Jordan Pickford knew exactly where James Maddison would put penalty as image of his water bottle goes viral
Jordan Pickford saved a crucial penalty from James Maddison to help Everton get a point away at Leicester City in the Premier League on Monday night. The goalkeeper had done his homework, and the cameras caught the Toffees' star water bottle, which had details of where Leicester players would put their penalty.
Sky Sports cameras zoomed in on Pickford's water bottle during the first half, soon after he saved the penalty to keep Everton in the game. The numbers showed that Maddison would shoot down the middle 60% of the time, and that helped the Everton man stand his ground and make the save.
Jordan Pickford’s water bottle told him to “stay” ahead of James Maddison’s penalty since 60% go down the centre. Pickford listened.🧤 twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/LGHfqACMJQ
The penalty save helped Everton keep the scoreline at 2-1 before the break, and they managed to score the only goal of the second half to seal a crucial draw in the relegation battle.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Pickford confirmed that he had done his homework. He said:
"Madders needs to learn his lesson - don't play poker, by the sounds of it. No, I do my homework, I called it this morning, the way I was going to go, but he's a good player and I think he'll expect me to make movement. He's got a great delivery, if he whips it or opens up I think he'll expect me to dive to I double bluffed him and got one up on him.
"It was a big moment in the game and I'm quite happy I saved it because that's what I'm there to do - try and help the team. Sometimes they make mistakes, sometimes it's harsh - the penalty - but I'll try my best to get them out of trouble."
The draw saw Jordan Pickford's Everton remain in the bottom three with four matches left, but they are just a point behind 16th-placed Leicester City.
Jordan Pickford happy with Everton's draw at Leicester City
Jordan Pickford is confident that Everton can survive the fall this season after the draw at Leicester City. The goalkeeper admitted that there was anxiety on the pitch as both sets of players did not want to lose the match.
He told Sky Sports:
"We're both fighting, both down there and there's a bit of anxiety on the pitch. We got the first goal, which was nice and I thought we played a brilliant 20 minutes and did what the gaffer wants, then we dropped off. It's a point and we don't come away from Leicester with zero. We know we're still in the bottom three and it's very tight down there. We roll our sleeves up and keep working hard with a fighting spirit."
Jordan Pickford's Everton will play Wolverhampton and Bournemouth in their final two matches and will be hoping that they can edge out results against the two sides who have just about escaped relegation.