Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is on track to break the Premier League record for the most clean sheets ever in a Premier League campaign.
Some optimists had suggested that Arsenal might evolve to a more expansive style after getting the monkey off their back with the Premier League title last season.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were certainly entertaining in their 3-0 victory over Coventry City on the opening weekend, but they’ve failed to score more than two goals in any of their nine league outings since.
But the reigning champions look very well-placed to keep their Premier League crown after grinding out wins time and time again. Seven of their nine wins this season have come with a clean sheet, while three of the last four have been via a 1-0 scoreline.
With seven clean sheets from 10 outings, that’s a 70% clean sheet ratio for their goalkeeper. If Raya can maintain that and stay fit and available over the course of the full 38-game campaign, he’ll end the season on 26 clean sheets – which would break a remarkable record that’s stood for over two decades.
We’ve taken a closer look at the keepers who have kept the most clean sheets in a Premier League season.
=4. 6 players – 20 clean sheets
Raya has already established himself among the Premier League’s elite goalkeepers, winning three consecutive Golden Gloves to equal the record a feat shared by Joe Hart and Pepe Reina.
The Spaniard also kept a club-record 19 clean sheets for Arsenal during last season’s title-winning campaign, but he’s yet to make the top echelons of this list with 20+ clean sheets in one season.
Alisson, Ederson, Pepe Reina and Peter Schmeichel are the Premier League greats to have reached 20 clean sheets in a single Premier League season.
Ederson managed it twice, in 2018-19 and 2021-22, while Reina also appears twice thanks to his exploits at Liverpool in 2005-06 and 2008-09.
Alisson’s 20 came in 2021-22, while Schmeichel achieved the same number for Manchester United in 1994-95.
=2. Edwin van der Sar – 21 clean sheets (2008-09)
Reina had won three consecutive Golden Gloves between 2006 and 2008, but was denied a fourth when Edwin van der Sar claimed the prize in 2008-09.
It was a particularly satisfying season for the veteran Dutchman, who also helped Manchester United pip Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool to the Premier League title.
United had Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez at the peak of their powers, but their defensive foundations were arguably even more important. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic formed a formidable partnership in front of Van der Sar, who was rarely required to do anything spectacular but was always there when called upon.
His remarkable run of 1,311 minutes without conceding, spanning 14 consecutive league matches, remains a Premier League record. We can’t see anyone – not even Arsenal and this miserly Gunners backline – ever breaking it.
=2. Alisson – 21 clean sheets (2018-19)
Undoubtedly the greatest Premier League season ever produced by a team that didn’t win the title. Liverpool finished on 97 points, lost just once, conceded a league-best 22 goals and lifted the Champions League. And still finished second.
Alisson was instrumental in that remarkable campaign, keeping 21 clean sheets in his debut season at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp finally found the world-class goalkeeper he’d been missing, but even he couldn’t quite get them over the line in the title race.
1. Petr Cech – 24 clean sheets (2004-05)
We’ll be astonished if any team breaks the record set by Jose Mourinho’s imperial-era Chelsea in 2004-05. They conceded just 15 goals that season – even this Arsenal team is a third of the way there already.
But the clean sheet record might just be under threat if Arsenal can keep this up.
“We as a team took pride in getting clean sheets,” the legendary Czech goalkeeper reminisced when he was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
“It was not only the defenders and goalkeepers, it was everyone chipping in to make sure that if we can’t win, we don’t lose. If we don’t concede, you only need one shot and you get three points.
“That’s what I’m proud of. The clean sheets in that season were beautiful and something to remember, but if you finish third, then you’d think, ‘OK great, I have all the records, but all I really wanted was the title.
“Those clean sheets were the decisive factor in us winning the title. That’s what really stands out for me – that every clean sheet not only contributed to all the records, but especially to winning the title.”
You could apply those words to this Arsenal side, couldn’t you?