Should Robby McCrorie be given the gloves back against Dundee United?

Comparing Killie's two goalkeeping options based on their performances so far

When Kilmarnock return to action next weekend against Dundee United, one of the most intriguing things to look out for will be the first name on the teamsheet - i.e Robby McCrorie or Kieran O’Hara in goal.

Ewan Paton considered the issue in his latest piece looking at Killie’s best XI and concluded that the former Rangers man is the best option going forward.

However, there are those who would argue that O’Hara has done nothing to warrant losing the jersey and, until he does, the manager should give him his backing.

As Ewan correctly pointed out, McCrorie has a higher ceiling and is seen as a player the club can develop and sell for a profit, not to mention being a potential future Scotland international to boot.

Those are factors which absolutely can and will be taken into account - but what do the numbers tell us? If we look at cold, hard, data will it give us any insight into who should be the number 1 going forward?

Both have played six games each, which is both a handy point of comparison and means we should take any of their stats so far with caution - it’s a small sample size to be working with.

With that said, let’s take a look at how the two compare.

Goalkeeper on ball value (OBV) attempts to assign a value to a goalkeeper’s goal-preventing actions - shot-stopping, cross-claiming, sweeping up balls in behind and other things.

It should be reiterated here that the sample size is small for both McCrorie and O’Hara, given how early in the season it is, but the numbers suggest that in the Premiership the former has had a shaky start to the season.

The numbers, via StatsBomb, suggest a negative impact by McCrorie against the expected benchmark, with poor numbers in terms of coming to claim the ball and shot-stopping.

A lack of confidence coming off his line is something that many have observed with the eye test alone, though it’s important to remember that views of when a goalkeeper should and should not come for a cross are often reductive.

Gianluigi Buffon, who one would suggest knows a little bit about the subject, said in 2014: “Often there are fallacies when a journalist or a fan and sometimes even a coach who has never been a goalkeeper sees a cross in the six-yard box and says he should come out. You laugh because you understand how much bulls*** is said.

“The first question I ask people is: do you know how big the six-yard box is for a keeper stood on his line? And no one knows … It’s 100m² – that’s the same as a two-room flat or a bar. God only knows how many metres cubed it is.”

Always worth remembering when you hear “any ball in the six yard box should be the goalkeeper’s” - it’s a braver man than me who’d argue with Gigi Buffon about goalkeeping.

By the numbers though O’Hara has been more effective in coming off his line to claim the ball, with the numbers putting him in the 98th percentile in the Premiership.