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Blog: Stats show De Gea has the edge
on Courtois
For many, the tag of the Barclays Premier League's best
goalkeeper can be attributed to David De Gea or Thibaut
Courtois, men who will be on opposing sides when Manchester
United face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
De Gea, last year's Player of the Year at Old Trafford, has been
outstanding for Louis van Gaal all season but credit is also
due to Chelsea's Courtois for a successful first year in England
after being stationed at Atletico Madrid, where he replaced the
Reds' no.1 for three campaigns from 2011.
Enlisting the help of Opta to judge the two men, it appears
United's Spain international just has the edge over his Belgian
rival. Both stoppers were excellent during the 1-1 draw
between the clubs last October but, while Courtois was named
Man of the Match on that occasion, De Gea shades many of the
overall statistical breakdowns.
The United star has played every single minute this term,
making 32 appearances in the league and five more than
Courtois. Hence, it's perhaps somewhat inevitable that he has
conceded more goals (30 compared to 26) and kept more
clean sheets (10 to nine) than the latter. A fairer guide is that
De Gea is beaten every 96 minutes on average, five more than
the Chelsea custodian's figure of 91.
De Gea also makes more stops per game, although only by the
smallest of margins (2.5 to 2.4), and has a better saves-to-
shots ratio (73% to 71%). The fact he has been equal to some
52 shots from inside the box (Courtois has made 36 from the
same distance) seems to confirm the opinion that the 24-year-
old is particularly effective in one-on-one duels and displaying
his razor-sharp reflexes with his feet and hands.One area where Courtois comes out on top is the amount of
crosses he has claimed, making a noteworthy 61 catches (De
Gea has made 23). When you consider that the United ever-
present has not dropped any of these catches, and produced
five punches to his opposite number's nine, the conclusion is
either the Blues goalie is more commanding when coming off
his line or, perhaps, the league leaders simply have to defend
more balls into the box. Either way, let's hope that zero figure
of dropped catches can be carried through until the end of the
season, because it would reflect the flawless nature of the Old
Trafford favourite's work.
When it comes to distribution, De Gea has made 231 long
kicks to Courtois' 195 and enjoys a better success rate in this
field, suggesting he is continuing to improve under coach
Frans Hoek's tuition when it comes to making
accurate clearances. Arguably more adept with the ball at his
feet than the 6ft 6in giant, the United ace has been more
involved in general play this term than in any of his previous
years at the club.
De Gea has been nominated for two PFA Player of the Year
awards and, despite expecting accusations of bias, we feel the
statistics back David as the keeper to replace Petr Cech,
Chelsea's number two, in the top line-up for 2014/15. Special
mentions are warranted for Lukasz Fabianski of Swansea City
(the best saves-to-shot ratio), Southampton's sidelined Fraser
Forster (most clean sheets) and QPR's first-choice Robert
Green (most saves) but, for our money, David De Gea is simply
the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.