Goalkeeper stats are a key piece of information for football bettors and can be applied to several markets. Goalkeeping has always been vitally important, and this is the case more than ever. Dive into our comprehensive guide on goalkeeper statistics and find how to maximise your betting experience.
What Are Goalkeeper Stats & Why Are They Relevant?
Goalkeeper stats provide comprehensive information on all aspects of a keeper’s game, helping you make well informed decisions.
Goalkeepers have always been crucial to a team’s success. As well as keeping the ball out of the goal, a top-class goalkeeper can command the penalty area and organise the defence. The role has become increasingly broad, due to the influence of coaches such as Pep Guardiola, who encourage the goalkeeper to leave the penalty area to clear danger and to become involved in build-up play, with distribution becoming vital. Goalkeeper statistics can specifically aid when looking at markets like saves and clean sheets, giving you an idea of a keeper’s strengths and weaknesses.
Penalty stats show which goalkeepers are particularly good at saving spot kicks. Even if a goalkeeper has a good record, the odds are likely to remain high, which could get you a good return. Alternatively, if a goalkeeper had a poor record on penalties, you would back the opposition to score from the spot, especially if the team and player concerned had a high conversion rate.
How Do Goalkeeper Stats Influence Betting Markets
There are several betting markets that are influenced by goalkeeper stats, where using this data can lead to well thought out wagers.
Clean sheets, goalkeeper saves stats and ratio of shots to saves are all important indicators and need to be used together. If a goalkeeper rates highly for saves made per 90 minutes, then they’re often great shot stoppers. However, this can also be an indication that they might be playing behind a leaky defence.
These stats can be applied to clean sheet betting, a common market for bet builders and accas, and, with some bookies like bet365, Over/Under betting on saves. Goalkeeper statistics also affect scoreline bets, Over/Under bets on goals and betting for and against both teams to score. If a goalkeeper has good save stats or is often keeping clean sheets, then betting on a low scoreline could work.
Understanding Goalkeeper Stats in Football Analytics
Football analytics allow us to delve deeper into stats, interpreting patterns, trends and streaks, and goalkeeping is no exception.
Along with traditional stats, a goalkeeper’s efficiency, movement, positioning and injury history can all be factored in to predict how a player might affect the game. Metrics such as Saved Difficulty Ratings and Expected Goals against (xGA) give weight to more basic goalkeeping stats.
Also, with football analytics, we can assess how well a goalkeeper might perform in different tactical set-ups. For example, playing behind a high defensive line, where they might need to regularly leave the penalty area to sweep behind the defence or, on the other hand, playing against a team who put a lot of high balls into the box, where they’d be required to come off their line an claim crosses. Metrics that look at interventions outside the box and success rate on crosses could be useful here.
Advanced Metrics: xGA Explained
Expected Goals Against (xGA) can provide a lot of insight into a goalkeeper’s performance. This shows you how many goals a goalkeeper would be expected to concede from the number and quality of chances faced.
If a goalkeeper’s xGA is higher than the amount of goals they concede, then they’re clearly in excellent form, so it might be worth betting on a clean sheet or a low scoring game. This carries even greater weight if you combine it with Saved Difficulty Rating, where you can see how often a keeper makes big saves.
Do Goalkeeper Stats Relate to Other Football Statistics?
Goalkeeper statistics are closely linked to a team’s defensive record. A goalkeeper is not the only reason behind a team conceding very few goals, however, they’re often a big factor.
You need to look at how many saves a keeper is making, and how many chances a team is giving the opposition, per game. If a team and a goalkeeper have a lot of recent clean sheets, especially in games where they faced a lot of shots and the xGA record is higher than the goals conceded, then backing them not to concede looks attractive. In games with closely matched teams, the keeper's performance in one-on-one situations might be a deciding factor on where you put your money. In cup matches, knowing that a goalkeeper has a good record on penalties might encourage you to wager on their team. A study conducted by Opta revealed that goalies who save 20% or more penalties and have faced more than 10 penalties in a season increase the chances of their team in cup competitions.
Key Players and Positions for Goalkeeper Stats
While a goalkeeper’s primary job is to keep the ball out of the net, there are many other aspects to the role in the modern game. What’s expected of a goalkeeper often comes down to a team’s tactics, while a goalkeeper’s style of play is often dependent on the player’s attributes.
Tactical Roles Contributing to Goalkeeper Stats
Goalkeeper statistics can be influenced by team tactics and how a goalkeeper is required to play. Some goalkeepers are going to have a lot more touches than others if their team regularly builds from the back. Goalkeepers who play behind a high defensive line are likely to have higher stats for interventions outside their penalty area, as they’re often asked to maintain a high starting position to prevent their side being caught on the break.
If a team specialises in playing quickly on the break, then the goalkeeper might be detailed to get the ball out to a runner quickly. This could lead to them getting a couple of assists in a season.
How to Identify Goalkeeper Stats Trends
Goalkeepers who make a lot of saves may be good shot stoppers, but this also means that they’re also facing a lot of shots. Put simply, their team is more likely to concede.
For example, Premier League goalkeeper stats show that Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton) has averaged 4.33 saves per 90 minutes at the time of writing, yet the Saints have conceded a load of goals this season and are currently routed to the bottom of the table. Ramsdale only registered two clean sheets so far.
