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Football

15th Apr 2019

Alisson has equalled David de Gea’s best ever season with four games to spare

Wayne Farry

alisson clean sheets

The Brazilian’s latest clean sheet was hard fought

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has equalled David de Gea’s single season Premier League clean sheet record of 18, and still has four games left in the season to top it.

The Brazilian goalkeeper equalled the record – also held by former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart – after preventing Chelsea from scoring during Liverpool’s 2-0 win over the Blues on Sunday at Anfield.

The clean sheet was not easy to come by though, with Alisson forced to save from close range a number of times as momentum switched after the home side had grabbed their second.

The record holder for the most clean sheets in a single Premier League season is Petr Cech’s record of 24 in 38 games, while former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has the second best record, with 20.

Alisson now has four games to surpass Reina and take the second overall spot; a clean sheet in each of Liverpool’s remaining four games will take him two behind Cech with 22.

The goalkeeper, who arrived at Anfield from AS Roma during the summer, has been a revelation in his debut season, even if he possesses the capability to set fans’ hearts racing for the wrong reasons.

He has occasionally been caught out while trying some daring footwork with the ball, but the vast majority of fans and pundits agree that this occasional ability to terrify is a worthy sacrifice for the confidence that he has helped instil in Liverpool’s rock solid defence.

His clean sheet tally would suggest exactly the same.