Simon Mignolet vs. Pepe Reina: Breaking Down Their Respective Attributes

Following Liverpool’s £9 million capture of Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet on Friday, the Reds now have two world-class custodians from which to choose from next season at Anfield.

However, which of the duo should head coach Brendan Rodgers select as his No. 1 for the Merseysiders’ opening Premier League game of the 2013-14 campaign at home to Stoke City on August 17?

Well, we are here to help the Northern Irishman out with that tricky decision. We examined the pair’s top-flight goalkeeping statistics from last season to ascertain where each man’s particular strengths and weaknesses lie.

Shot Stopping

When it comes to the actual bread and butter of keeping the ball out of the back of the net, there is only one winner in this crucial category, and that is the Belgium international.

Not only did Mignolet save 73 percent of all efforts on his goal in the previous campaign to Reina’s 68 percent, but the former Sunderland keeper also crucially kept out 68 percent of all shots that came his way in the actual penalty box compared to the Spaniard’s 55 percent.

And taking into consideration the important factor of what percentage of clear-cut chances each respective goalkeeper managed to repel in the 2012-13 season, it is Mignolet who emerges on top with 43 percent to Reina’s 28 percent.

Winner: Mignolet

Crosses

In terms of which custodian is superior in being able to deal with the aerial ball, which is an absolutely key attribute of any goalkeeper in the Premier League, then based on the previous campaign’s stats it is the younger man who fares the better of the two.

The 25-year-old caught 47 high crosses to the 30-year-old’s 31. Even more importantly, Mignolet only failed to cleanly take three aerial balls, whereas Reina was unable to gather 10.

Winner: Mignolet

Concentration

Last season, not surprisingly given each side’s respective performances in the top flight, Liverpool’s No. 1 had to make a save on average every 38 minutes. Sunderland's No. 1 was called for a save every 23 minutes on average.

Given that difference, Reina’s record of conceding on average just 1.1 goals per Premier League game to Mignolet’s 1.4 goals per top-flight match demonstrates greater powers of concentration on the Spain international’s part.

Meanwhile, Reina also kept 14 clean sheets to Mignolet’s 11, which works out on average at 2.2 Premier League fixtures per clean sheet for the former and 3.5 top-flight contests per clean sheet for the latter.

Winner: Reina

Distribution

In the modern-day game following the abolition of the back-pass rule, how comfortable a goalkeeper is with the ball at his feet and how effective he is at launching swift counterattacks via accurate passes from the back are two key components of any keeper.

And in this facet of the game there can only be one winner. Reina is the best custodian in the Premier League when it comes to his distribution skills, as last season’s statistics clearly show.

Of the 692 open-play passes that the Spaniard attempted in the previous campaign, 490 found a teammate, giving Reina an accuracy rate of 71 percent, but of the 746 open-play passes that his counterpart made, just 309 reached their intended target, giving Mignolet an accuracy rate of only 41 percent.

Winner: Reina

One-on-One Duels

Perhaps the most crucial part of any goalkeeper’s armoury is their ability to come out on top as the last line of defence when faced with an opposing player. There can be few better than Reina in this regard.

In the 2012-13 campaign, the former Barcelona shot stopper won 91 percent of his one-on-one battles on the ground and 86 percent of his one-on-one contests in the air. The Belgium’s stats for the same categories fall to just 73 percent and 75 percent respectively.

Winner: Reina

Conclusion

And so, what have we learned from delving deep into last season’s goalkeeping stats for the Liverpool and the then Sunderland No. 1’s?

Well, we now know that Mignolet is a better shot stopper and is superior when it comes to dealing with crosses. However, Reina has stronger powers of concentration, greater distribution skills and is the king when it comes to one-on-one situations.

Consequently, one does not envy at all the decision that Rodgers and Reds goalkeeping coach John Achterberg have to make come kickoff time on August 17:

2012-13 GOALKEEPING STATS

REINA		MIGNOLET
2.2	Games per clean sheet	3.5
1.1	Goals conceded per game	1.4
38	Minutes per save	23
68%	Save %	73%
55%	Saves in box %	68%
28%	Clear chance save %	43%
31	High cross catches	47
10	Missed crosses	3
91%	Ground 50/50 win	73%
86%	Aerial 50/50 win	75%

2012/13 DISTRIBUTION STATS

REINA		MIGNOLET
692	Open Play Passes (OPP)	746
490	Accurate OPP	309
71%	OPP Completion	41%
0.25	Passes per minute	0.22
61%	OPP Forwards %	92%
24%	OPP Left %	3%
15%	OPP Right %	5%

All statistics courtesy of EPLindex.com.

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