Is Dean Henderson back in contention for Gareth Southgate’s England squad?

Dean Henderson has started the season well with Nottingham Forest and he could earn himself a call up to the England squad later this year.

We’ve assessed his impressive start to the season, as well as looking into England’s other goalkeeping options. 

This summer Gareth Southgate must choose three of Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope and Dean Henderson. 

Will Dean Henderson have enough time to reclaim his spot in the side before the World Cup? Here’s what the stats say. 

 

Dean Henderson 

The Nottingham Forest goalkeeper has been kept busy in goal this season as he has already faced 24 shots on target. 

Only Brentford’s David Raya has made more saves than Henderson this season, who has managed to produce 19 saves in his first four appearances.  

Most impressively, he has managed to save two penalties in his first four matches of the season. 

We all know how razer-sharp Harry Kane usually is from the spot, but Dean Henderson read his run up and produced a brilliant save. 

Henderson has prevented an xG of 3.9 goals this season, which is more than any other Premier League goalkeeper. 

There’s no doubt that his loan move to Nottingham Forest was the right move for his career and to put himself back in the frame for an England call up. 

His save percentage currently sits at 79.2%, which is the third best in the Premier League. 

Steve Cooper will be hoping that his side is able to tighten things up at the back in these next few weeks, but Henderson has proven himself to be a reliable shot-stopper so far. 

 

Jordan Pickford 

Given Gareth Southgate’s trust in Jordan Pickford, you would think it would take quite a lot for him to drop his first-choice goalkeeper. 

After all, Pickford regularly puts in top displays for England and he was one of the best players at Euro 2020. 

Pickford had a vital role to play in Everton’s survival last season and his distribution means he will be a popular choice for many. 

This season he has made 17 saves and has a save percentage of 77.3%, which is the fourth best in the Premier League. 

The Everton goalkeeper has prevented an xG of 1.5 goals this season and will definitely be on the plane this winter. 

 

Nick Pope 

Nick Pope secured his move to Newcastle this summer and he has adapted well to life in the North East so far. 

Pope has the best save percentage in the Premier League along with Lukasz Fabianski, at 80%. 

The 30-year-old has prevented 1.8 goals this season and has had a string of impressive performances at the start of the season. 

Pope has already kept two clean sheets this season and he ranks fifth in the Premier League for saves made with 15.  

 

Aaron Ramsdale 

Arsenal have done a good job of keeping things tight at the back so far this season as they have only faced 2.25 shots on target per 90.  

As a result of this, perhaps Ramsdale has had fewer opportunities to showcase what he can do. 

Ramsdale has only faced nine shots this season and he has made seven saves, giving him a save percentage of 66.7%. 

So while Ramsdale does have the worst save percentage out of England’s current goalkeeping options, his stats are taken from a much smaller sample size. 

Ramsdale has had a slight xG overperformance of 0.1 goals prevented so far, but once again he has had less to do than England’s other keepers. 

When it comes to the selection process this winter, Gareth Southgate will be forced to leave out one of these four goalkeepers. 

Each one of them has started the season well and so Southgate has his work cut out for him when it’s time to name his final squad.