From Akil Wright to Sam Dalby; Ronan Hale to Vicko Sevelj; Will Ferry and Noah Chilvers – Dundee United and Ross County can reflect on a host of recruitment success stories this term.
But there is no position more pivotal than the goalkeeper.
As the Tangerines can attest in recent history, without the right man between the sticks, a campaign can swiftly spiral.
Sunday’s rivals needn’t worry about that.
Impressing between the sticks
Jack Walton – unsurprisingly, given his efficacy in the Championship last season – has proved to be a superb loan capture from Luton Town, regardless of his recent error in the Dundee derby.
Meanwhile, County stopper Jordan Amissah has quietly emerged as one of the signings of the season. Despite only making his debut on Boxing Day, he has been crucial to Don Cowie’s side turning around their fortunes in recent weeks.
He penned a richly deserved two-year extension to his contract this week; a huge pre-United boost for the Staggies.
And these two keepers don’t just pass the eye test. The numbers back it up.
It is possible to analyse the simplistic statistics and, if just totalling shots saved, then Walton is top of the charts with 86 stops, one ahead of Motherwell’s Aston Oxborough.
Only Kasper Schmeichel (20) and Jack Butland (10) have kept more clean sheets than Walton (nine) – and suffice to say the Old Firm duo benefit from being rather less busy than the Tannadice No1 most weeks.
Having only played 12 Premiership games, it would be unrealistic to expect Amissah to be challenging Walton in those categories. But it is worth noting that the Ghanaian has registered four shutouts. A clean sheet in a third of his league matches.
The key stat
However, THE statistic to take notice of – and why Sunday’s televised showdown represents a clash between two of the top-flight’s most impressive custodians this season – is their expected goals on target (xGoT) prevented.
In short, xGoT measures the probability of an on-target shot resulting in a goal, considering both the quality of the chance (through xG) and the location of the shot within the goalmouth.
And Amissah has conceded just 16 goals from an xGoT total of 21.9 in the Scottish Premiership this season. That tally of 5.9 goals prevented is the most of ANY goalkeeper in the division this term.
Second on that list? You guessed it. Walton.
He boasts 5.4 xGoT prevented having conceded 40 goals from a xGoT faced of 45.4.
Whichever No1 can claim supremacy in front of the Premier Sports cameras this weekend may just have a huge say in the destination of the three points.
(Data supplied by Opta)
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