The Spain international actually has one of the worst goals conceded ratios of any Manchester United keeper in the Premier League, with a surprising name topping the rankings
David de Gea continues to excel for Manchester United this season, picking up the Man of the Match award in his last outing, but he still has some way to go to match the club’s top shot-stoppers.
The Spaniard made several fine saves as Liverpool were beaten last weekend, and is in line to make his 150th Premier League appearance for the club against Southampton on Saturday.
But while De Gea may be one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League right now, he actually has the worst minutes per goal conceded ratio of any United keeper to make at least 20 league outings according to Opta (conceding a goal every 88 minutes).
Incredibly, Sergio Romero has the best figures of any United keeper in the Premier League era – though he has only played four times (and conceded twice).
Roy Carroll, who made 49 appearances, is a somewhat surprising No.1 in the rankings, while Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel bettered De Gea’s ratio by 28 minutes and 17 minutes respectively.
De Gea has already conceded the second-most goals of any United keeper (at a rate of 1.02 per match), his 152 trailing only Schmeichel’s 212, and at his current rate would hit that mark 44 games sooner than the Great Dane.
At the other end of the spectrum, Andy Goram and Massimo Taibi, who made just two and four appearances respectively, have conceded a goal every 31 minutes and 32 minutes – Taibi had to pick the ball out of his own net 11 times in just four outings!
Can De Gea ever match Schmeichel or even Van der Sar? Or has the Spaniard been let down by a leaky defence in recent seasons? Vote in the poll below and leave a comment…
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