Message in a bottle: How the water bottle helped Jordan Pickford make penalty save and keep Everton’s survival hopes afloat

As the relegation battle intensified in the English Premier League, 19th-placed Everton had to thank goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for the point against fellow strugglers Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Pickford, the England number 1, thwarted a penalty of James Maddison in the first half to prevent the Foxes from taking a 3-1 lead.
The intimidating Pickford, though, had to thank the water bottle the side of the pitch in which there was a graphic showing that Maddison tends to go down the middle with 60% of his efforts, and to ‘stay centre’. Pickford did just that—after shuffling to his left and then the right, he stood at the center—and Maddison crashed his shot straight at his England colleague. After the match, Pickford had a message to Maddison. “Madders needs to learn his lesson. Don’t play poker.”
Later, he detailed to Sky Sports: “I did my homework. I called it this morning where I would go. He is a good player and he would’ve expected me to move, but I double-bluffed him and got one up on him.”
But to the specifics of his homework, he said: “It is a trend at the moment but I have a different process and I’ll tell you when I retire. It looks strange not to move and is incredibly brave, especially when everything is on the line. At 3-1 it is probably game over.”

Jordan Pickford’s water bottle shows that 60% of Maddison’s penalty go through the middle. 👀 pic.twitter.com/MaKyRCVbmU
— PurelyFootball ℗ (@PurelyFootball) May 1, 2023
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His water bottle had caught the eyes of the camers during the game against Liverpool too, where he had elaborate pointers on how their potential penalty takers would go about the business. For Mohamed Salah, Pickford’s water bottle tells him to ‘check run up’ to decide which way to dive, with a diagram showing he predominantly shoots to the goalkeeper’s left. For Darwin Nunez, the message was ‘wait right’, given there’s not a huge split between the Liverpool man picking between going left or right. Milner had the same instruction as Salah, with his penalty kicks predominantly going to the goalkeeper’s left. For Cody Gakpo, the sheet instructs Pickford to target his left, with 75 percent of the Dutchman’s penalties going in that direction.

Pickford’s heroics helped Everton eke out a precious point, but they still have a mountain to climb to keep themselves afloat in the premier league and maintain their status as one of the six clubs to never have been relegated. They are now 19th with 29 points after 34 games. The point parachuted Leicester to 16th on the table, but on the merit of goal difference with both Leeds United and Nottingham Forest on 30 points.