Golden Glove race: How the contenders compare
We look at the current rankings of goalkeepers fighting for the Coca-Cola Golden Glove award
Football writer Adrian Clarke takes a closer look at the players in the running to win the Coca-Cola Golden Golden Glove award, which is awarded to the Premier League player(s) with the most clean sheets.
The Coca-Cola Premier League Golden Glove is an award given to the goalkeeper who keeps the most clean sheets in a season.
The first award went to Chelsea’s Petr Cech at the end of the 2004/05 campaign, and his 24 shutouts during that title-winning season remain a record in the top flight.
Cech and Joe Hart have won four Golden Gloves each, while fellow legends Ederson and Pepe Reina have won the award three times each.
Arsenal’s David Raya sets the pace this time around with 13 clean sheets already in the bank; the same total he managed throughout the 2024/25 season when he shared the prize with Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Chasing a third consecutive Gold Glove – a feat achieved by only three players since the awards’ inception – Raya has a chance to etch his name into goalkeeping folklore in the weeks to come.
Raya, along with Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, has moved away from the chasing pack in recent weeks, regularly picking up clean sheets.
Six of the Italian’s 10 clean sheets for City have come in the last 12 matches, while his Arsenal counterpart has six in his last 13.
It’s a similar story with the group behind, Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford and Robin Roefs conceding in 18 of their last 21 appearances combined.
So right now it looks like a two-horse race.
Most clean sheets last five PL matches
| Player | Clean sheets |
| David Raya | 3 |
|---|---|
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | 2 |
| Senne-Lammens | 2 |
| Matz Salts | 2 |
| Emiliano Martinez | 2 |
How are the Golden Glove Contenders performing?
With 10 of Arsenal’s 12 remaining matches against teams currently outside the top seven, Raya has a wonderful opportunity to rack up more clean sheets.
One of the goals the Spanish stopper may initially have in mind is to usurp the 16 shutouts he produced in 2023/24.
Arsenal’s number one has been by far the least busy Premier League goalkeeper this season, making just 37 saves. City’s Donnarumma had to make 54 saves for comparison.
Most clean sheets last five PL matches and total 25/26
| Player | Clean sheets | Total |
| David Raya | 3 | 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | 2 | 10 |
| Emiliano Martinez | 2 | 6 |
| Robert Sanchez | 1 | 9 |
| Jordan Pickford | 1 | 9 |
| Dean Henderson | 1 | 9 |
| Robin Roefs | 1 | 8 |
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It is interesting however, according to OptaStats Raya has conceded 3.1 more goals than the expected goals on target (xGOT) metric suggests he should have.
Every other goalkeeper who has racked up eight or more clean sheets to make the top six has prevented more goals than expected.
Seven of the top 10 listed at the top of this article also boast a better save percentage than Raya’s 67.3 percent, with Donnarumma ranked second with 73 percent.
So while Raya has made some great saves this season, his clean sheet record owes a lot to the defensive solidity of the outfield players in front of him.