Newly published Premier League statistics prove massive Steve Bruce over reliance on Martin Dubravka

Martin Dubravka quickly became Mr Reliable when he arrived at St James Park.

Stepping up to a major European league for the first time at the mature age of 29, he excelled from the off when making his debut at home to Manchester United with Newcastle deep in relegation trouble.

Martin Dubravka kept a clean sheet and was man of the match as NUFC beat the Mancs 1-0 in February 2018.

He has never looked back and on Wednesday started his 71st Premier League match in a row for Newcastle United.

The keeper only conceded 11 goals in 12 Premier League matches in 2017/18, only two clubs outside the top four conceded less than Newcastle that season.

Seamlessly moving into 2018/19, Martin Dubravka made it 50 Premier League appearances in a row.

The NUFC keeper conceding only 48 goals in 38 games despite it being yet another relegation fight. Once again only two clubs outside the top four conceded less goals than Newcastle.

Fast forward to 2019/20 and goals have been conceded at a faster rate by Martin Dubravka, with 33 in 21 PL games so far, as Steve Brice’s overly negative tactics have invited opposition teams to dominate and create far more chances.

His average goals per game conceded for Newcastle being:

2017/18: 0.91 goals per game

2018/19: 1.26 goals per game

2019/20: 1.57 goals per game

An overall NUFC record of 92 conceded in 71 PL matches, an average of 1.30 goals per game.

What is the true story of this season though.

Here are some extra helpful statistics to give a more complete picture.

New updated stats from The Other 14 on number of saves and save percentages this season:

As you can see, out of the 14 non-big six clubs, Martin Dubravka has faced (120) and saved (87) far more shots than any other Premier League keeper

In terms of save percentage, Martin Dubravka is one of only six to save more than 72% of shots on target they have faced.