The Euros are coming closer and closer. The Scandinavian countries always are very progressive in their ideas about football. It will be fascinating to see how they will perform in this tournament. In this analysis, we will focus on Norway. In particular, we will focus on their goalkeeping challenge.
With the main goalkeeper Cecilie Fiskerstrand injured, the question arises: who will be the starting goalkeeper for Norway at the Euros? We will use data to find out who is performing the best in the Norwegian Toppserien 2022. The data is collected from Wyscout on Saturday June 4th 2022.
The three goalkeepers in contention for this role are Guro Pettersen, Aurora Mikalsen and Sunniva Skoglund.
Norway: Guro Pettersen – Vålerenga (30)
Guro Pettersen is the veteran option. She is 30 years old and plays at Vålerenga in Toppserien. At the moment of writing, she has played 1041 minutes at her club.
In the graph above you can see the percentile radar of Pettersen in comparison with her peers in the Toppserien. Not all metrics do show the quality of goalkeeping, but the most important ones will be discussed.
Vålerenga are second in the league and that also mean they will concede few goals, fewer xG and concede fewer shots. You can see that in the percentiles Pettersen is. What’s more important is her save rate percentage, her clean sheets and prevented goals.
She has has xG against of 0,68 per 90 and conceded 0,47 goals per 90, meaning that her prevented goals are positive with 0,21. This measures the quality of goalkeeping and she scores in the 90th percentile of the league. Her save rate in percentages is 85,29% – which is the highest in the league. She also has the highest number of clean sheets with 5.
Norway: Aurora Mikalsen – Brann (26)
Aurora Mikalsen is the middle option. She is 26 years old and plays at Brann in Toppserien. At the moment of writing, she has played 949 minutes at her club.
In the graph above you can see the percentile radar of Mikalsen in comparison with her peers in the Toppserien. Not all metrics do show the quality of goalkeeping, but the most important ones will be discussed.
Brann are top in the league and that also means they will concede few goals, fewer xG and concede fewer shots. You can see that in the percentiles Mikalsen is. What’s more important is her save rate percentage, her clean sheets and prevented goals.
She has has xG against of 0,55 per 90 and conceded 0,66 goals per 90, meaning that her prevented goals are negative with -0,11. This measures the quality of goalkeeping and she scores in the 40th percentile of the league. Her save rate in percentages is 65% – which is in the 20th percentile in the league. She is in the 70th percentile in terms of clean sheets.
Norway: Sunniva Skoglund – Stabæk (20)
Sunniva Skoglund is the youngest option. She is 20 years old and plays at Stabæk in Toppserien. At the moment of writing, she has played 1136 minutes at her club.
In the graph above you can see the percentile radar of Skoglund in comparison with her peers in the Toppserien. Not all metrics do show the quality of goalkeeping, but the most important ones will be discussed.
Stabæk are top in the league and that also means they will concede few goals, fewer xG and concede fewer shots. You can see that in the percentiles Skoglund is. What’s more important is her save rate percentage, her clean sheets and prevented goals.
She has has xG against of 1,45 per 90 and conceded 1m35 goals per 90, meaning that her prevented goals are positive with 0,1. This measures the quality of goalkeeping and she scores in the 60th percentile of the league. Her save rate in percentages is 76,06% – which is in the 60th percentile in the league. She is in the 70th percentile in terms of clean sheets.
Final thoughts
If we look at the three goalkeepers analysed with data and the quality of their shot-stopping qualities, we can conclude the following. Guro Pettersen is the best choice, followed by the young Skoglund and then by Mikalsen.
