This season has been one of progressive positives for Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, having made his switch from Sheffield United last summer.
There was little indication from fans that the shot-stopper would have such an immediate impact on the team, but he has firmly made the number one shirt his own ahead of Bernd Leno.
Impressive displays from the 23-year-old have kept the Gunners in some games and has helped aid the push towards a top four finish.
One of those standout performances was against Leicester City in a tight affair at the King Power Stadium, where his crucial save to deny James Maddison with a free-kick made the rounds on social media.
Add to that quality a sprinkle of personality that has charmed and won over the Emirates loyal, who have enjoyed seeing his leadership from the back as well as the occasional bit of showmanship, often joining in with the opposition fans in their attempts to jeer him.
While mission one would have been to stake a place as the first-team goalkeeper at club level, the next goal on his radar is at international level.
Gareth Southgate has called up Ramsdale before, handing him a debut against Andorra last year.
It’s a starting place that the England international thinks he can hold down, saying back in October 2021: “I have the self-belief that, yes, I could hold down the position [as England’s No 1].
“First and foremost, I have to get in the team and that’s one of my goals at the moment. I’m just trying to learn and take it step by step but over time that’s one of my aspirations.”
With the March international break just a few weeks away, the opportunity may have arisen for Ramsdale to finally stake his claim as the starting goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
His current competition, Jordan Pickford.
The Everton gloveman has held down the role of England number one for a few years now, rarely putting a foot wrong and that could play a considerable part in Southgate’s decision going forward.
However, at club level, it’s a rather different story.
The 28-year-old has had a tough time of it, though the same can be said of the whole team that are facing an existential crisis at the foot of the Premier League table.
The spotlight was particularly thrown upon him in Monday’s 5-0 loss to Tottenham, where a mistake led to Spurs’ second goal in the game.
Comparing the two this season on stats from FBRef also tells a story of its own, though it is worth taking with a pinch of salt due to the defences playing in front of both goalkeepers.
Ramsdale currently sits third in terms of clean sheet percentage, coming away from a match without conceding 50% of the time. As for Pickford, he is 19th of 23 ‘keepers, having a clean sheet percentage of just 16.7%.
As said though, that is somewhat reliant on the defence in front of you, so let’s take a look at slightly more tangible stats regarding saves.
Looking at save percentage, Ramsdale ranks highly yet again in third with a 79.5% success rate when facing a shot. Only Jose Sa and Edouard Mendy, two standouts this season, have performed better.
Pickford, on the other hand, ranks 19th again with just a 65.3% success rate.
That may, again, seem unfair due to the volume of shots each goalkeeper faces, so taking an even deeper dive, you can look at post-shot xG. PSxG looks at how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot based on the quality of the chance.
From that, you can see who, on average, is conceding more than they should or who is saving their side more often than other goalkeepers.
Looking at this average minus the goals they have conceded, neither perform particularly well on the whole.
Ramsdale ranks 22nd out of 38 goalkeepers in the league this season, conceding one more goal than he should have over the course of the season using PSxG.
Compare that to someone like David de Gea, who has saved his side the equivalent of 10.7 goals this season. However, this is all based on averages and doesn’t account for the likes of the Maddison save that was made at range.
Then there’s Pickford, who has performed poorly in this metric too. He has conceded 2.1 goals more than the average suggests he should have this season.
All in all, it suggests that Ramsdale is outperforming Pickford at club level, though whether that will translate to international level this upcoming break remains to be seen.
However, now is the best chance the Gunners’ goalkeeper may get to stake his claim in the side ahead of his compatriot.
