View: Will Norris faces fresh Portsmouth competition in Jordan Archer
Portsmouth now have two more-than-capable senior goalkeepers in their ranks as new signing Jordan Archer has joined Will Norris in the squad.
Norris was an ever-present for Pompey last season as the side soared to promotion in style, with John Mousinho drafting in experienced Championship stopper Archer on a free transfer.
Whilst Norris is vastly expected to start the first fixture of the new season away at Leeds United by virtue of not needing to fix what isn’t broken, Archer also brings qualities that Pompey could do with throughout the campaign.
Portsmouth increase goalkeeping options with Jordan Archer signing
With Norris and Archer both vying for the number one spot for Portsmouth, Norris’ impeccable season in League One will be compared here to Archer’s 2017-18 campaign in the Championship with Millwall, in which he played 45 times.
The Lions finished an impressive eighth that year at the higher level, and Archer kept 18 clean sheets in a stellar defensive unit, much like Pompey’s last season [FBRef].
In terms of shots faced, Archer actually trumped Norris by a marginal 2.5 per cent difference – the ex-Tottenham stopper kept out 131 of 167 shots faced in 2017-18, as Norris made 106 saves from 145 shots on target.
Where Norris excels is in the goals conceded department, only letting in 0.89 goals per game to a round figure of one per game by Archer six years ago.
This boosts Norris’ statistics enormously on Fotmob, having played a key part in a fantastic Portsmouth defence which Mousinho will likely trust heading into the new campaign.
The 30-year-old outranks 91 per cent of fellow English league goalkeepers for clean sheets, and conceded fewer than 93 per cent of his counterparts.
It will certainly be an interesting battle between two similarly aged and similarly profiled goalkeepers to turn out between the sticks at Fratton Park.
In other Portsmouth news, a Blues reference has been made after Ollie Watkins’ England heroics.
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