Blackburn Rovers’ goalkeeper competition and the key stats

He made some impressive stops against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, although Ismael’s men couldn’t quite get

over the line.

MINUTES PLAYED

In addition to making 40 league appearances this season, Pears started a few Carabao Cup games against Blackpool

and Stockport. He accrued 3,780 minutes in total.

Toth, meanwhile, has only participated in eight games this year. A total of 720 minutes of playing time were earned

by six of those in the league and one in each of the cup competitions.

SAVES

According to league statistics, which we have the data for, Pears has made 111 saves (2.78 per game) since the season

began.

Even though Toth’s statistics come from a much lower sample size, they are comparable. In six games, the

Hungarian recorded 17 saves (2.83 per game).

The difference between Pears’ and Toth’s save percentages is 72.1% and 77.3%, respectively. In contrast, James

Trafford’s figure of 84.6% was the highest in the division.

GOALS PREVENTED

A metric termed xGOT (Expected Goals on Target), created by Opta, can be used to gauge a goalie’s effectiveness.

“We can use it to highlight the goalkeepers who have under-conceded considering the quality of the shots on target

they’ve faced,” the statistics website says.

This is demonstrated by figuring out how many goals were stopped (xGOT allowed from shots on target faced, minus

goals conceded).

“We can tell which goalkeepers are making excellent saves and which ones may have had their save totals inflated by

easy, poor shots thanks to this metric.”

The data suggests that Pears prevented four goals throughout the campaign, which is a healthy return.

Toth’s figures makes for interesting reading. Despite only playing six league matches throughout the campaign, the

data claims that he prevented 2.4 goals.

Digging a little deeper, Toth faced an average of 3.67 shots per game and would have been expected to concede 7.42

goals based on the quality of those chances.

However, he was only beaten three times as Rovers clicked under Ismael and won four successive matches to keep

their season alive.

ALL-ROUND GAME

With 31.9 percent of his passes coming from long balls and 59.6 percent of his passes overall, Pears had the better

distribution statistics this season. By contrast, Toth completed 19.5% of his long-ball attempts and 45.7% of his

passes.

Pears averaged 0.38 defensive actions outside of his penalty area per game, whereas Toth averaged 0.83. Toth was

more involved as a sweeper. The various playing philosophies that followed the head coach’s departure, however,

might have an impact on such numbers.

Each game, the goalkeepers had to deal with a comparable number of crosses into the box (15). Pears averaged 0.5

high claims per game, whereas Toth averaged 1.0.

SUMMARY

According to the data, Pears was a consistent performer throughout the season and played his part in Rovers’ good

spells.

It is difficult to make judgements on Toth’s impact at the back end of the campaign given the limited sample size.

Nonetheless, the figures support the Hungarian’s outstanding achievements, which allowed him to keep his spot in

the squad.

Considering Rovers’ previous performance and his little playing time this season, the goals avoided metric in

particular is striking.

Toth has undoubtedly improved his chances of being selected in the future, and robust competition can only be

advantageous.

Ismael may face a challenge in goalkeeping in a few months because to the lengthy summer ahead and the preseason

opportunities for players to establish their claims.

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