Kasper Schmeichel named in top 20 keepers of the past year

Aberdeen’s Dimitar Mitov was the sole other Scottish Premiership keeper to feature in the top 100, ranking 80th, but both he and Schmeichel are sidelined with injuries sustained during international matches. There was unsurprisingly no room for Jack Butland.

Celtic’s experienced no.1 shot-stopper faced intense backlash in Denmark following criticism over the goals he let in during their Nations League play-off loss to Portugal last month.

Kasper Schmeichel has so far remained silent on the controversy

A deeply offensive opinion piece, which compared his display to that of ‘a child with polio,’ prompted the Danish Players Union to step in, though Kasper Schmeichel has so far remained silent on the controversy.

Kasper secured 19th spot in the rankings compiled by the experts at the CIES Football Observatory

However, he secured 19th spot in the rankings compiled by the experts at the CIES Football Observatory, which assessed factors like match difficulty, team results, and save percentage compared to expectations based on defensive strength.

Leading the rankings were Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of PSG, Inter Milan’s Yann Sommer, and Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois.

Thus far Viljami Sinisalo – who spoke to The Celtic Star last Friday – has stepped in admirably despite only playing only a handful of minutes since arriving at the club from Aston Villa last summer.

Schmeichel will be sidelined for ‘five to six weeks’

Brendan Rodgers reckons Schmeichel will be sidelined for ‘five to six weeks’ but the 38 year-old’s return to action could be earlier. Having played a vital part in Celtic’s success this season it would be pleasing to welcome back Kasper before the end of the campaign.

With six league matches remaining and a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park against St Johnstone fast approaching, the Celtic boss will be aiming to get his side back on track as the Scottish champions aim for a sixth Treble in nine years.

Conor Spence

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