Goalkeepers' Union

If you can ignore the utterly insane call which led to Liverpool being awarded a match-clinching penalty against Crystal Palace at the weekend, focus instead on Alisson's MOM display which ultimately helped The Reds clinch said match.

The Brazilian completes an extremely solid No1 and No2 for Jurgen Klopp's side, with Caoimhin Kelleher equally as impressive in the Carabao Cup Semi-Final triumph over Arsenal a few days prior.

Elsehwere, David de Gea has now made more saves than any other Premier League goalkeeper so far this season, Fraser Forster racked up a 200th appearance in English football and Hugo Lloris joined Emi Martinez in signing contract extensions at Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively.

In the EFL, Neil Etheridge returned to his best form for Birmingham and Nick Townsend continues to stake his claim as Newport's No1 ahead of Joe Day.

Anyone watching the EFL Cup semi-final first leg between Liverpool and Arsenal last week would have no doubt been aghast at the suggestion that Aaron Ramsdale - yes, Aaron Ramsdale - was to blame for Granit Xhaka's sending off.

Jamie Carragher and Paul Merson were the culprits and Rich, quite rightly, goes in on their analysis. As he does with questionable comments made on Kepa conceding the only goal of the game in Chelsea's defeat at Man City, and the winner scored for Leeds by Jack Harrison – a brilliantly-taken finish to bag a hat-trick, but also a potential error made by Lukasz Fabianski according to those in the Sky Sports studio.

An EFL Overview provides all the key action from The 72, including an overzealous challenge from Port Vale's Lucas Covolan, matched in its enthusiasm by Dean Bouzanis embarking upon a mazy run which nearly resulted in a goal for Sutton in their eventual draw with Stevenage.

We also touch on two moments from AFCON and the FIFA Best Awards, which took place in Zurich last night.

Following a brief break over the festive period, we are back with a look at all the goalkeeping goodness from the FA Cup Third Round.

Special mentions for Dimitar Mitov, Michael Cooper, Taye Ashby-Hammond and Nicholas Bilokapic for helping their respective clubs knock out higher league opposition.

There's also a return for GKs On Their Way as we roundup all the latest movers and shakers in the January transfer window so far.

Keen to follow up on his maiden GKU outing nearly an entire year ago, Kasper Schmeichel rejoined GKU and unleashed his goalkeeping geekdom to discuss gloves, boots, balls and plenty more.

We go deep on leadership within goalkeeping, how the goalkeeping landscape can differ and evolve between young and old stoppers, and why learning new skills off the pitch can very much be the key to success on it.

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A rate and review is always welcome on iTunes. Sporadic deliveries of GKU mugs are there for the most creative offerings.

Another MOM for David de Gea and a quite ridiculous 100 clean sheets for Ederson in just 212 Man City outings.

All the reaction from the weekend's goalkeeping goodness is rounded up in the following audio, including a look at top-flight clubs currently without a recognised No3.

As we've seen with Southampton hastily signing Willy Caballero on a short-term deal last week, opting against an established back-up could prove costly.

Commentary Corner is back with a vengeance after BT Sport's puzzling analysis of Lukasz Fabianski and Edouard Mendy in West Ham's win over Chelsea this weekend.

There were contrasting VAR opinions at Parks Villa and St James' as Kasper Schmeichel had producers trawling the rulebook after his clever paw denied Jacob Ramsey a goal in the former. Sadly, in the latter, Nick Pope had no such luck.

Odd (read: passing of the buck) comments made by Ralph Hasenhuttl may cause issues at Southampton after he unfairly called out Alex McCarthy for Brighton's very late equaliser, and GK PI comes in the form of Daniel Bachmann following Rich's short trip to see Watford host Manchester City.

Elsewhere, the best of the Championship is covered, as are some rarely heard heroes for their part in the FA Cup Second Round. 

This week's episode includes a look at similar saving scenarios for Alvaro Fernandez, David de Gea and Martin Dubravka.

Conditions wreaked havoc across the land and we saw Kasper Schmeichel dealing a little better with the snow than his opposite number, Dan Bachmann - back in for Watford with Ben Foster set for a period on the sidelines.

In the EFL there were spectacular stops from Craig MacGillivray, Jayson Leutwiler and the returning Tom King, while Jamie Cumming - on loan at Gillingham from Chelsea - continues to impress in difficult circumstances for the League One outfit.

Guess what? Rich is on holiday... Again!

Still, we couldn't let another week pass without a Between the Sticks. All the key Premier League action is assessed, with a particular focus on recent comments made by – shock of the century coming up – Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.

At the age of 31, Jason Steele made his Premier League debut with an MOM performance for Brighton at Aston Villa and Jose Sa earns plaudits for a solid start to life at Wolves.

No Between the Sticks this week, so we've filled the void with arguably the No1 Goalkeeper Coach currently working in English football.

Aston Villa's Neil Cutler joins GKU to delve deep into his goalkeeping philosophy, building relationships in football and what drives Emi Martinez to be the world's No1.

Foul or no foul? That is the question.

Both Alisson and his manager Jurgen Klopp were furious at the fact West Ham's opener in their win over Liverpool was allowed to stand. Meanwhile, over in Manchester, David de Gea was criticised for conceding the second of Man City's two goals in the 186th Manchester Derby.

We discuss both incidents, in addition to the key action from the Premier League and Championship.

There's also a brief nod to the FA Cup First Round with the opportunity for names not normally mentioned on the podcast to bag a well-deserved doff of the cap.