Who Is Better: Alisson or Ederson?

Вячеслав Евдокимов, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Brazil have been blessed with several generations of elite football talent over the years. We associate Brazilian footballers with flair and skill, often being attacking players who are found playing in the final third of the pitch. Well, the South Americans have been blessed in other departments too, and today we’re going to compare two of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Alisson Becker and Ederson Moraes, aged 30 and 29, have been pushing each other to the skies limit in both domestic and international settings for years. A common debate amongst football enthusiasts is ‘Who is better: Alisson or Ederson?’. In this article, we take a deep dive into this debate to try and settle it.

We discuss each player’s statistics, their tactical importance for their respective sides and more. If this is a topic you’d like to learn more about, we recommend reading on.

Who Is Better: Alisson or Ederson?

Alisson and Ederson are very closely matched in terms of ability. There is an argument to say that Alisson is the better keeper, though, as he is Brazil’s number 1 and has a better total clean sheet percentage. Some pundits and fans will argue the other way, though, as Ederson is the best goalkeeper in the world for distribution and has won 20 trophies in his career.

Alisson Becker Background

Alisson Becker has played for three clubs in his career, they are – Internacional, Roma and Liverpool. He came up through the Internacional academy, going on to make 101 first-team appearances for his boyhood club.

In 2016, Rome secured his services, and it didn’t take long for Alisson to make his mark. In the 2017/18 season, he won Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year.

After receiving the goalkeeper of the year award in Italy, Premier League giants Liverpool came in for Alisson, signing him for an at the time world record fee of £65million. This was beaten just 4 weeks later by Chelsea’s signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga for €80m in the 2018/19 season.

Since then, he’s been Liverpool’s number 1 goalkeeper, and quite rightly so. In his first season he won the Golden Glove, keeping 21 clean sheets, and breaking the record for the most clean sheets kept by a Premier League goalkeeper in their debut season. This record had previously belonged to Liverpool’s Pepe Reina.

His first season was further made memorable when he won the Champions League, keeping a clean sheet in the final against Tottenham Hotspur.

Ederson Moraes Background

Ederson Moraes has played for more clubs compared to Alisson Becker. He’s played for 5 since he started life in São Paulo’s youth academy:

• São Paulo FC (2008-2009)
• Benfica (2009-2011 & 2015-2017)
• Ribeirão (2011-2012)
• Rio Ave (2012-2015)
• Manchester City

After leaving his hometown club São Paulo FC for Portuguese powerhouses Benfica at the age of 16, Ederson moved to Primeira Liga club Rio Ave. By 2015 he’d rejoined Benfica in a deal worth €500,000. During this move, a €45 million release clause was included in his contract.

His first Primeira Liga match for Benfica came under opportunistic circumstances. After fellow compatriot Júlio César became injured during a game against arch-rivals Sporting Lisbon, Ederson went in goal, and Benfica won the match 1-0.

Following this match, Ederson was part of a Benfica side that won 11 more matches, sealing the league title. In this season they also won the Taça de Portugal and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

Premier League side Manchester City had been monitoring Ederson’s performances in Portugal before signing him for €40 million. He came in as first choice goalkeeper, and has been there ever since. In August 2018, he became the first Manchester City goalkeeper to register a Premier League assist, after striker Sergio Agüero converted directly from his goal kick in a 6-1 win against Huddersfield Town.

In the 2019/2020 Premier League season, Ederson was awarded the Golden Glove award, after keeping 16 clean sheets.

Tactical Importance & Style of Play

It’s important to discuss tactical importance and the difference in the style of play of each goalkeeper when deciding who is better out of Alisson or Ederson.

Alisson Style of Play

Alisson is a well-rounded keeper, who has cited both Victor Valdés and Manuel Neuer as key influences to his playing style. He is a keeper who has been heavily praised for his brilliant abilities in 1v1 situations.

The way that Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool have played during Alisson’s time at the club has meant that he’s faced many 1v1 situations. Their gegenpress, “high risk, high reward” strategy can mean that they score many goals, but they also regularly put themselves in danger.

Although Alisson’s distribution skills are still required to be at a high level, it’s not the headline trait associated with his playing style.

Ederson Style of Play

Because Ederson has spent the majority of his playing career in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, he has a particular style of play, which compliments the positional play tactics implemented by the Spanish manager.

The demands of the modern game mean that goalkeepers who play in possession-based sides are required to be excellent with the ball at their feet. So although Ederson is a talented shot-stopper who is commanding in the box, his distribution is his most impressive trait.

In fact, Ederson has been renowned for being one of the best goalkeepers in the world with the ball at his feet. This helps Man City evade the first lines of opposition press, because Ederson is able to make accurate passes over long distances.

Witness some of Ederson’s brilliant passing by watching the following video:

Statistical Analysis

When comparing both goalkeepers’ statistics, we took the most up-to-date data at the end of the 2022/23 season following the 2023 Champions League final. This data is based on Alisson making 402* appearances in total and Ederson making 394* appearances.

	Alisson Appearances	Ederson Appearances
Club	342	375
International	60	19
Total	402*	394*

It’s worth noting that all data is subject to change, as both goalkeepers are still playing at both domestic and international level.

*Appearance data taken from fbref.com

Basic Goalkeeping Statistics

We compared both goalkeepers on the following basic goalkeeping statistics – clean sheets, saves and goals conceded.

