Manchester United fans are hoping to see Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford make the most of their opportunities against Tottenham this afternoon.
22.02.2022 - 15:14 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
After a winter hiatus, Manchester United are scheduled to return to action in the Champions League this week with a knockout clash against Atletico Madrid.
Over the years, the Spanish champions have benefited from a similar strength to the Red Devils in their goalkeeping department, with Jan Oblak proving himself as an elite shot-stopper between the sticks.
The Slovenian is regarded as one of the best keepers around, and the same can be said for David de Gea, with the duo set to meet on Wednesday night.
Despite the undeniable level of Oblak, he seems to have encountered a difficult period of late. This season, he doesn't seem to be performing to his usual standard.
To capture his dip in form, Expected Goals (xG) can be applied in order to gauge some form of understanding.
xG offers an insight into the likelihood of an attempt being scored by considering aspects such as shot location, and it tends to provide an accurate summary of whether a team deserved fewer or more goals based on their shots.
Post-shot xG can be applied to goalkeepers as it specifically focuses on shots that hit the target and takes into account the quality and trajectory of the shot, thus relating to shot-stopping.
From 2017 up until the beginning of this season, Oblak was expected to concede around 124.8 goals in La Liga based on the shots on target that he faced, but the 29 year-old actually conceded just 92, excluding own goals.
That means Oblak saved shots to an above average standard, overperforming expectation by an impressive 32.8 goals.
Over the same period, De Gea also overperformed, but by 10 goals. Manchester City's Ederson is another who overperformed, but by a total of just 8.4 goals, which captures Oblak's impressive level of
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David de Gea
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