Rangers’ McGregor rated above Courtois, Neuer & Donnaruma as elite UCL keeper but stat says Joe Hart COSTS Celtic goals
ALLAN McGREGOR is four years older than any other goalkeeper who has tasted Champions League action this season.
But he has rolled back the years with a string of sensational stops - not least as he saved Rangers from a hiding at Anfield on Tuesday night.
In fact, he is leaving most of the most illustrious goalkeeping names on the continent in his wake when it comes to the positive effect he is having on his club's goals against tally.
According to detailed stats from FBREF.com, McGregor is currently the FOURTH top goalkeeper in the competition when it comes to his individual impact on the scorelines.
It's an admittedly small sample size, with McGregor having played in just two matches.
But his expected goals against tally over those two matches - taking into account how likely he was to save the shots - comes in at 6.8.
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But Rangers have conceded only FIVE in the matches against Napoli and Liverpool - giving him an impact of +1.8, and a per game basis of +0.9.
With 15 saves over two games already, he's obviously been far busier than some of them, but that compares favourably with Bayern star Manuel Neuer (+0.51), PSG's Gianluigi Donnaruma (+0.61) and Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois (+0.33).
In fact, the only goalkeepers who can top that record at the halfway stage of the Champions League are Inter's Andre Onana (+1.14), Shakhtar's Anatoli Trubin (+1.13) and Simon Mignolet of Club Brugge (+0.98).
And there's plenty of goalkeepers out there who have conceded MORE goals than their expected goals tally - including Celtic's Joe Hart and McGregor's Rangers team-mate Jon McLaughlin.
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McLaughlin - in goal for an inspired clean sheet in qualifying against PSV - shipped FOUR goals on a dismal team outing against Ajax in Amsterdam.
But according to expected goals the Gers should only have conceded 3.7 - which gives McLaughlin a negative rating of -0.3.
The stats don't make great reading for Hart either - with the Hoops keeper culpable after his pass was intercepted in the lead-up to Leipzig's second goal in their 3-1 win in Germany last night.
According to the stats, Hart and Celtic should have conceded 6.4 goals over the three matches - but they have conceded SEVEN.
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That gives him a -0.6 rating over the matches, and a -0.19 rating on a PER GAME basis.
The Scottish-based duo aren't alone in having a negative impact, however, with in-form Liverpool star Alisson having a negative -0.12 over his three games, and Barcelona's Marc-Andre Ter Stegen costing his team -0.24 goals per match.
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