Tag: Ligue 1

The Top Keepers from Europe’s Top 5 Leagues so far – 2023/2024 season

January 1st, 2024

Hello again, football fans! I hope everyone’s had an enjoyable holidays, and are ready for the second half of the season in Europe! As we are pretty much at the halfway point for Europe’s top 5 leagues, I thought I’d start a series looking at the top players from each position based on performance this season alone! Today’s article will be the keepers, and there are certainly some standouts to discuss, none more so than this articles headliner: Alvaro Valles.

Álvaro Valles (La Liga/ Las Palmas,/26 years old)

For me, the award of “Most Valuable Keeper” so far this season can only go to one man. Álvaro Valles is performing so much better than any other keeper could be expected to in his place, it is almost unbelievable. Playing for a newly promoted Las Palmas side in La Liga, Valles has accumulated a mind-blowing 10.3 Goals Prevented so far this season across 18 matches.

Goals Prevented and xG on Target (xGoT):

Goals Prevented is an advanced statistic that compares the total xGoT (xG on Target) a keeper has faced to the number of goals conceded. Most of you have probably heard of xG by now, but perhaps not xGoT. While xG is a measure of the quality of shot selection (location of shot, # of nearby defenders, type of shot), xGoT is a measure of the quality of the actual shot taken. The most obvious example to use is someone like Roberto Carlos, known for his powerful and accurate free kicks. The xG given to a Roberto Carlos free kick would be very low, because it is based on an average of all shots taken by all footballers in that league over time (let’s say the xG = 0.05). Now let’s say Roberto Carlos takes the free kick, and it is perfectly struck right into the top corner, off the post and in. The xGoT attributed to this shot would be very high, much higher than the initial xG, due to the quality of Carlos’s shot. This is why we use xGoT when analysing keepers, not xG. To summarize, “Goals Prevented” is the difference between all of the xGoT accumulated on a keeper, and that keeper’s goals conceded.

Now, back to Valles. Valles has a Goals Prevented total this year of 10.3 so far, meaning based on the quality of shots he has faced, we would expect at least 10 more goals to have been conceded by Valles. To put this stat into context, the next best in La Liga is Unai Simon, with 4 Goals Prevented, while the Premier League’s leader, Thomas Kaminski, has 5.0 Goals Prevented, less than half that of Valles! Las Palmas, as a newly promoted side, have the 2nd fewest goals conceded in La Liga after only Real Madrid, and Alvaro Valles is the biggest reason why. Las Palmas currently sit 9th in La Liga at the time of writing, and one has to expect them to stay mid-table if they can hold on to Valles, which may not be a sure thing. Barcelona are reportedly already looking at buying Valles from Las Palmas, which would make sense from their perspective.

Thomas Kaminski (Premier League/Luton Town/ 31 years old)

After making 118 appearances for Blackburn from 2020-2023, Thomas Kaminski signed with Luton Town ahead of their inaugural Premier League season. Since joining, he has been outstanding for the Hatters, seemingly giving them a chance in every game despite not having nearly as much talent in the squad as the rest of the league. This is reflected in the fact that Luton are 3rd worst in the Premier League in goals conceded this year, and yet Kaminski is still outperforming expectations, with 5.0 Goals Prevented this season. With Luton currently sitting one win from pulling themselves out of the relegation zone, there will be one main person to thank if they stay up this year, Thomas Kaminski. His performances against the best clubs in the league have been quite admirable , making 5 stops to earn a draw vs Liverpool, while outperforming his expected goals conceded in near every match Luton play.

Marcin Bulka (Ligue 1/OGC Nice/24 years old)

Undoubtedly the top keeper in Ligue 1 this season, and a major part in Nice sitting just 5 points off league leaders PSG by New Year’s, the Polish former Chelsea academy keeper is truly making a name for himself this season. 17 matches played, 11 clean sheets. Yes, you read that correctly. Bulka has recorded a clean sheet in 65% of Nice’s Ligue 1 matches this season, and Nice’s 9 goals conceded so far is the lowest in Ligue 1, 5 less than next best PSG and Lille. Bulka boasts the highest save percentage in Ligue 1, as well as a very respectable 4.0 Goals Prevented. Bulka has saved 2/3 of the penalties he’s faced this year, and looks to become one of the transfer market’s most wanted keepers if he can continue this form. At only 24 years old, the sky is very much still the limit for Bulka and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s moved on from Nice in a year’s time.

