Gary Lineker blown away by ‘brilliant’ Guglielmo Vicario for Tottenham in win v Everton
After a little wobble in the Premier League, Tottenham have got their season back up and running with a third successive win on Saturday by claiming all three points against Everton.
Spurs may not have been at their best against Sean Dyche’s side, but first-half goals from Richarlison and Son Heung-min ensured that Andre Gomes’ strike was nothing more than a late consolation goal for Sean Dyche’s side.
The Toffees had plenty of opportunities to level things up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, taking 18 shots in the contest, But Guglielmo Vicario put in yet another excellent display earning praise from both Gary Lineker and Micah Richards.
Speaking on Match of the Day (23 December, 50:50) he said: “Vicario has been brilliant this season.”
Richards was quick to agree saying: “He’s been brilliant, I think he’s been the best keeper so far along with Alisson.”
In Saturday’s (23 December) clash, the Italian stopper made an incredible seven saves, conceding only once in the match, despite facing a whopping 2.23 xG from Everton’s eight shots on target in the match [Fotmob].
On top of that, Vicario was forced to act as a sweeper keeper on three occasions, had to rise high to claim three Everton crosses and made a total of 19 ball recoveries.
In possession, it was another classy display from the Tottenham goalkeeper as he completed 84 per cent of his 63 attempted passes in the match, including two accurate efforts on the rare occasion he looked for a long ball up the field.
When compared to other Premier League keepers this season, Vicario has proven to be one of the best shot-stoppers in the division. The Italian has a better save percentage than 79 per cent of the league’s keepers, saving 72.7 per cent of the shots on his goal [Fbref].
However, Vicario’s biggest asset is the importance of the saves that he’s been making this season. When comparing the difference between post-shot xG conceded and actual goals allowed (PSxG-GA) the Italian places in the top two per cent of Premier League keepers.
Across the opening weeks of the season, the 27-year-old has overperformed his xG faced by 0.34 per 90 minutes. That means that over the course of the first 18 games of the campaign, he will have conceded six fewer goals than he should have done according to the xG faced.
Allison may have a higher save percentage than the Spurs keeper, averaging an impressed 79.7 per cent this season, but he has not been anywhere near as impactful in terms of preventing xG as Vicario. The Liverpool number one places in the 85th percentile, over-performing his xG faced by 0.22 a game.
While that doesn’t seem too far away from Vicario’s record, throughout the opening 18 games, Alisson will have only prevented less than three goals that should have been scored according to xG faced, proving to be almost 50 per cent as effective as Tottenham’s number one.
Perhaps the best way to show Vicario’s impact is to compare his performances to Hugo Lloris’ for Tottenham last season. The Frenchman placed in the 52nd percentile for save percentage, managing to stop only 67.5 per cent of the efforts he faced.
The former Tottenham captain also placed in the bottom 52 per cent for PSxG-GA, conceding an average of 0.09 more goals than he should have per 90 minutes based on the xG of the strikes.
While that may not seem like a lot, throughout a 38-game season, that would see him concede three extra goals that should have been stopped.
When you’re competing at the top end of the Premier League, having a solid number one between the posts can be the difference between missing out on the Champions League and finishing comfortably within the top four.
After a few years of indifferent performances from Lloris, Tottenham finally have a number one who can genuinely be considered one of, if not, the best goalkeepers in the Premier League. Few stoppers have been more effective between the posts so far this season.
In other Tottenham news, Darren Bent has urged Spurs to “absolutely not” sign one England international this January