On the other hand, Mats Sels (Nottingham Forest) has kept 12 clean sheets, while making an average of 3.07 saves from 29 games. This shows that Sels is a big reason behind Forest’s strong defensive record, and it might be worth backing his team not to concede.
Home vs Away Trends in Goalkeeper Stats
Usually, teams are under more pressure and are less likely to win or to keep a clean sheet away from home. At the time of writing, 60% of teams in the Premier League this season have shipped at least 50% of the goals they’ve conceded away, with four teams conceding 60% of their goals away. Only Liverpool (47%) and Crystal Palace (46%) have kept more than 40% of their total clean sheets in away games.
Equally, goalkeepers are likely to produce more saves away from home. Something to bear in mind if you’re betting on the number of saves by a goalkeeper in a game.
Best Goalkeeper Betting Markets
There’s a range of markets directly involving goalkeeper statistics. These are:
Some of the best online bookies, including bet365, offer Over/Under markets on goalkeeper saves. There are stats readily available on goalkeepers from many competitions showing the amount of saves they’ve made overall and per 90 minutes. A more common Over/Under bet can be placed for the number of goals. Finding the best goalkeeping stats can contribute to your research.
You can also bet on clean sheets, and as well as the data on saves, there’s data on how many clean sheets teams and individual goalkeepers have kept.
Scoreline betting is also popular, including predicting whether a team will win to nil, for or against both teams to score. Goalkeeping statistics, along with a team’s defensive record, will be important in your research here. If a goalkeeper has good save stats, and the team has a good defence, you can expect a low scoreline. Should the opposite be true, you might bet for a higher number of goals.
If you enjoy in-play betting, then knowing a goalie’s record on penalties can be useful, as when a spot kick is awarded, you can bet on whether it will be scored. Even when a keeper is classed as a penalty specialist, you’re still likely to get good odds.
Key Factors Impacting Goalkeeper Betting Markets
You need to look carefully at both teams, in terms of style of play, and whether they’re evenly matched. If both teams like to attack, then there may be gaps at the back, which produce a lot of chances, saves and/or goals.
Current form, injuries and suspensions also need to be considered. A team might have a great defensive record over the season, however, if they have struggled in the previous two or three matches, or there are key defensive injuries, then they might allow more chances than usual.
How to Spot Value Bets Using Goalkeeper Stats
Betting on these statistics is about finding value in the markets available. Our stats table provide lots of data about keepers, from many leagues and cups. You can see the number of saves, overall and per 90, clean sheets and number of goals conceded. With a little more research, you can find strengths and weaknesses in a goalkeeper’s game, increasing your chances of winning.
Check out the goalkeepers in the league that you are interested in betting on. If you already have a game in mind, look at the goalkeepers involved.
Consider the amount of saves they have made, in total and per 90. Compare this with the number of goals they’ve conceded and the number of clean sheets they’ve kept. Saves to shots ratios might also be useful.
Search for opportunities on different markets, including Over/Under saves, clean sheets or scoreline betting. Are there any odds for making several saves or keeping a clean sheet that seem attractive after your research? Compare the odds across different bookies before placing your bet.
Our Expert Goalkeeper Stats Betting Tips
Learn how to use these stats and enhance your betting journey with our expert tips.
Compare different goalkeeping stats
As well as looking at the amount of saves a goalie has made in total and per 90, look at how many goals they’ve conceded, how many clean sheets they’ve kept, their saves to shots ratio, how their teams are performing and compare the data. This gives you a greater idea of whether a clean sheet is likely or whether a match will be high or low scoring.
Goalies from struggling teams make lots of saves
Goalkeepers with worse teams face more shots and are likely to make more saves, even if they lose games often. Remember this when betting on clean sheets or a particular team to win.
Look at injuries and suspensions
A goalkeeper might have great stats but if one or more of their defensive colleagues is out, then the team may concede more goals than usual.
Look at styles of play
For example, some goalkeepers may struggle with direct teams who load crosses into the box. In a game like this, they might prove less effective than usual.
Don’t Miss Any Match Stats
ThePuntersPage Final Say
Goalkeeping stats are a great addition to a punter’s armoury. They’re a versatile set of data that can help you to thoroughly back many football bets. They’re obviously more relevant in areas specific to the position, like number of saves, clean sheets and scoreline betting. Our guide to goalkeeper stats should’ve cleared out which metrics to evaluate when wagering on related markets.
Goalkeeper stats FAQs
Goalkeeper stats give comprehensive information on all aspects of a keeper’s game. Many of these stats are based around saves. We offer a raft of stats from numerous leagues relating to the main duties of a goalkeeper.
Some bookmakers offer Over/Under betting on saves, and most operators have odds for clean sheets. Goalkeeper stats are also relevant for scoreline betting and can be used as part of your research for many football bets.
Saves per 90 means the average amount of saves a goalkeeper has made per 90 minutes across the season.
Goalkeeping stats have relevance in any football market involving the performance of a team. They’re especially relevant in areas more specific to goalkeeping, such as clean sheets, Over/Under betting on goals and BTTS. Some bookies offer Over/Under betting on saves, which is the market that is most influenced by goalkeeper statistics.