Founded in 1992, replacing the old First Division, the Premier League is the top tier of English football and one of the most popular and competitive leagues in the world.
The league consists of 20 teams, each battling it out from August to May in hopes of winning the prestigious title.
And, while being able to score a vast amount of goals over 38 games can get you a lot of the way there, if your goalkeeper can’t keep a clean sheet, then your team faces an uphill battle.
In football, a “clean sheet” refers to a match in which a team does not concede any goals. It is a key measure of a team’s defensive strength and the skill of its goalkeeper.
Some of the best goalkeepers currently playing in the Premier League include Alisson of Liverpool, Ederson of Manchester City, and Andre Onana of Manchester United.
These players are known for their remarkable shot-stopping abilities and command over their defense.
But which teams consistently keep the most clean sheets, and has it helped them win the Premier League?
EPL Team With Most Clean Sheets in 2023/24
Despite winning the 2023/24 Premier League, Manchester City did not have the most clean sheets at the end of the season.
That honour goes to Arsenal and their goalie, David Raya, who stopped the opposition in their tracks 16 times in the season.
For that, he won the Golden Glove, the goalkeeper equivalent of the Golden Boot, and he did it all while on loan from Brentford.
That’s right, the Spanish goalkeeper isn’t under contract with the Gunners and has spent the better part of the last ten years bouncing between Blackburn and Brentford with loan spells at Stockport and Arsenal.
Has he done enough to convince manager Mikel Arteta that he’s worth the rumoured £27 million asking price?
Arsenal has remained tight-lipped, but Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been a little chattier, stating that he believes the London club will trigger the option to sign Raya permanently.
The 2022/23 Season
In the 2022/23 Premier League season, Manchester United had the most clean sheets, with a total of 17.
David de Gea, their goalkeeper at the time, won the Golden Glove award and kept his team in contention to finish in third place overall on the table.
He played all 38 games, stopped the club’s rivals from scoring in nearly 50% of the games, and at the end of the season, his contract was up.
Despite playing for Manchester United for 12 seasons, it was adios De Gea who, at the time of writing this, is without a club.
This seems like a highly unusual situation for a goalkeeper of his calibre to find himself in, but I suspect the rumoured £19.5 million salary has something to do with it!
And, for those of you interested in stats, in the 2022/23 season, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Newcastle United were joint-second with 14 clean sheets each.
Most Clean Sheets AND Won The Premier League
Football is a funny ole game, and just because your club can mount an enviable defense with a world-class goalie doesn’t mean you will actually win the Premier League.
The last time a club kept the most clean sheets and won the Premier League in the same season was Manchester City in the 2020/21 season.
Ederson, their goalkeeper, secured the Golden Glove award with 19 clean sheets, and Manchester City clinched the Premier League title that year.
Prior to that, it was in 2016/17 when Chelsea achieved this feat with Thibaut Courtois as their goalkeeper, who kept 16 clean sheets during the season.
This solid defensive performance helped Chelsea secure the Premier League title under manager Antonio Conte.
So why does a good defense not always translate into wins? As an example, in the 2023/24 season, Bernd Leno kept the third-highest number of clean sheets with 10.
However, Fulham were also one of two teams who managed three 0-0 results. So Leno kept the ball out, but Fulham didn’t score either, earning the side just one point.
Most Expensive Premier League Goalkeeper Transfers
Kepa Arrizabalaga
Club: Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea
Fee: €80 million (£71.6 million)
Year: 2018
Kepa Arrizabalaga’s transfer from Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea in 2018 set a world record for the most expensive goalkeeper transfer at the time.
Chelsea triggered Kepa’s release clause after selling Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid and missing out on signing Alisson Becker, who went to Liverpool.
Kepa had a mixed start at Chelsea. While he displayed moments of brilliance, his tenure was marred by high-profile mistakes and inconsistent performances.
One of the most notable incidents occurred during the 2019 Carabao Cup final, where Kepa refused to be substituted by then-manager Maurizio Sarri, causing a public dispute on the pitch.
This incident and a series of poor performances led to him losing his starting spot to Edouard Mendy in 2020.
Despite his struggles, Kepa regained his starting position in the 2022/23 season before being sent out on loan to Real Madrid in August 2023.
Alisson Becker
Club: Roma to Liverpool
Fee: €62.5 million (£56 million)
Year: 2018
Liverpool signed Alisson Becker from Roma in 2018, briefly making him the most expensive goalkeeper in history before Kepa’s transfer.
The signing came after Loris Karius’s errors in the 2018 Champions League final, which prompted Liverpool to seek a reliable goalkeeper.
Alisson’s impact at Liverpool was immediate and transformative. He played a crucial role in Liverpool’s Champions League victory in 2019 and their Premier League title win in the 2019/20 season.
Alisson is known for his exceptional shot-stopping abilities and command of the penalty area, which have earned him two Premier League Golden Glove awards in 2018–19 and 2021–22.
Liverpool finished third in the table in the 2023/24 season, thanks in part to Allison keeping eight clean sheets.
Andre Onana
Club: Inter Milan to Manchester United
Fee: €55 million (£43.9 million)
Year: 2023
Replacing David De Gea is Andre Onana who joined Manchester United from Inter Milan in the summer of 2023.
Onana had joined Inter Milan from Ajax on a free transfer in 2022 and had a standout season, helping the club reach the Champions League final and win the Coppa Italia.
His reunion with Erik ten Hag, his former coach at Ajax, was seen as a move to bolster Manchester United’s goalkeeping department and improve their playing style from the back.
Despite being one of the better keepers this season, fifth overall with nine clean sheets, United had to contend with finishing in 8th place overall.
Fans did get something to cheer about, however, when the reds beat Manchester City 2-1 in the FA Cup Final.