Guglielmo Vicario (Premier League/Spurs/27 years old)

Throughout last season, it became a sad truth to Spurs that their longtime leader in net, Hugo Lloris, was clearly past his prime and could no longer offer what is needed from a modern goalkeeper, especially with the ball at his feet and acting as a sweeper. Enter Guglielmo Vicario, fresh off a career season at Empoli where he was the main reason that Empoli did not get relegated (see: this year’s Serie A table), arriving at Spurs for a 18.5 million euro fee. Vicario wasted no time upon arriving, establishing himself as the clear #1 keeper of the future and showing how perfectly suited he was to play under Ange Postecoglu’s new system at Spurs. If there were any doubts about Vicario’s sweeping ability before this year, I’d like to turn your attention to the Chelsea 4-1 Spurs result from this year. In this match, Spurs went down to 9 men and played an extremely high line despite the disadvantage, often at the midfield line. Countless times Vicario sprung out of his box to clear a through ball sent in behind the Spurs’ backline, and he alone prevented the scoreline from being something closer to 8-1. Having watched every Spurs game so far this year, I have yet to see a bad performance from Vicario, he has been without a doubt Tottenham’s most consistent player this season, offering so much calmness and composure at the back. Even when his teammate makes a mistake, Vicario is quick to tell them to shake it off and move on, unlike many keepers we see who seem to love any opportunity to scream at their defence whenever they make a save. From his ball playing ability, to his shot stopping, to his mentality and leadership, Guglielmo Vicario has been a perfect signing for Spurs, and will be one of the Premier League’s top keepers for years to come.

Honorable Mentions: Lukas Hradecky (Leverkusen), Marvin Schwabe (Koln), Michele Di Gregorio (Monza), Yann Sommer (Inter), Brice Samba (Lens)

Conclusion:

So that wraps up my top performers in goal so far this season! How many of these keepers will remain on their team in a year’s time, and how many will be picked up by bigger clubs? By just how much will Alvaro Valles finish the season as the best keeper in La Liga? Will Thomas Kaminski or Guglielmo Vicario finish the year with the most Goals Prevented in the Premier League? We’ll have to wait and see to find out the answers to these questions, but that’s the fun of football isn’t it? Thanks to everyone for reading, and as always feel free to leave any comments or suggestions!

-LM
The Best Surprises from Europe’s Top Leagues

October 3rd, 2023

Hello football fans, I hope you’ve all been enjoying the interesting start to the season across Europe’s leagues! Today I’d like to look at some of my favorite success stories that were perhaps unpredicted heading into the year. With that, let’s start from the top of UEFA’s league rankings and go from there.

English Premier League: West Ham and Wolverhampton

At the start of the season, West Ham and Wolves both had a troubling lack of signings, and there were well-merited concerns that both clubs could be in relegation danger if things did not go their way this year. West Ham addressed their lack of signings, bringing in Mohamed Kudus, Edson Alvarez, and James Ward Prowse. The latter has been as sensational as you would expect the best set-piece taker in the league to be under David Moyes, a set-piece enamored manager. West Ham have marked wins over Chelsea and Brighton to start the season, with their only losses being to Liverpool and Manchester City. After just 7 games, I believe West Ham have shown enough for relegation concerns to be a thing of the past, and they very well might have their sights set on European places again! It will be interesting to see the toll their Europa League campaign takes on their Premier League season.

