Liverpool’s title challenge is in safe hands with Alisson

Alisson has been a wall in goal for Liverpool this season and the Brazilian shot-stopper is showing no signs of letting up.

The decline of the once-infallible Pepe Reina, Simon Mignolet’s indifferent spell in goal and the tragedy of Loris Karius, who shone just about long enough to see his star come crashing down, all stand as evidence of Liverpool’s goalkeeping troubles of recent years.

While the aforementioned trio were and remain quality goalkeepers in their own right, it’s undeniable that inconsistency and a highlight reel of individual errors from them are the cause of the premature balding of many a Liverpool fan.

The club’s goalmouth appears to be in safer hands now, however, thanks to the arrival of Alisson Becker at the start of the season. The Brazilian international arrived at Anfield for a then-world record fee for a goalkeeper of €75 million ($84 million) from Roma and has since delivered a string of impressive performances.

A clean sheet in a 4-0 win on debut against West Ham was followed by a run which saw Alisson break Javier Mascherano’s record by going unbeaten in his first 20 league matches for Liverpool. With the Brazilian between the sticks, Liverpool have conceded just 15 goals in the league, the fewest of any club this season and five fewer than closest rivals Manchester City who inflicted the only blight on his record during their triumph in January.

Much of his success can, of course, be attributed at least in part to the aid he has received from his teammates around him, but the 26-year old’s individual form can’t be denied.

To date, the former Roma shot-stopper has kept a league-high 14 clean sheets in just 26 appearances. For perspective, that’s already one more than predecessor Karius managed in his 29 league appearances over the last two seasons, and the same number which earned Joe Hart the Golden Glove award back in 2015.

Alisson is unlikely to challenge Petr Cech’s all-time league record of 24 this season, but on current form he’s on course to breach the 20 clean sheet mark; a feat which has only been achieved four times and by three players (Reina twice) since the inception of the award in 2005.

And it hasn’t only been in the Premier League where the Brazilian has excelled. In denying Bayern Munich during Tuesday’s Champions League clash, he recorded his 17th clean sheet across all competitions in just his 32nd appearance. Loris Karius managed the same number last season in an appearance more, while combined, Karius and Mignolet recorded the exact same number in the 2016-17 campaign in 47 matches.

Alisson is not entirely without fault, as evidenced by a failed Cruyff-turn against Leicester, but it has been an otherwise near-perfect campaign from the Brazilian keeper who has brought an air of confidence to Liverpool’s goal not seen since Reina’s pomp in the mid-2000s.

His ability on the ball often sees his him operate as Liverpool’s “first line of attack” with his passing range and accuracy playing a key role in the club’s fast-paced and direct style of play. And if Alisson is good with his feet, he’s great with his hands as he has shown time and time again this season with a host of world-class saves  — none more impressive or important than his injury-time stop against Napoli in the Champions League group stages.

The truth is that Alisson has been a phenomenon in goal for Liverpool. The club paid a staggering amount of money to sign him but it is an investment that is already starting to pay off, and one which could still yield bigger dividends than could ever have been imagined.

If his current form persists, Alisson could become the first Liverpool goalkeeper to win the Golden Glove award in 11 years and maybe, just maybe, the first to win a league winners’ medal with the club Bruce Grobbelaar nearly three decades ago. The Reds’ title chase couldn’t be in safer hands.