Jordan Pickford (29, Everton) meticulously wrote down the opponent’s penalty kick (PK) propensity on a water bottle.
Everton played an English Premier League (EPL) match in the 2022-23 season against Leicester City at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England at 4 am (Korean time) on the 2nd. Both teams are struggling to stay on the edge of the relegation zone.
On this day, Everton took the lead 1-0 thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s opening goal in the 15th minute. The joy didn’t last long. In the 22nd and 33rd minutes of the first half, Chalhar Sowinjwi and Jamie Vardy allowed consecutive goals and turned 1-2.
To make matters worse, he allowed a PK in extra time in the first half. Leicester had James Madison as the PK kicker. Everton had no choice but to rely on Pickford goalkeeper’s save. PK result Pickford blocked Madison’s shot and roared. In the end, Everton was able to draw 2-2 with Alex Iwobi’s equalizer early in the second half.
The PK match between Pickford and Madison is a hot topic. Pickford did not fling to the side, but stood in the middle and lightly blocked Madison’s PK shot. In a battle between the incumbent goalkeeper of the England national soccer team and a midfielder, the goalkeeper won.
The secret to Pickford’s performance is his water bottle. A relay camera took a close-up of Pickford’s water bottle, where the PK shooting tendencies of Leicester’s key players were written. Madison had a 60% chance of kicking a PK into the center. The left and right sides were 20% each. Pickford believed the data and stood in the center, blocking Madison’s shot with the palm of his hand.
Pickford wrote down the PK tendencies of other players besides Madison on the water bottle. Yuri Tilemance had a 100% chance of kicking to the left. The body came out with a 50% chance of kicking to the right, 30% to the left, and 20% to the center. 안전놀이터
Everton, who won a draw that day, accumulated 29 points and was in 19th place, and Leicester was in 16th place with 30 points. If Everton had lost without Pickford’s save, the gap between the two teams could have widened to four points. Thanks to Pickford’s save, it became more difficult to predict the fight to remain in the lower ranks.