Alisson Becker has become the first goalkeeper to tally 20 clean sheets in Europe's top five leagues this season.
The Liverpool stopper put in another assured display as the Reds beat Newcastle United 1-0 on Saturday to briefly return to the top of the Premier League table.
While Alisson had a fairly quiet afternoon in a slow burn at St James' Park, his anticipation and typically cool demeanour saw him reach an impressive landmark which none of his colleagues in the English top flight, LaLiga, the Bundesliga, Serie A or Ligue 1 have matched.
The 29-year-old, who joined Liverpool from Roma for £66.8million in the summer of 2018, has established himself as one of the world's best goalkeepers during his time between the Anfield posts. Alisson's latest shutout takes him to a total of 85 clean sheets in 177 games for the Reds, who had struggled to find a reliable goalkeeper ever since Pepe Reina 's powers began to wain a decade go.
While Jurgen Klopp 's forwards have rightly stole the limelight this term amid Liverpool's hunt to win an unprecedented quadruple, Kopites have still had their trusty No.1 to thank on plenty of occasions. Having made a crucial intervention in their 2-0 victory over Arsenal in March to help the Reds seal a crucial three pionts, Alisson's performance as Liverpool earned a 2-2 draw with title rivals Manchester City last month earned him special praise from Klopp.
"City's counter-attacking is not bad at all. They are really smart," the Liverpool manager told Sky Sports post-match. "Ali saved our a*** there."
The Brazilian just sees those sort of shining displays as part of the job, though, telling his club's website: "I'm there for everything, I'm prepared for that. I play for Liverpool, a big team who plays more on the opposite side of the field, always attacking more than the opponents and creating more chances. I need to be ready."
Recently, Reds legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher analysed Alisson's impact over the course of this campaign and came to the conclusion that Klopp and co trust him to deal with one-on-one situations more than any other team in the Premier League. "Liverpool and Alisson should've conceded eight more goals than what they have done from one-v-one situations," Carragher noted.
"When you go back to the expected goal numbers, defensively, from Liverpool and Manchester City, where Man City are a lot of better than Liverpool, that is why.
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"That is the difference; they back their goalkeeper that he's going to have to deal with one of these every single game, but we've got the best at dealing with it, and the actual high line has helped them in terms of going forward and actually scoring goal themselves. When people say, 'this high line is a problem' I go back to what I said about Manchester City.
"The false nine, the high line - perceived weaknesses and it only needs to wrong once between now and the end of the season, that could cost either team the title. But it's not a massive problem for either team, they're actually strengths."
