As the last line of defence, a good goalkeeper can rescue points for their team and, ultimately, help propel them to greater heights.
So, as we approach the business end of the campaign which goalkeeper in League One has performed the best? (Minimum 30 games)
We start with the classic measurement of how good a goalkeeper is: clean sheets. Sam Tickle of Wigan Athletic and Blackpool’s Daniel Grimshaw creep into the top five with 13 and 14 shutouts respectively.
Joe Wildsmith of promotion-chasing Derby County sits third on the list with 15, just behind Lincoln City’s giant number one Lukas Jensen on 17. Perhaps unsurprisingly it is Will Norris of runaway leaders Portsmouth who has kept the most clean sheets in the division with an impressive 18.
Norris, Jensen and Wildsmith also make up the top three when it comes to goals conceded per 90 minutes. The Pompey and City stoppers both share an impressive 0.8 goals conceded per 90 minutes, just edging out Wildsmith with 0.9.
Sol Brynn of Leyton Orient and Grimshaw complete the top five with 1 and 1.1 respectively.
The giant Dane Jensen continues his impressive showing in the save percentage category, with a huge 77.1% of shots saved. Once again he goes toe to toe with Pompey’s Norris who boasts an impressive percentage of 74.
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Just behind Norris is Barnsley’s Middlesbrough loanee Liam Roberts (73.9), Burton Albion’s Max Crocombe (71.6) and Sol Brynn (71.5).
It is Roberts who comes out on top in the saves made per 90 minutes category, with his 3.5 just outdoing Fleetwood Town’s Jay Lynch on 3.3.
Behind them come Cheltenham Town’s Luke Southwood (3.2), Viljami Sinisalo of Exeter City (3.1) and the Brewers’ number one Crocombe (3.1).
The final metric is goals prevented. It’s a little xG for a forward player but denotes the occasions when the keeper has bested the striker when a goal was more likely.
Wycombe Wanderers’ Polish keeper Max Stryjek takes fifth spot in this list with 1.4, while it is another top-five showing for the Tangerines’ stopper Grimshaw with 2.9.
There are yet more impressive statistics for Lukas Jensen with 4, behind Liam Roberts who has 4.7. It is Sinisalo of the Grecians who comes out on top in the category with an impressive 5.7 goals prevented.
Writer’s View
Using a range of metrics provides a broader view of how a keeper is performing.
The goals prevented category goes a long way to highlight how a keeper is performing above and beyond expectations and Exeter, Lincoln and Barnsley have all had their keepers to thank at moments during this season for pulling off the unexpected.
The consistently high performances from Lukas Jensen just put him ahead of Norris as the top-performing gloveman in League One, but that race is incredibly close.
Jensen’s form has gone a long way to helping Lincoln mount their late surge for a playoff spot, with the ‘Super Computer’ going as far as predicting a top-six berth for the Imps.
I am sure that when Norris gets his safe hands on the League One trophy (there’s still a race to be run) he won’t mind this second-place finish.
By assigning a score to each of the goalkeepers’ performances in the different categories, we can see how close the competition was:
A primary school teacher turned writer, Tom has been part of The Real EFL for two years. He focuses on predictions, deep dives, and insightful content.
