Who's the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season?

So who really is the best goalkeeper in the  English Premier League this season? You may think it's only the big names and the goalkeepers of the so called bigger teams are the best. Well, but no, not always. It's not always that the stats give you the right idea of who's better than the other but stats do matter. Here is my list of what I think are the current top 5 goalkeepers

5. Lloris

Signed for Tottenham at the start of the season from Lyon for €10 million and €5 million variable. Started the season on the bench behind Brad Freidel. Soon his quality was shown and he forced his way into the starting line up. He is also responsible for some of Tottenham's fine display at crucial times. The 26 year old was also in contention for December player of the month when he conceded only 4 goals in 6 matches, but eventually lost out to Robin Van Persie. 

4. Pepe Reina

Considered as one of the best goalkeepers playing in the Premier League in the last decade for Liverpool. Some of his performances have not been up to standards but still helped Liverpool this season to where they are. In the 2011-12 season, he announced that he would like to stay at Liverpool for another 6-7 years. This season with average performances by Liverpool as a whole, there are speculations whether he would sign a contact extension or no. May be that could be affecting him, but his performances are good enough to earn a 4th place on the list of top goalkeepers this season.

3. Joe Hart

Had a very good season last time around. Probably the best English goalkeepers in recent times, but just as Manchester City's form has dipped compared to last season, so has Hart's form gone down. He is one of the most commanding goalkeepers that I have seen, and considering his age, the 25 year old has time on his side to achieve the much talked about potential. Said to be the future Manchester City & England captain says all about his existing quality.

2. Petr Cech

One of the best goalkeepers to have ever worn the Chelsea shirt. With over 400 appearances for the blues, he's justified his position at the club with some fine performances. Talked about as one of the best ever goalkeepers after Peter Schmeichel, but his head injury 2006 left him out for several months, and unfortunately we never got to see the same form again since his return.

1. De Gea

Playing for one of the most famous clubs in the world can invite pressure. De Gea and Lindegaard were always in contention for a place in the starting line up.. well, that was a thing of the past. Now it's only De Gea in contention. His fine performances in the middle & the latter part of the season has surely smacked a punch on the critics. Current is on a run of 6 consecutive clean sheets. Right from his days at Atletico Madrid, you knew he had something special. His unorthodox saves are something new to the Premier League. 

Other Premier League stats

1. Tim Krul, Rob Elliot & Julio Cesar are the only goalkeepers to have a assist to their name this season.
2. Siman Mignolet, Joe Hart, Asmir Begovic & Jussi Jaaskalainen are the only goalkeepers to have played each and every minute this season in the Premier League .
3. Mark Bunn of Norwich is the only Goalkeeper to be showed a red card this season.
4. Joe Hart has the most number of clean sheets with 14, Cech & Begovic follow up with 11 & 10 respectively.
5. Mark Schwarzer has the most penalty saves with 3
6. Petr Cech & Joe Hart lead the PPI(player performance index) with De Gea in 3rd place, althought De Gea has played a significant number of games less than the top 2.
7. De Gea has the best Shots to save ratio.

5-2 derby win. So Is the Arsenal of old back?

What ever people say, whatever club you support, there is no denying that Arsenal-Tottenham games are one of the most exciting in the Premier League. But well, honesty, everyone thought that today's match at the Emirates would be a close one. Wasn't a tight game but still good enough to spend our time watching it.

It started of well with Defoe getting behind the defenders and getting a shot on, then Adebayor on to pounce on it to score the goal within the first 10 mins . Have to say it was poor defending by the Arsenal backline. And just you think could it be Tottenham this time? Adebayor gets a red card. Ahh.. After that it was all Arsenal in the match with Mertesacker equalizing in the 24th min. Arsenal continued to dominate possession and with Tottenham one man down, there was no way back. Podolski and Giroud it 3-1 to end the first half.

When they came out for the second half, you got a feeling the Tottenham may just buckle up and get something out of it, but that was not to be. Cazorla who was the star of the whole show got on the scoresheet in the 60th min, then it was all over and both the teams were just playing for the sake of it. Bale then got one back for Tottenham to make it 4-2 but time was running out. Later on, Walcott added another one in injury time to make it 5-2. A similar scoreline, the last time Arsenal won at the Emirates against Tottenham it did end 5-2. Wilshere did show some class. The real upcoming star.

The question is whether did Arsenal really perform well to get this result or was it the Adebayor red card early. Like always, everyone anticipated a tight game as long as it remains 11 versus 11. But really, Tottenham going to 10 man team changed it all. Arsenal fans may say that Arsenal do have better players but the truth is Arsenal still have to prove things as a team. Considering the position in the Premier League right now, the Champions League position, you have to say that this isn't the Arsenal of old. The Veira's, Bergkamp's, no one like them now. But you can still see light in players suck as Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson. But nothing done yet cause they seem to be the future not present. But Arsenal do have some established players in Arteta and Cazorla and Giroud is starting to win the confidence of the Arsenal fans. This is where may be they can start from.

So yes, the red card definitely did play the part or else could have been a 50-50 match. But the confidence you gain from winning such derbies, especially the North London derby. Now you can hope Arsenal carry on from here. As for Tottenham, they really have only one star in Bale and really need to get up do something of their lack-lustre display.