Super Saver: Why Watford’s keeper Gomes is worth every penny

Bob Friendly
By Bob Friendly Posted in Super Saver
April 6th, 2016

super-saver-heurelho-gomes-watford

Aye, it’s me once again, Bob Friendly! Back from my holidays while the footie took a wee break, just in time for another thrilling weekend of Premier League football. It sure was an interesting one for our Super Savers. We had magnificent saves (take a bow Ben Foster) and we had some endless situations whereby keepers were picking balls out of the back of the net (bad luck Messrs Boruc, Guzan and Gomes).

Despite him not having a great last week, I want to focus a little bit on Brazilian shot-stopper Heurelho Gomes. Watford’s Gomes has cost his side only £5,048 per save so far this season, making him the most cost-effective keeper of the Premier League, pushing Stoke’s Jack Butland into second place (taking into account performance and the latest stats on pay checks). Gomes has been outstanding this season, and if it were not for him the Hornets would be staring down the barrel of relegation.

While Watford’s form has dropped, the team has stuck by Gomes and are reaping the rewards by looking forward to a FA Cup semi-final and a second season in the top league. Maybe he just needs to cut out the four goal losses in the future…

With just six or seven games remaining for the teams, here is how our table is shaping up. The below table looks at how the teams might rank if goalkeepers didn’t exist.

Team W D L Shots on target + Shots on target – Shots
+ / –		 Pts League table
+ / –
Tottenham 25 3 4 217 93 124 78 1
Man City 21 4 6 175 92 83 67 2
Liverpool 20 4 6 153 102 51 64 6
Arsenal 18 5 8 173 126 47 59 -1
Leicester 18 4 10 147 122 25 58 -4
Southampton 16 5 11 137 112 25 53 1
West Ham 16 4 11 143 138 5 52 -1
Chelsea 15 2 14 140 136 4 47 2
Bournemouth 13 7 12 123 131 -8 46 4
Man United 13 6 12 114 104 10 45 -5
West Brom 12 3 16 86 121 -35 39 0
Newcastle 12 3 16 118 155 -37 39 7
Crystal Palace 12 2 17 125 135 -10 38 3
Swansea 9 8 15 112 136 -24 35 1
Stoke 10 4 18 108 135 -27 34 -7
Everton 9 6 15 137 137 0 33 -4
Norwich 10 3 18 103 138 -35 33 0
Watford 9 4 19 104 134 -30 31 -4
Sunderland 7 3 21 115 178 -63 24 -1
Aston Villa 7 2 23 98 161 -63 23 0

 

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.







The information provided in this article was accurate at the time of publishing and should be read in the context of the date it was published. Views in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the view of Scottish Friendly. No advice has been provided by Scottish Friendly. If you are in any doubt as to whether a savings or investment plan is suitable for you, you should contact a financial adviser for advice. If you do not have a financial adviser, you can get details of local financial advisers by visiting www.unbiased.co.uk. Advisers may charge for providing such advice and should confirm any cost beforehand.