Next Jordan Pickford? How Sunderland's young prospect Anthony Patterson compares to Portsmouth, Stoke City and Saint-Etienne aces

Patterson emulated homegrown talents Jordan Pickford, Jordan Henderson and several current teammates in graduating to the Black Cats’ first team from their academy.

And none of that current crop of players coming through the ranks have impressed more than the 22-year-old goalkeeper, who broke into the first team last season after Thorben Hoffmann lost form and second-choice Lee Burge suffered an injury.

Despite nine appearances on loan for National League side Notts County being his only previous senior experience, Patterson has risen superbly to the challenge.

Having emerged as a vital element in Sunderland’s promotion to the Championship via the play-off final, the North Shields-born youngster has kicked on again since then to help the Black Cats consolidate their place in the second tier.

For context, at 22, current England World Cup goalkeeper Pickford was also playing in the Championship – but only on loan, for Preston North End. But what price Patterson following in Pickford’s footsteps and making it to football’s biggest stages ahead of other top English goalkeepers of his sort of age?

We’ve crunched the stats to see how Patterson compares to England’s best of the rest young keepers. In 20 appearances this season, Patterson himself has conceded 1.1 goals per game – at an average of one every 82 minutes.

His reflexes are underlined by his record in saving shots from inside the penalty area, where he averages 1.3 saves per game. When tested from outside of the box, Patterson has conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game.

In terms of his distribution, Patterson’s short passing has been very reliable, with a successful short pass ratio of 9.5 per game against just 0.3 short passes per game going astray.

However, an average of 9.5 inaccurate long passes per 90 minutes suggests that is an area where he has most ground to make up on Pickford.

But how does Patterson’s data compare with that of the other most prominent English keepers aged 23 and under?

Josef Bursik, Stoke City

Patterson’s Championship rival Bursik who plays under former Sunderland manager Alex Neil at Stoke City.

Bursik, who is two months younger than Patterson, has played four fewer games than the North-East keeper this season but has conceded 25 goals - two more than Patterson. That equates to 1.38 goals conceded per game at a rate of one every 65 minutes.

Patterson’s close-range save stats are also superior, with Bursik averaging 1.1 stops per game from inside the penalty area, and 0.3 per match from inside the six-yard box against Patterson’s ratio of 0.4.

The area where Bursik may have an edge is in distribution, where his successful short pass rate is 10.4 per game and he averages marginally (0.1 per match) fewer inaccurate passes.

But while Bursik also average more successful long passes per game than Patterson – 5.5 to 4.5 – more of his passes over distance (10.4 per match) go astray. So, on balance, Patterson has a clear edge over his Stoke rival.

Etienne Green, Saint-Etienne

Son of an English father and French mother, highly rated Green plays in Ligue 2 for Saint-Etienne but is an England Under-21 international.

At 20, Green made his Ligue 1 debut for Saint-Etienne, clocking up 15 appearances before they were relegated last season.

But with Les Verts having struggled to adapt to life outside the top tier, it is only Green’s passing stats which compare well with Patterson’s data.

Yet to keep a clean sheet this season, Green has conceded 14 goals in eight games at an average of 1.88 per match.

His overall save percentage is also a modest 44 per cent next to Patterson’s 68 per cent.

But having completed 100 per cent of his short passes for Saint-Etienne last season, Green also boasted a long pass success rate of 48.4 per cent against Patterson’s 44.9 per cent.

Yet Patterson also had the edge in terms of what the stats regard as “progressive passes” – ie passes which begin a move which ended in the opposition penalty area.

In terms of distance of progressive passes, Patterson has gained 7,860 yards towards the opposition penalty area compared with Green’s 6,213.

Josh Griffiths, Portsmouth

Although only 21, Portsmouth goalkeeper Griffiths has already made just short of 100 professional appearances in his career.

After winning League Two with Cheltenham in the 2020-21 season, he graduated to League One play-off chasers Portsmouth via Lincoln City.

In 17 games for Pompey this season, Griffiths’ 18 goals conceded mean he boasts an average goal against ratio of 1.06 against Patterson’s 1.1.

But Patterson has a better save ratio than Griffiths, with the Pompey keeper repelling 64.7% of shots faced.

And although Griffiths has kept six clean sheets this season, Patterson has matched that in the division above. But how did the two of them compare when both were in League One?

At Lincoln, kept only two clean sheets and conceded 46 goals in 33 games, compared with Patterson’s eight shut-outs in 13 fewer games and only 19 goals conceded.

Although their save percentages were all but identical – Patterson’s 70.2 per cent to Griffiths’ 70.1 – there is no doubt that, given the levels involved, that Patterson has the overall edge.

Michael Cooper, Plymouth Argyle

Cooper is also in League One – with league leaders Plymouth Argyle – and was named in the division’s team of the season last year.

This season in League One, Cooper has played 19 games, conceded 22 goals, kept seven clean sheets and has a save percentage of 76.7% - all stats superior to those of Patterson in 2022-23.

But Patterson’s passing numbers are significantly better – with Cooper only completing 31.8% of his passes.

With Patterson again in a higher division, it is only fair to again compare his and Cooper’s stats from last season in League One. And although Cooper made most saves in the division (150 in all), recorded most clean sheets (18) and had a superior save percentage (74.2), he still conceded more goals per game than Patterson.

Again, given that Patterson is now starring in a higher division and is seven months younger than Cooper, it’s fair to say he has the edge.

VERDICT:

The statistics suggest Patterson is at least as good – if not better – than any young English keeper of around his age. Jordan Pickford, look out.