Ederson: The New Sweeper-Keeper of Manchester City

Courtesy: Twitter (@ManCity)

New Delhi: In the Manchester derby that took place on December 10 this year, Manchester City's goalkeeper Ederson had more touches than any of Manchester United's attacking players –  41 to be precise, as compared to Romelu Lukaku (27), Marcus Rashford (38), Anthony Martial (38) and Jesse Lingard (22). The former Benfica man's calmness and technical awareness have won him followers all over Europe.

The Brazilian shot-stopper's ability to pinpoint short and long passes accurately has won him praise and has set him apart from other goalkeepers in the world. The skills Ederson displayed during the Tottenham Hotspur game has added to his reputation.

Ederson's Press-Breaking Distribution v Tottenhampic.twitter.com/3zyy6wtYQZ — Nathan A Clark (@NathanAClark) December 18, 2017

The 6-feet-2-inch goalie has 83.4 percent success rate in terms of accurate ball delivery, while United's David De Gea has 54.8 percent, Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois' 70.6 percent, Liverpool's Simon Mignolet's 71.9 percent. The success rate of Arsenal's Petr Cech is 67.8 percent and Tottenham's Hugo Lloris 75 percent.

When compared to the garrisons of other top clubs in the English Premier League, Ederson has better ball delivery and perfectly fits into Guardiola's philosophy of a sweeper-keeper for starting build-ups right from the back.

Ederson's pass success percentage is close to Red Devils' playmaker Paul Pogba, whose numbers read 84.4 percent. The City number one has a better percentage than Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who stands at 83.1 percent. Surprisingly, City teammate Kevin De Bruyne has the same success percentage as him, but the Belgian has pulled in eight assists domestically this season, so the percentage doesn't really matter.

With the Benfica star in his squad, Guardiola's team has just conceded 12 goals in the Premier League this season, and Ederson has kept eight clean sheets, just behind De Gea, Cech and Burnley's Pope. But his passing success is the best among all the goalkeepers in England right now.

The 24-year old has appeared only once for Brazil, in a 3-0 win against Chile, for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The Selecao coach Tite hasn't used the Sao Paulo native much, but if he wants to win the World Cup and redeem the wounds of the 'Belo Horizonte German thrashing', Ederson needs to be positioned as the first choice between the post, so that Neymar & Co. rake in the goals and Brazil keep a clean sheet.

(Statistical Courtesy: WhoScored.com)