De Gea V Henderson: Four Stats That Show The Key Differences Between The Two United Keepers

It is believed that Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has decided that David de Gea will keep the number one spot ahead of Dean Henderson next season.

Despite the 23-year-old having excelled during his two seasons at Sheffield United, it appears that the goalkeeper has not yet done enough to move ahead of his rival in the pecking order at Old Trafford.

Henderson may well have to stay out on loan for a third consecutive campaign, but would that decision be justified based on the statistics from this season?

We take a lot at four goalkeeping stats to assess the differences between the two keepers.

Save Percentage

This is a big one for the simple reason that it measures how consistent a goalkeeper is when they face a shot on goal. Of course, there is one major caveat that it can’t measure the difficulty of the shots each keeper faces.

On this metric, though, Henderson wins. This campaign, he has saved 76.24% of shots on target, while De Gea has managed only 72.95%. Both are respectable figures, nonetheless.

Long Pass Accuracy

Combined with the ability to save shots, an increasingly important part of any goalkeeper’s role is how good they are with their feet. Most are capable when asked to pass short but long ball accuracy is a greater indicator of their technical ability.

In this area, Henderson comes out on top once more, with 60.06% of his passes reaching a teammate, compared to De Gea’s 54.3%.

Goals Per 90

This is a slightly less fair metric as goals conceded are not completely dependent on the keeper, with the defence having to take their fair share of the responsibility.

Even so, in this stat there isn’t much between them, with both De Gea (0.75 goals per 90 mins) and Henderson (0.96) below the one goal per game mark.

Aerial Dominance

Goalkeepers have to be able to command their boxes and ensure they can win aerial duels with attackers. Otherwise, they can concede by being beaten to the ball.

In this area, De Gea comes out on top, having won 100% of his aerial duels this season, compared to Henderson’s 92.86%. Considering United’s number one struggled aerially when he first arrived in England, he has to be given huge credit for the improvement in his game.

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