Manchester City welcome Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon and Ederson is expected to start between the sticks as always, but the 29-year-old needs to deliver a good performance as the statistics show he’s declined from last season.
Ederson hasn’t been shutting out many sides in the Premier League of late (2 clean sheets since October) and is conceding more than once in a game all too often (2 or more goals conceded in 3 of their last 9 PL games), so Pep Guardiola needs to see him resolute as the last line of defence to help City’s title push get back on track.
The Brazilian international has made 21 Premier League appearances in all competitions this campaign, conceding 21 goals (1.0 per game) with eight clean sheets (38%). But last season, Ederson conceded only 0.68 goals per game and kept clean sheets in 54.1% of his league outings, so there’s room for improvement.
Ederson’s save percentage from shot on target faced is down (63.5%) from 2021/22 (69.9%) and he’s shipped five more goals from his expected tally (16.4). Last season, he didn’t concede any excess goals. So the 29-year-old has a point to prove against Villa and himself, as he’s declined like many of his teammates which may be why the title defence has faltered.
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