Nick Pope is statistically better than Martin Dubravka in every area between the sticks. Newcastle United splashed out £10million to sign the England international following Burnley’s relegation to the Championship last month.
Debate sparked among supporters over whether Newcastle needed a new goalkeeper, with Dubravka having a firm grip on the number one jersey since arriving in January 2018. Rafa Benitez initially signed the Slovak on loan but his heroics throughout the remainder of the campaign forced Mike Ashley to stump up £4milllion to make his move permanent.
Dubravka made the most Premier League saves in 2019-20 but reports of United signing a new shot-stopper had been rife since Eddie Howe was appointed in November. New arrival Pope, despite suffering relegation with the Clarets last season, exceeds his Toon counterpart in every goalkeeping metric.
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On average, the 30-year-old concedes 1.19 goals per game, dwarfing Dubravka’s record, who ships in 1.35. Pope edges ahead of the Slovak in the clean sheet charts, too. His 46 in 141 appearances (0.32 per game) gives him a slightly better return than his rival (0.29 per game).
The primary role of a goalkeeper is to make saves and the former Burnley man yields a sizable advantage over Dubravka. An impressive 3.33 per game for Pope compared to 2.96 makes him the number one shot-stopper at St James’ Park.
Distribution is an area where both goalkeepers have attracted criticism and is cited as one of the reasons why Jordan Pickford keeps Pope out of the England team. Despite this, his passing stats at Burnley were superior - albeit not great - to Dubravka's in a Newcastle shirt.
Pope has made 1,429 accurate long balls in the Premier League and averages 27.48 passes per game. The Slovak’s total, on the other hand, is 950 and he records 27.10 passes per game.
Pove v Dubravka (Premier League)
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