Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos has enjoyed a promising start to life at Pittodrie.
The Dutchman, who joined the Dons from Derby County in the summer, started the campaign as Jim Goodwin’s first choice goalkeeper, ahead of Joe Lewis.
Roos has kept eight clean sheets in 21 appearances in all competitions this term and his statistics show he has been a key performer for a Dons side who went into the World Cup break sitting third in the table.
The 30-year-old ranks top of the table for goalkeepers for the Scottish Premiership’s 2022/23 season, according to data compiled by StatsBomb.
Roos leads the way for shot-stopping this season, having saved 74% of on-target shots – despite an expected save rate of 67%.
The only other goalkeeper in the top flight who has saved more shots than expected was Trevor Carson, with the St Mirren man saving 68% of on-target shots from an expected save rate of 67%.
According to the stats, Hibernian’s David Marshall has been the weakest goalkeeper in the Scottish Premiership this term.
The former Scotland No. 1 has saved only 57% of shots on target this season, despite an expected save rate of 66%.
His Rangers counterpart Allan McGregor is second bottom of the list, although he has only conceded seven goals this season. He has saved 67% of shots on target this season when his expected save rate was 76%.
The Expert View
Former Aberdeen goalkeeper Bobby Clark has been impressed with the way Roos has adjusted to life with the Reds.
Clark, third on the list of all-time appearances for the Dons with 591 games, believes the Dutchman possesses some excellent attributes.
He said: “Kelle has done superbly well.
“He makes some very good saves, he is pretty good at coming for crosses and he has very good feet.
“He is very comfortable when the ball is played back to him and his distribution is very good.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Kelle is doing well in the stats.
“I like the save percentage statistic, they didn’t have that in my day – it was just about how many goals you conceded!
“Hopefully Kelle can take confidence from that because he is having a good season.
“Aberdeen are very lucky because they have two excellent goalkeepers in Kelle Roos and Joe Lewis.
“It is always very hard for the back-up goalkeeper as they always have to be ready because they never know when the opportunity will come.
“Joe’s a very good goalkeeper, I’ve always thought highly of him.
“I was also impressed with Tom Ritchie (on loan at Peterhead) when I saw him earlier this season.”
Does Noppert show Dutch door is open to Roos?
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin said earlier this year Roos is capable of forcing his way into the Netherlands setup if he can continue his good form in the second half of the season.
The Netherlands’ first-choice goalkeeper is Andries Noppert, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise ahead of Friday’s World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.
Only two years ago, Noppert contemplated retiring from football to take up a new career in the police after being released by Dordrecht of the Dutch second division.
But the 28-year-old has rebuilt his career after Go Ahead Eagles and then Heerenveen took a chance on him.
He has made fewer than 50 appearances in a decade-long professional career, but has managed to become an unlikely No.1 for the Netherlands and will be the man tasked with stopping Lionel Messi reaching the final four of the World Cup.
Clark hopes it acts as inspiration to Roos.
He said: “Kelle wouldn’t be out of place if he was in Qatar with the Dutch team.
“He would be fine as he is a very good goalkeeper.”
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