Wolves on the other hand, did not address their lack of signings, as their financial troubles handcuffed their player recruitment. However, Gary O’Neill deserves plenty of praise for the way Wolves have played to start the season. He has great attacking options in Matheus Cunha, Hwang-Hee Chan, and Pedro Neto, who have proven to be very dangerous breaking in the counter -attack against teams playing a high-line possession game. Wolves were unlucky not to get a point from Old Trafford in the season opener, with THAT Onana non-call robbing them of a last-minute penalty to secure a draw. I must say that they have been inconsistent. Wolves were heavily outplayed by Liverpool and surprisingly Luton Town, but were able to match Manchester United, Brighton, and Manchester City in terms of xG produced during those matches. A win over Manchester City last week is the biggest surprise of the Premier League so far, with few people expecting Guardiola’s men to lose their first game to Wolves. I cannot say that Wolves are guaranteed safety from relegation yet, but their performances have certainly been much better than that of a relegation side. If they can find some more consistency against the lower teams in the table, then I believe Wolves have every chance to stay up, and even finish in a mid-table position.

Honorable Mention: Spurs

(Disclaimer: I support Spurs)

I was optimistic about Spurs entering this season under Ange Postecoglu, especially with the signings of James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, and Micky van de Ven. Several problem areas from last season were addressed with those signings and I rate Postecoglu highly as a manager, he seems to be a perfect fit for Spurs so far. That being said, I did not expect Spurs to have this good of a start to the season. Postecoglu’s teams usually take a while before getting into their true stride, but the speed at which this new-look Spurs squad have adapted to his system is truly impressive. Maddison has been a revelation, being arguably the best player in the Premier League so far, producing 2 goals and 4 assists through 7 games. Yves Bissouma looks reborn in midfield, with everyone questioning why on earth Antonio Conte didn’t play him last year. No player across Europe’s top 5 leagues have had a more all-around impact in midfield than Bissouma, who is winning tackles, breaking presses, and making progressive passes constantly throughout each match. Even against strong pressing teams like Arsenal and Liverpool, Bissouma calmly kept possession under a press countless times, showing his class. Currently Spurs sit 2nd in the table, having notched wins over Manchester United and Liverpool, while showing incredible spirit to fight back twice to earn a 2-2 draw at the Emirates in the North London Derby. Squad depth and injuries are a potential issue for the team, but with no other competitions until January, Spurs can be optimistic about their chances of continuing this start into the January transfer window, where more reinforcements will be needed to mount a serious charge for the top spots in the table.

La Liga: Girona

After a 10th place finish last year, and being promoted from the 2nd division of Spain the year prior, I don’t think many expected Girona to start this La Liga season right up at the top of the table. Ukrainian attacking duo Artem Dovbyk and Viktor Tsigankov have been stellar for Girona to start the year, notching 3 goals and 4 assists between them. Savio Moreira, on loan from Troyes, is a promising Brazilian youngster who is the third main man in attack, with 4 goals and 2 assists through 8 games. Youth is a common theme in this team, with 3 out of 4 members of Girona’s most regular starting XI being 22 years old or younger. Veteran Daley Blind leads the young backline, complemented by Eric Garcia on loan from Barcelona, with Miguel Gutierrez and Yan Couto supporting from fullback. The one criticism of the hype around Girona could be their strength of schedule. They have not yet beaten a team that finished in the top half of La Liga last season, drawing Real Sociedad and recently losing 0-3 at home to Real Madrid. Time will tell if this young squad can maintain this blazing start and challenge the established elite in La Liga.

Serie A: Lautaro Martinez

With Romelu Lukaku departing for Roma in the offseason, and Andre Onana heading to Manchester United, Inter Milan needed someone to step up. That someone has been Lautaro Martinez. A whopping 9 goals through the first 7 matches of the Serie A campaign, with an average of 61 minutes played per goal. In addition, Martinez is outperforming his xG significantly, with those 9 goals coming from 4.6 xG. The addition of Marcus Thuram on a free transfer was priceless for Inter in a way, and the frenchman has found an instant chemistry with Lautaro up front in Inzaghi’s 5-3-2 system. Thuram has contributed 4 assists and added 2 goals of his own, to form Italy’s best attacking duo so far. Inter sit first in Serie A, ahead of their rivals AC Milan on goal difference, largely in part to the 5-1 win in the Milan derby. The Nerazzurri do not look to have lost a step from their UCL-final pace of last season, and should be considered early favorites for the Scudetto.

Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso’s squad is firing on all cylinders to start the Bundesliga campaign. 5 wins and 1 draw, with the draw being away to Bayern Munich, and Leverkusen sit top of the Bundesliga table after Bayern’s draw with Leipzig. In the match against Bayern, nothing separated the teams, with the usual Bayern dominance seeming to fade. That’s not to say Bayern aren’t playing well, but we aren’t used to seeing legitimate contenders for the German title, in the past Bayern have often already been 5-8 points clear at the top after 6 games. Both Leipzig and Leverkusen look to have the ability to truly challenge Bayern this season, and it may be the most interesting title race Germany has seen in a while.

Honorable Mention: Serhou Guirassy

The Guinean striker in his first season as a full time Stuttgart player has almost single handedly willed them to 2nd place in the Bundesliga off his incredible 10 goals through 6 games. Now the only top team played in this stretch was Leipzig, where Stuttgart lost 5-1, but Guirassy scored the only goal. While Stuttgart shouldn’t be expected to maintain their standing in the table, Guirassy has put himself in a place to challenge for the Golden Boot this year!

Eredivisie: Heracles Almelo

So far, the biggest surprise in the Eredivisie is not a good one, Ajax sitting 1 point above the relegation places after winning just 1 of their first 4 games. That win came against our positive surprise, Heracles Almelo. The newly promoted club from the Dutch 2nd division play in the town of Almelo, home to just over 70,000 inhabitants. This is their first year in the top-flight of Dutch football in 28 years, and they have made the most of it so far! Following their opening day loss to Ajax, Heracles have only fallen to FC Utrecht since then, earning wins against NEC Nijmegen, Excelsior Rotterdam, and PEC Zwolle, in addition to a strong result drawing away to AZ Alkmaar. That is enough to put Heracles in 7th place after the opening 7 games, 7 points clear of the relegation zone. There will be no dreams of a title this year, but Heracles are giving their fans plenty to be happy about, showing that they might be deserving to stay up this season!

Ligue 1: Akor Adams

I have to stop and say I told you so on this one, because I told you so. In my previous article on the top talents in the Norwegian league I thought would be getting a transfer soon, leading the list was Lillestrom’s striker Akor Adams. Montpellier noticed his talents and acquired the Nigerian striker for 4.5 million euros entering this season. After Montpellier’s teenage sensation Elye Wahi moved to RC Lens after scoring 19 goals in 33 Ligue 1 games last season, there was a hole to fill. Akor Adams has come in from the Eliteserien and made an instant impact, with 5 goals already in his first 7 matches, on pace to surpass Wahi’s total from the season prior. Adams is just another example of the talent level that’s available to teams in Europe in the Eliteserien, and you can be sure I’ll be flagging the next Akor Adams as soon as I spot him in Norway.

Liga Portugal: Robert Bozenik

The much needed future of the Slovak national team’s attack, Robert Bozenik is a name that is likely unknown to most of you reading this, which is why I chose him as my best surprise of the season. Already capped 33 teams by the senior national team by age 23, Bozenik has been the best striker option for Slovakia more due to a lack of depth in the position than his goalscoring record. With only 6 goals in 49 games while under contract at Feyenoord, Bozenik was sold to Boavista in the Liga Portugal this summer after spending last season on loan at the club. Last year, Bozenik tallied 4 goals in 27 appearances. This season, he has already surpassed this, with 5 goals in his first 7 matches, including a brace in Boavista’s win over Benfica! The young striker looks to be hitting his stride now, and if he can maintain this form over the season, he will be crucial in Slovakia’s quest to qualify for Euro 2024 and Boavista’s goal of a finish in the European places.

It’s still early in the season, but I thought these players and clubs deserved a mention for their strong starts to the season, despite what was expected of them. Hopefully you’ve heard of a player you didn’t know before, or learned about a new club! Be sure to check back in for more player scouting, game analysis, and overall football discussions. Thanks for reading!

-LM