Castrol Save of the Month – October 2022 nominees
It was a hectic month of Premier League action in October, with a relentless run of fixtures compensating for the upcoming World Cup break.
There were plenty of goals and plenty of talking points for supporters up and down the country to sink their respective teeth into, but their were also plenty of superb saves from the Premier League’s top goalkeepers.
Six of those have been shortlisted for October’s Castrol Save of the Month award, with the nominations as follows:
It’s going to be pretty hard to pick a winner from these incredible saves! 😲
The nominees for October’s @premierleague Save of the Month… pic.twitter.com/0o1vwNGRu5— Castrol (@Castrol) November 3, 2022
Fulham’s impressive start to the season has owed much to the brilliance of Aleksandar Mitrovic, but it was goalkeeper Bernd Leno who took centre stage against Bournemouth.
Having shovelled away Jefferson Lerma’s initial header from close range, the German quickly got to his feet again to tip Adam Smith’s rebound header over the bar from three yards out. The save ensured the Cottagers took home a point, maintaining their impressive home record under Marco Silva.
Kepa Arrizabalaga has had a watching brief at Chelsea for a number of months, playing understudy to Edouard Mendy, but he seized his opportunity to shine at Aston Villa with a terrificly agile stop.
After patting down John McGinn’s initial shot, Kepa somehow stooped down to his right to divert Jacob Ramsey’s stinging drive onto the frame of the goal – the standout save of the seven he made during the afternoon.
Manchester City’s trip to heavyweight rivals Liverpool ultimately ended in defeat, but goalkeeper Ederson produced a wonderful bit of goalkeeping to deny old adversary Mohamed Salah.
The Brazilian came dashing off his line to narrow the angle for the Egyptian, who had steamed in behind Nathan Ake on the counter attack. Salah attempted to bend the ball around Ederson into the bottom corner, but he got down low to fingertip the effort past the frame of the goal.
The result against Manchester United may not have gone Tottenham’s way, but Hugo Lloris was in inspired form at Old Trafford.
The Frenchman made eight saves, the best of which was a stunning one-handed reaction save to deny Marcus Rashford. The Englishman looked primed to score as he rifled a low drive at goal, but somehow Lloris sprung down to his left to divert the ball wide of the post.
Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Liverpool raised the roof at the City Ground, but the three points would not have been secured were it not for Dean Henderson.
The 25-year-old, on loan from Manchester United, showed tremendous reflexes and sharp agility to keep out Virgil van Dijk’s injury-time header – one the Dutchman had powered at goal unchallenged. Forest then cleared the ball to safety, securing a massive result for Steve Cooper’s side.
David de Gea had been a spectator for much of Manchester United’s 1-0 win over West Ham, but he was there when his side needed him late on to deny Kurt Zouma.
The Spaniard adjusted his feet quickly to shimmy across his line, before flinging out a right glove to somehow claw the Frenchman’s header round the post. A truly breathtaking save.