Three clean sheets in a row has seen Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul join his Manchester City counterpart Joe Hart at the top of the tree for the Premier League Golden Glove trophy, but will the Dutchman or the Englishman grab the award or will Tottenham’s or Swansea’s stoppers steal in and take the accolade?
Tim Krul has had an excellent season for Newcastle United. The 24-year-old Dutchman has racked up 13 clean sheets in the Premier League for the Magpies in this campaign in 33 matches. That means the young stopper has kept a clean sheet in nearly 40% of league matches this season, which is no mean feat.
However, Krul is not the current favourite for the Golden Glove; that has to be Man City’s Joe Hart. England’s number one has been shipping goals of late, but the trophy’s current holder has an extra game left over Krul between now and the end of the season to add to his 13 clean sheets.
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Newcastle may have conceded 16 more goals than Man City, 42 to City’s 26, but that in no means makes Krul a lesser ‘keeper. Over the course of the season Krul has had to make a far greater number of saves that Hart and to get more clean sheets would be a great achievement for Tim and Newcastle.
It is by no means a two-‘keeper race, though, with Swansea City’s Michel Vorm and Tottenham Hotspur’s Brad Friedel both on 12 clean sheets. Then there’s Arsenal’s Wojceich Szczesny on 11 alongside Liverpool’s Pepe Reina, although the Reds haven’t exactly been solid at the back of late.
None of the above mentioned in fact have the most clean sheets in the Premier League. Manchester United are way out ahead on 17, but those clean sheets are shared between David de Gea who has 10 and Anders Lindegaard who has seven.
Can Tim Krul pick up the Golden Glove award at the end of the season? If he does then Newcastle might just finish in the top four, too.
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