England manager Gareth Southgate’s Euro squad selection headache has been postponed by a year but he will be looking to finalise the core of his team for next summer soon.
One position which has garnered much discussion is England’s number one spot.
Everton’s Jordan Pickford seemed to have locked down the position with impressive performances in the 2018 World Cup, but his erratic form since has reignited the debate.
Burnley’s Nick Pope and Sheffield United’s Dean Henderson are the other candidates having kept the two highest number of clean sheets in the Premier League this season.
Veteran Ben Foster has made some astonishing saves this season at Watford and is an outside shout to be a part of the squad as well.
Foster has been impressive but it is unlikely that he will be in contention especially with the tournament pushed back by a year.
Out of the remaining trio, Pope has made the highest number of saves (89) but it is 23 year old Henderson who has the highest save percentage (76.09).
Pickford (896 at 57.48%) is miles ahead of Pope (769 at 36.93%) and Henderson (695 at 35.25%) when it comes to distribution with a higher number of passes at a much better completion rate.
However, Pickford has more errors leading to goals (3) than either Pope (2) or Henderson (1).
Henderson has conceded fewer goals than the other duo and has looked at home in his first season the Premier League.
On the whole, it is the Blades number one who seems like the best bet to grab the English starting spot with his impressive performances even leading to calls from Manchester United fans for him to replace David de Gea at Old Trafford.
The extra year may prove to be a blessing for Southgate as it will allow him to asses his goalkeeping option in further depth but as of now Henderson has earned the number one spot.
