Will Alisson join James & Reina in exclusive Premier League club?

When Liverpool splashed out £67 million on Alisson in the summer of 2018, they knew precisely what they were buying into. 

There may have been some in England that were unaware of the Brazilian’s work at Roma, but the Anfield scouting system was in full working order.

Jurgen Klopp wanted – or needed, depending on your way of thinking – a reliable last line of defence to slot into a side that was about to embark on a remarkable run of trophy collecting.

Adventure

That adventure, at home and abroad, hit an unfortunate bump in the road last season, with Liverpool ending the 2022-23 campaign empty handed.

Efforts are being made to right those wrongs, with football bets pricing the Reds at 10/3 for Europa League glory in 2023-24 and 6/1 to savour another League Cup triumph. They are also fancied by many to reacquaint themselves with top-four finishes, as Premier League bets have them at 2/5 to hit that mark.

If they are to re-establish momentum in domestic and continental competition, then Alisson will have an important role to play between the posts.

He is a two-time Premier League Golden Glove winner and hit the notable milestone of 100 clean sheets for Liverpool in May 2023. That century takes into account his entire collection of shut-outs across all competitions.

When it comes to Premier League action, the South American is still working his way towards three figures. It is safe to assume that he has that achievement very much in his sights.

Alisson said when keeping his 100th clean sheet: “I don't know how much it means, 100, I hope I'm going to reach 200, 300, as many as possible. We work together with a common goal and a clean sheet is a common goal of ourselves. Clean sheets can put us in a closer situation to win games.”

Only 17 fellow custodians can claim to have collected 100 clean sheets in the English top-flight, making that collection of talent something of an exclusive club.

Securing an entrance pass will not be easy, but Alisson thinks nothing of reaching 20 – or late teens at the very least – when it comes to keeping rivals at bay over the course of any given campaign.

With that in mind, he should be expected to become a Premier League centurion at some stage, with his contract on Merseyside due to run until 2027 – taking him to within touching distance of a decade-long spell at Anfield.

Figures

If he were to make it to 100 shut-outs, then he would join a couple of notable figures from Liverpool’s past in that aforementioned group of 17 shot-stoppers.

David James has made more Premier League appearances than any other keeper (572) and includes 72 clean sheets from his time at Anfield in a collective total of 169. Pepe Reina, meanwhile, picked up 134 with the Reds and a further two during a short spell at Aston Villa.
Alisson appears to believe that he can chase both of those predecessors down, with the loftiest of targets being set, but only time will tell whether he is able to hit those individual targets.

Written by Alan Spencer