We are now just 12 days away from Christmas and so, Squawka’s advent calendar moves along another spot.
The excitement is certainly building and as part of the festive period, we here at Squawka have been creating our very own advent calendar. We have been comparing players via the grouping of their shirt numbers and determining a top three for each across Europe.
While overall quality was obviously considered when ranking our top three players of the year, the deciding factors were how well they performed during the last 12 months, with notable weighting being given to the World Cup.
No. 1: Marc-André Ter Stegen
No. 2: Kyle Walker
No. 3: Giorgio Chiellini
No. 4: Virgil Van Dijk
No. 5: Raphael Varane
No. 6: Paul Pogba
No. 7: Kylian Mbappé
No. 8: Saúl Ñíguez
No. 9: Luis Suárez
No. 10: Lionel Messi
No. 11: Mohamed Salah
No. 12: Marcelo
No.13 is one of the weirder numbers with some outfield options but also a host of world-class goalkeepers to choose from.
But, as always, we at Squawka have whittled down out three best No.13s in Europe in 2018:
3. Yerry Mina (Everton/Colombia)
What makes him special? Yerry Mina has not had the greatest 2018 as a whole, after his brief spell with Barcelona went wrong, but post-May the centre-back has been in exceptional form. First, he was a big part of the Colombia side which reached the last-16 of the World Cup, which included scoring in every game he played. Then, after struggling with injury problems at the start of his Everton career, the big centre-back has taken to the Premier League with ease, dominating opposition strikers and forming a good partnership at the back with Michael Keane.
Key stat: Yerry Mina is the only defender in World Cup history to score three headers in a single tournament.
2. Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid/Slovenia)
What makes him special? Jan Oblak has consistently been mentioned as one of the best goalkeepers in world football and it is no different for No.13s. The Atletico Madrid shot-stopper has had a good start to the new season, with seven clean sheets in La Liga as the Rojiblancos are currently third in the table. Oblak also played his part in Atleti winning the Europa League last season, including keeping a clean sheet in the final win over Marseille.
Key stat: Jan Oblak has kept 26 clean sheets from 48 games across all competitions in 2018 for Atletico Madrid.
1. Alisson (Liverpool/Brazil)
What makes him special? Alisson was impressive during the first half of 2018 with Roma, earning the Brazilian a move to Liverpool in the summer. And the goalkeeper seems to have taken his game to another level since arriving in England. Alisson has been vital for Liverpool’s push to top the Premier League after 16 games and are the reason they remain in the Champions League, with a point-blank save from Arkadiusz Milik earning the Reds a win over Napoli to send them through to the knockout stages.
Making yourself big, Alisson style
pic.twitter.com/8aTQhq4PR0
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 12, 2018
The goalkeeper was also Brazil’s number one goalkeeper at the World Cup in Russia, with the five-time winners advancing as far as the quarter-finals, keeping three clean sheets in five games.
Key stat: Alisson has conceded just six goals in 16 Premier League games so far, keeping 10 clean sheets.
Honourable Mentions:
Dani Alves (Paris Saint-Germain/Brazil), Rafinha (Bayern Munich/Brazil), Sebastian Rudy (Schalke/Germany), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund/Portugal), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth/England), Yerry Mina (Everton/Colombia)
The post Squawka’s Xmas advent squad: who’s the best No.13 in Europe? appeared first on Squawka News.
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