Clean Sheets

	Alisson Clean Sheets	Alisson Clean Sheet (%)	Ederson Clean Sheets	Ederson Clean Sheet (%)
Club	147	43.2%	166	44.6%
International	39	65%	11	57.9%
Total	186	46.3%	177	44.9%

Clean sheet data taken from fbref.com

When comparing the number of clean sheets kept by Alisson and Ederson, not much separates them. As it stands, Alisson has kept 9 more clean sheets compared to Ederson. It’s worth noting that both their club teams have very different defensive strategies.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are renowned for being defensively robust, whereas Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp have regularly been exposed defensively due to the nature of his gegenpress tactics.

When it comes to clean sheet percentages, Alisson comes out on top with a total clean sheet percentage of 46.3% compared to Ederson’s, which is 44.9%.

Saves

	Alisson No. of Saves	Ederson No. of Saves
Club	716	706
International	45	20
Total	761	726

Save data taken from fbref.com

When comparing Alisson and Ederson based on the number of saves made, Alisson has made 35 more saves than his Brazilian counterpart. Alisson has made 761 senior saves during his career, and Ederson has made 726.

Goals Conceded

	Alisson Goals Conceded	Ederson Goals Conceded
Club	331	342
International	23	9
Total	354	351

Alisson and Ederson are finely matched on the number of goals that they’ve conceded in matches. Allison has conceded just 3 more goals in comparison to Ederson following the 2022/23 season with 354, versus Ederson’s 351 goals.

Advanced Goalkeeping Statistics

In addition to basic goalkeeping statistics, there are advanced goalkeeping statistics that we can use to compare the abilities and performances of goalkeepers. For this article, we’re going to look save percentages to try and help us decipher who is better out of Alisson or Ederson.

Save Percentage

	Alisson Save%	Ederson Save%
Club	74.2%	72.8%
International	81.8%	87.0%

Save percentage data taken from fbref.com

When looking at the save percentage statistics for both Alisson and Ederson, Alisson comes out on top at club level with 74.2% save percentage compared with Ederson’s 72.8%. On the other hand, Ederson comes out on top in international matches with a save percentage of 87.0% compared with Alisson’s 81.8%.

It’s worth remembering that Ederson has played 41 fewer international games than Alisson.

Other Statistics

Assists

	Alisson Assists	Ederson Assists
Club	3	4
International	0	0
Total	3	4

With these two Brazilian goalkeepers, you don’t just get incredible shot-stopping and impressive distribution, you also get creativity. It’s rare that a goalkeeper would ever have any goal involvements during their career, however Alisson and Ederson have proved that goalkeepers can on several occasions.

Alisson has recorded 3 assists during his career, all of them coming during club matches, and Ederson has recorded one more with 4 assists during his club career. Neither keeper has recorded an assist for the Brazilian national team, yet, but don’t hold your breath.

Goals

	Alisson Goals	Ederson Goals
Club	1	0
International	0	0
Total	1	0

Scoring goals isn’t something we’d usually associate with goalkeepers, however it’s relevant when working out who is better out of Alisson or Ederson.

During the 2020/21 Premier League season, Alisson made history when he scored an impressive header against West Brom in the 95th minute. By scoring this goal, he became the first keeper to score in a competitive match in Liverpool’s 129-year history, and also became the 6th goalkeeper to score in the Premier League.

You can witness Alisson’s history making moment in the following video:

Honours

Alisson Honours

Alisson has won 7 trophies in his career so far:

• 1x Champions League (Liverpool) – 2018/19
• 1x UEFA Supercup (Liverpool) – 2019/2020
• 1x Premier League (Liverpool) – 2020
• 1x FIFA Club World Cup Winner (Liverpool) – 2020
• 1x English League Cup Winner (Liverpool) – 2022
• 1x English FA Cup Winner (Liverpool) – 2022
• 1x Copa América (Brazil) – 2018/19

Ederson Honours

Ederson has won 20 trophies in his career so far:

• 2x Portuguese Champion (Benfica) – 2015/16 & 2016/17
• 1x Portuguese League Cup Winner (Benfica) – 2015/16
• 1x Portuguese Cup Winner (Benfica) – 2017
• 1x Portuguese Super Cup Winner (Benfica) – 2017
• 5x Premier League Titles (Manchester City) – 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 & 2023
• 4x English League Cup Winner (Manchester City) – 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021
• 2x English FA Cup Winner (Manchester City) – 2019 & 2023
• 2x English Super Cup Winner (Manchester City) – 2019 & 2020
• 1x Champions League (Manchester City) – 2022/23
• 1x Copa América (Brazil) – 2018/19

Conclusion

Deciding who is the better goalkeeper out of Alisson or Ederson is not an easy task. Both players have played at the highest levels in football and have many stats to back it up. The argument for Alisson being the better keeper rests on his ability in 1v1 situations, his overall better clean sheet percentage while playing for a team with a weaker defence, and the fact that he is Brazil’s number 1.

On the other hand, Ederson stakes his claim to the accolade having won 20 trophies, having a better clean sheet percentage at club level and being the best goalkeeper in the world at distributing with the ball at his feet.

In conclusion, it’s clear that these two goalkeepers have been playing in two highly contrasting teams. These contrasting tactical setups mean that there are different requirements from each keeper, which is subsequently reflected in their statistics.

All we know for sure is that if you have one of these Brazilians between your goal posts, you’re in good hands!

Frequently Asked Questions