Having a solid defence is usually the basis of a successful team, and a having reliable presence between the sticks can be a vital asset in ensuring a backline is as bombproof as possible.
If you need any proof of that fact, look no further than league leaders Rangers and the stunning run of clean sheets that they began the season with.
But which Scottish Premiership stoppers have started the campaign brightest, and which need to buck their ideas up?
We’ve compared the total expected number of goals conceded* so far this season for each top flight goalkeeper to the number of goals they have actually shipped to find out:
*xCG is a measure of chance quality. For the purposes of this article, we have counted any goalkeeper who has made five or more Scottish Premiership appearances up to this point in the 2020/21 campaign.
1. Ofir Marciano - Hibernian
Total number of goals conceded: 9 Total xCG: 12.19 Sum Total: -3.19 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) Photo: Ian MacNicol
2. Jon McLaughlin - Rangers
Total number of goals conceded: 2 Total xCG: 4.4 Sum Total: -2.4 (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images) Photo: Manuel Velasquez
3. Benjamin Siegrist - Dundee United
Total number of goals conceded: 14 Total xCG: 16.33 Sum Total: -2.33 (Photo by Steve Welsh/Pool via Getty Images) Photo: Pool
4. Jak Alnwick - St. Mirren
Total number of goals conceded: 8 Total xCG: 9.96 Sum total: -1.96 (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images) Photo: Mark Runnacles