Arsenal: In this form, Bernd Leno a points maker

Bernd Leno put in another excellent performance in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday. In current form, he is a points-making goalkeeper.

When it was rumoured that Petr Cech was going to sign with Arsenal in the summer of 2015 after being displaced by Thibault Courtois as the Chelsea starter, John Terry claimed that his teammate would earn the Gunners’ 12-15 points a season. In the end, his claim proved to be false. Cech, while a solid goalkeeper, did not play at the same level as he had done throughout his Chelsea years.

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Nevertheless, Terry’s overarching point, that a great goalkeeper can earn a team points throughout a league season, still stands true. Just imagine where Manchester United would be without David de Gea. Cech did not become the points-maker that Terry — and many others — expected him to be. But Arsenal, almost four years later, may have found that game-changing goalkeeper nonetheless.

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In 2018, the Gunners signed Bernd Leno in a reported £20 million. Leno was expected to inherit the starting role from Cech, either from day one or in the near future. After Cech suffered an injury in October, Leno was thrust into the starting role. He has not given it up since. And more recently, his form has been truly sublime. Speaking after Sunday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United, in which Leno made a slew of excellent saves, the German stated that he is in a ‘good moment’:

"“I think I’ve played a good season and of course I need time to get a feeling and adapt to the league and my new team. Goalkeeper is a special person and I think I’m now in a good moment. I will keep working over the last eight games to show my best performances and help the team. I think today I did the same like weeks before.”"

Indeed, in his present form, it is difficult to criticise Leno. He was very good in last weekend’s North London Derby, pulling off a fabulous double save in the first half, displaying terrific reflexes and speed. And again on Sunday, Leno was called upon to make a number of phenomenal stops.

His denials of Romelu Lukaku were especially impressive. The first to spurn a one-on-one opportunity, shadowing the Belgian wide and then reaching down to palm the ball clear; the second a sprawled, Peter Schmeichel-esque diamond-dive, spreading his legs wide to deflect Lukaku’s effort on the spin.

In the end, Arsenal won the match in large part because of the saves that Leno made, not just because it meant that United did not breach the goal, but also because of the shift in momentum that a goal would have caused. Leno stood up tall and rejected their every move.

In his current form, Leno is the points-making goalkeeper that Terry proclaimed Cech would be. Cech never quite reached that level, other than a few brief glimpses. Leno is now performing at his greatest. The question now, then, is whether he can sustain it.