This is a big statement, but Alisson Becker is perhaps the single most important player to arrive at Liverpool in recent years.
Since the heady days of Pepe Reina, we’ve always struggled to find the right man between the sticks. From the cross-fearing Count Vlad Mignolet, to Ádám Bogdán, and the woeful butterfingers of Loris Karius (the less said the better), we’ve had our share of recent goalkeeping nightmares.
But now, thanks to the remarkable Brazilian shot-stopper, we’ve kept more clean sheets than we’ve conceded goals. In fact, it’s crazy to think that 1/5 of the goals we’ve concede this season came in a single home game against Crystal Palace!
Cast your minds back to our unstoppable performances in the Champions League last season. With an aggregate score of 7-6 in the semi-finals against AS Roma, Alisson was witness to 13 goals and let seven past him playing for the Italian club.
This season alone, the twenty-six-year-old has kept out more than twice the number he conceded in total in those fixtures. For Liverpool, Alisson has conceded seven goals at Anfield all season, only two more than he conceded in the single home leg tie for Roma!
Even more unbelievably, if Alisson manages to keep a further seven clean sheets in our next nine games (a tall order) he would beat the Premier League clean sheet record: and this is his début season!
17 – Alisson has kept 17 clean sheets in the Premier League this season – the most by a keeper in their debut season in the competition since Jose Reina in 2005-06 (20). Wall. pic.twitter.com/c0V8757uvo
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 3, 2019
That record is still held by current Arsenal back-up ‘keeper, Petr Čech. Back in the 2004-05 season, he kept an impressive 24 clean sheets for Chelsea as they went on to win the league.
This Liverpool team has started to develop a knack for breaking records, and, on current form, you would probably back Alisson to shut out the likes of Burnley, Southampton, Cardiff, and Huddersfield.
Coupled with the eventual return of Joe Gomez, keeping things tight at the back could prove to be crucial for our hopes of winning the league this season.