Super Saver: Should Fraser Forster be England’s number one?
Aye, what a weekend it was for me! Southampton have been rocketing up the league, and it has coincided with the return of Fraser Forster (pictured). The English shot-stopper has kept six straight clean sheets, and hasn’t conceded a goal for 633 minutes! If only he pledged his allegiance to the Scottish national team instead!
Some great footy on the tele and the title race is now wide open. While it is not quite so tight at the top of our alternative table, there are still plenty of times jostling for position, and all thanks to those great goalkeepers. England now have three great goalkeepers in Joe Hart, Jack Butland and Forster. Who said teams don’t care about goalkeeping anymore. If anything, goalkeepers are having a renaissance this season.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Leicester may have lost at the weekend, but their fairytale season continues, helped primarily by Kasper Schmeichel. Jamie Vardy may get all the headlines, but Leicester have faced 106 shots on target this season, the most of any of the top six. Without a top goalkeeper they would be struggling to get into the Champions League, let alone challenge for the title.
Team | W | D | L | Shots on target + | Shots on target – | Shots + / – |
Pts | League table + / – |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tottenham | 21 | 3 | 2 | 168 | 73 | 95 | 66 | 1 |
Man City | 18 | 4 | 4 | 151 | 78 | 73 | 58 | 2 |
Liverpool | 16 | 4 | 6 | 126 | 86 | 40 | 52 | 5 |
Arsenal | 15 | 4 | 7 | 145 | 104 | 41 | 49 | -1 |
Southampton | 14 | 5 | 7 | 117 | 87 | 30 | 47 | 1 |
Leicester | 14 | 4 | 8 | 123 | 106 | 17 | 46 | -5 |
West Ham | 13 | 4 | 9 | 120 | 114 | 6 | 43 | 0 |
Chelsea | 12 | 2 | 12 | 114 | 116 | -2 | 38 | 4 |
Man United | 11 | 4 | 11 | 99 | 90 | 9 | 37 | -4 |
Bournemouth | 10 | 6 | 10 | 105 | 106 | -1 | 36 | 5 |
Crystal Palace | 11 | 2 | 13 | 105 | 110 | -5 | 35 | 2 |
Swansea | 9 | 6 | 11 | 95 | 103 | -8 | 33 | 4 |
West Brom | 10 | 3 | 13 | 76 | 105 | -29 | 33 | 1 |
Watford | 9 | 3 | 14 | 90 | 103 | -13 | 30 | -5 |
Newcastle | 9 | 3 | 14 | 97 | 137 | -40 | 30 | 3 |
Everton | 7 | 6 | 13 | 119 | 122 | -3 | 27 | -5 |
Stoke | 7 | 4 | 15 | 85 | 113 | -28 | 25 | -7 |
Norwich | 7 | 2 | 16 | 89 | 122 | -33 | 23 | -1 |
Aston Villa | 6 | 2 | 18 | 83 | 125 | -42 | 20 | 1 |
Sunderland | 4 | 3 | 19 | 92 | 158 | -66 | 15 | -1 |
How the table works
Here at Scottish Friendly we thought we would highlight just how important keepers are to a team, after all they are savers in their own right! We imagine each game without keepers and take the number of shots on target by each team as the result. By looking at it this way, we can see which goalies have been busy winning their team points, while also finding out which ones are holding their team back.