Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny has spent the last few games on
the bench having been dropped in place of Colombian goal keeper David Ospina
who has kept three clean sheets against Hull City in the FA Cup, and Stoke City
and Manchester City in the Premier League since stepping in. While Ospina’s
opportunity may have come about due to Szczesny’s
transgressions off the pitch, a quick look at the performance of both
keepers over the two prior seasons suggests that Ospina has maintained a
stronger record between the posts.
Ospina vs Szczesny
Goal Keeper Statistics over the past two seasons:
In the 2012/2013 season, Ospina
averaged 1.81 saves per goal conceded (while at Nice in France’s Ligue 1) while
Szczesny averaged 1.75 saves per goal for Arsenal. Goals conceded per 90 were almost
equal for both keepers at 1.02 and 0.96 for Ospina and Szcsesny respectively.
During the more recent 2013/2014 season, Ospina completely out-performed
Arsenal’s Polish Custodian in the saves per goal category with 3.39 compared to
Szczesny’s 1.95, and also conceded fewer goals per 90 (0.91 compared to 1.11).
Given Ospina’s statistical superiority over the past two seasons as well as a
strong performance at the 2014 World Cup, he is certainly deserving of an
opportunity to show what he can do at Arsenal, and so far he is off to a good
start.
