goal than their post-shot xG (PSxG) predicts.

Post-shot xG is the rate of expected goals minus the number of goals actually conceded.

The Premier League’s best-performing goalkeepers (PSxG)

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson celebrates Liverpool's first goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg game between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

  • 1. Alisson (Liverpool) – +10.2
  • 2. Edouard Mendy/Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) – +5.1
  • 3. Bernd Leno/Marek Rodak (Fulham) – +4.4
  • 4. Jordan Pickford/Asmir Begovic (Everton) – +3.4
  • 5. David Raya (Brentford) – +2.6

Alisson‘s number of 10.2 ‘saved’ goals for Liverpool is double that of the next best in the league – Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga have saved a combined 5.1 goals for Chelsea.

Only six other clubs have a positive rate of post-shot xG, those being Fulham (+4.4), Everton (+3.4), Brentford (+2.6), Newcastle (+2.3), West Ham (+1.3) and Arsenal (+1.3).

Meanwhile, Tottenham (-3.3), Man United (-3.8) and Man City (-4.1) have all conceded more goals than the quality of shots they have faced suggests they should have.

The Premier League‘s worst-performing goalkeeper is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Southampton‘s Gavin Bazanu, whose rate of post-shot xG is -12.1.

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - Tuesday, May 17, 2022: Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson Becker makes a save from Southampton's Armando Broja during the FA Premier League match between Southampton FC and Liverpool FC at St Mary's Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

If you were to remove Alisson‘s exceptional form for Liverpool – that has seen him save 0.39 PSxG per game – and instead replaced him with the league’s statistically average goalkeeper, Liverpool would be have let in 40 goals this season.

That would be the joint-13th worst record in the league and would, of course, see Liverpool sit even further down the table.

He has won everything there is to win with Liverpool, and is already up there with the best goalkeepers to ever play for the club.

At 30 years old, the Brazilian is still well in the prime of his career as a ‘keeper, and will almost certainly have his name held up alongside goalkeeping greats like Ray Clemence and Bruce Grobbelaar, if he isn’t already.