Player Focus: Is Joe Hart Really England's Number One?

The debate as to who is the best Premier League goalkeeper has become more hotly contested this season as some number ones have come to the fore while the form of others have dropped.

In this piece we'll examine the vital statistics of those mad enough to play between the posts, looking closely at a battle for a certain England jersey that may not be as one-sided as most had believed.

A quick glance at the WhoScored ratings shows that the top keeper in the league this season has been David De Gea (6.99) and on closer inspection of his stats it isn't hard to see why. It's easy to say that the Spaniard will concede fewer goals (the third fewest in the division - 31) because of United's strength out field but the league leaders have actually conceded more shots per game (13.1) than each of the rest of the top 7, and even Southampton.

Many pinpointed the first leg against Real Madrid as the night that De Gea really came of age in a United shirt but in truth he’d been having an impressive campaign in the most part up to that point. Over his 20 league starts the 22 year old has faced 90 shots on target and made 70 saves. His overall save success rate is therefore 77.8% and the best of any first choice keeper in the league - Swansea's reserve stopper Gerhard Tremmel has saved just over 80% of the shots he has faced in 12 appearances.

Ranking second for the same statistic is Chelsea's Petr Cech, who has been called into action more often than he's been used to in recent seasons at the Bridge. Only five keepers have faced more shots on target than the Blues' number one (115), and of those only Mark Schwarzer plays for a side in the top half of the table. The Czech international has made the fifth most saves in turn (89), giving him a success rate of 77.4%.

It's perhaps the third and fourth placed keepers here who catch the eye though, with Ben Foster, fresh out of international retirement, next up. The West Brom keeper has made 82 saves in 22 appearances this season, facing 111 shots on target in total. His save success rate of 73.9% is only just above another contender for Roy Hodgson's number one jersey, but it isn't Joe Hart.

John Ruddy's season was cut short by injury towards the end of last year having started the campaign in fine form. In 13 starts he produced 50 saves from the 68 shots on target he faced. A subsequent save success rate of 73.5% is marginally worse than that of Foster, but whilst splitting hairs between the two, the current England number one is way off the pace.

As the last line of defence for the champions Joe Hart has understandably faced fewer shots on target than any other first choice keeper in the league (72) - only 4 more than Ruddy, who has made 15 fewer appearances. He's conceded fewer goals per game (0.86) than any other keeper and kept the most clean sheets (13), but those stats somewhat mask his modest figures elsewhere.

For example, the fact that he has saved 4 fewer shots (46) than the Norwich keeper despite playing all of City's games this season is remarkable. His 63.9% save success rate is only better than 5 of the regular number ones in the league and had he matched Manchester rival De Gea's ratio over the course of the campaign he could have stopped 10 of the shots that have flown past him.

Known for his agility and shot stopping, Hart has only made 24 diving saves this season, and while it's obvious that he will be forced into heroics less often, the fact that his figure is still two down on Ruddy (26), having made more than twice as many appearances is still alarming. Foster, who also missed a chunk of the season (7 games) through injury, has made 40.

The Baggies stopper matches that tally in terms of successful claims from high balls into the box, while Hart is again way down on 20 and Ruddy made 14 prior to his injury. One stat wherein the City stopper does lead marginally is penalty save success, with all three making 1 spot kick save this season, with Hart having only faced 2 (Ruddy - 3, Foster - 4).

The final key area here comes in the form of a keeper’s proneness to errors, and Joe Hart has certainly looked more susceptible this season. He's made 4 errors which have led to league goals, accounting for almost 17% of Mancini's side's overall goals against tally, and only Ali Al-Habsi (7) has made more this season. In comparison, Ben Foster has made two errors leading to goals this season, accounting for just over 7% of the 28 goals he has conceded in turn, while Ruddy has made just 1 (5.3% of his overall goals against tally - 19).

It's obvious that most had Hart down as a shoe-in for the England number one jersey for years to come but Foster's decision to come out of retirement has come at a time when the 25 year old has looked less convincing. It seems the West Brom keeper must have had some encouragement to change his mind from Roy Hodgson, and with the likes of Ruddy, Forster and Butland all on stand-by, Hart could be left scratching his head as to how to reassert his dominance over the position, rather than advertising shampoo.