Who has been the Premier League's best goalkeeper so far this season?
By Peter Smith
Who has been the Premier League's best goalkeeper so far this season?
David de Gea? Petr Cech? Joe Hart?
How about rising star Jack Butland? Or Tottenham's shot-stopper Hugo Lloris?
While Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois has seen his game time limited by injury, that quintet have stood out. But do the stats put them ahead of the rest?
We take a look…
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Minutes played
Seven Premier League goalkeepers have played every minute of their team's matches so far this season, including Stoke City's Butland and Arsenal's Cech. Lloris missed Spurs' opening day 1-0 defeat at Manchester United but has played every game in the Premier League since then, helping his club record the best defensive record in the division - Tottenham have conceded just 16 goals in 20 games.
Injury-hit Thibaut Courtois has played just 772 minutes so far this season, less than half the number of minutes of Joe Hart, Hugo Lloris and ever-present pair Petr Cech and Jack Butland. David de Gea - who wasn't played until September - has racked up 1440 minutes in goal for Manchester United.
As a result, he has made far fewer saves - just 26. However, his save percentage (70.27 per cent) and passing accuracy (41.04 per cent) are worse than the other goalkeepers, while he has dropped the ball (twice) more times than Cech, De Gea and Hart.
Unlike the other goalkeepers, though, he has saved a penalty - denying James Morrison in Chelsea's 3-2 win at West Brom.
Saves
Butland has made more saves than any other Premier League goalkeeper this season, dealing with an average of 3.85 shots on target per match. Cech's 66 saves - the third highest in the Premier League - shows just how much Arsenal have relied on him. He's made 25 more saves than Manchester City's Hart.
Most saves - Premier League (min 10 games played)
Player
Team
Saves
Premier League rank
Jack Butland
Stoke City
77
1
Costel Pantilimon
Sunderland
71
2
Petr Cech
Arsenal
66
3
Tim Howard
Everton
65
4
Brad Guzan
Aston Villa
64
5
Hugo Lloris
Tottenham
49
11
David de Gea
Man Utd
43
12
Joe Hart
Man City
41
13
Save percentage
As well as being the busiest goalkeeper in the division in terms of saves made, Butland has also registered the best save percentage. The Stoke shot-stopper has kept out 78.05 per cent of shots headed for his goal.
Percentage of shots saved - Premier League (min 10 games played)
Player
Team
% of shots saved
Premier League rank
Jack Butland
Stoke City
78.57
1
Petr Cech
Arsenal
78.05
2
Hugo Lloris
Tottenham
76.56
3
Adrian
West Ham
75.32
4
David de Gea
Man Utd
74.14
5
Wayne Hennessey
Crystal Palace
72.09
6
Heurelho Gomes
Watford
72
7
Joe Hart
Man City
71.93
8
Boaz Myhill
West Brom
70.93
9
Rob Elliot
Newcastle
69.64
10
Errors leading to goals
Of the 20 Premier League goalkeepers who have played over 10 matches this season, seven are yet to make an error leading to a goal, including Butland. However, Tottenham's Lloris has made two, while Cech, Hart and Manchester United's De Gea have each made one. Norwich's John Ruddy and Bournemouth's Artur Boruc are accountable for three errors which have led to goals.
Errors leading to goals - Premier League
Player
Team
Errors leading to goals
John Ruddy
Norwich
3
Artur Boruc
Bournemouth
3
Hugo Lloris
Tottenham
2
Simon Mignolet
Liverpool
2
Costel Pantilimon
Sunderland
2
Lukasz Fabianski
Swansea
2
David de Gea
Man Utd
1
Joe Hart
Man City
1
Petr Cech
Arsenal
1
Brad Guzan
Aston Villa
1
Heurelho Gomes
Watford
1
Rob Elliot
Newcastle
1
Boaz Myhill
West Brom
1
Jack Butland
Stoke City
0
Drops
He may excel when it comes to shot-saving stats, but Butland has dropped the ball three times. Lloris has done so twice, while Cech, De Gea and Hart have done so just once this season. Leicester City's Kasper Schmeichel and Chelsea's Asmir Begovic are the only 'keepers in the division who have played over 10 games and are still yet to spill a cross or shot.
Drops - Premier League
Player
Team
Drops
Lukasz Fabianski
Swansea
4
Artur Boruc
Bournemouth
4
Jack Butland
Stoke City
3
Adrian
West Ham
3
Hugo Lloris
Tottenham
2
John Ruddy
Norwich
2
Rob Elliot
Newcastle
2
Maarten Stekelenburg
Southampton
2
Petr Cech
Arsenal
1
David de Gea
Man Utd
1
Joe Hart
Man City
1
Brad Guzan
Aston Villa
1
Heurelho Gomes
Watford
1
Costel Pantilimon
Sunderland
1
Simon Mignolet
Liverpool
1
Tim Howard
Everton
1
Wayne Hennessey
Crystal Palace
1
Boaz Myhill
West Brom
1
Kasper Schmeichel
Leicester City
0
Asmir Begovic
Chelsea
0
Passing Accuracy
Lloris is top of the pile when it comes to distribution, with a passing accuracy of 64.42 per cent. That's significantly better than Hart (56.38) and Butland (47.64 per cent). In fact, the Stoke player's passing accuracy ranks him just 15th out of 20 goalkeepers who have made 10 appearances or more this season.
Passing accuracy - Premier League
Player
Team
Passing accuracy %
Rank
Hugo Lloris
Tottenham
64.42
1
Simon Mignolet
Liverpool
62.89
2
Lukasz Fabianski
Swansea
62.1
3
David de Gea
Man Utd
59.28
4
Petr Cech
Arsenal
58.49
5
Maarten Stekelenburg
Southampton
57.99
6
Tim Howard
Everton
57.77
7
Joe Hart
Man City
56.38
8
Artur Boruc
Bournemouth
53.87
9
Brad Guzan
Aston Villa
51.87
10
Jack Butland
Stoke City
47.64
15
Which goalkeeper do you think has been the best in the Premier League this season? Let us know by tweeting @SkyFootball