With goalkeepers increasingly influential to how teams build from the back, Opta Analyst's David Segar examines the numbers behind some of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League this season.
The expectations around goalkeepers seem to grow every season. Not just satisfied with them stopping the ball from going in the net, many are expected to be an 11th option in build-up play as well.
Shot-stoppers perhaps aren’t always given the credit they deserve, so we’ve decided to have a big sift through some goalkeeper data to bring you the best stats around Premier League number ones from the 2024/25 season.
It has been a phenomenal season so far for Nottingham Forest, and the form of goalkeeper Matz Sels has been a big reason for that.
The Belgian has been a reliable figure between the sticks for his head coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, and currently leads the way in the race for the Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season, with 13.
Sels almost extended his lead on Monday but was denied a 14th shutout of the league campaign by Richarlison’s late header in Forest’s 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur.
He sits one clean sheet ahead of Arsenal’s David Raya (12), with Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson in joint-third (10).
Despite some recent criticism, Manchester United’s Andre Onana is in fifth with nine clean sheets, level with Alisson Becker. It should be pointed out, though, that Liverpool’s Brazilian has played only 23 Premier League matches this season, nine fewer than Onana and 10 less than any of the four goalkeepers to have kept more clean sheets.
Similarly, Manchester City’s Ederson has seven from just 22 appearances, the same number as Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez (27 games) and AFC Bournemouth’s Kepa Arrizabalaga (26 games).
Most PL clean sheets 24/25
| Goalkeeper | Appearances | Clean sheets |
| Matz Sels | 33 | 13 |
|---|---|---|
| David Raya | 33 | 12 |
| Jordan Pickford | 33 | 10 |
| Dean Henderson | 33 | 10 |
| Alisson | 23 | 9 |
| Andre Onana | 32 | 9 |
| Ederson | 22 | 7 |
| Kepa | 26 | 7 |
| Robert Sanchez | 27 | 7 |
There’s more to a goalkeeper than a clean sheet, though, so let’s look at how many saves they’re making.
Brentford’s Mark Flekken has been the busiest, making 133 saves in total this season, a huge 25 more than any other goalkeeper. Two players with 17 places separating their teams in the table - Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale and Forest's Sels - have made the joint-second most saves, with 108 each.
Leicester City’s Mads Hermansen has been kept busy, with 101 saves, while Pickford is the only other person to have a century of stops to his name in 2024/25 (100), followed by Fulham’s Bernd Leno and Henderson, with 96 and 94 respectively.
Most saves in the PL 24/25
| Goalkeeper | Saves |
| Mark Flekken | 133 |
|---|---|
| Aaron Ramsdale | 108 |
| Matz Sels | 108 |
| Mads Hermansen | 101 |
| Jordan Pickford | 100 |
A lot of those names will have faced numerous shots, though, so will have had far more opportunities to rack up those saves than others… not that they’ll be too happy about that!
We’re sure they’d rather have less to do, so let’s look at the save percentage to see if other names appear.
Straight away, yes, another name is at the top of the list. When looking at Premier League goalkeepers to have played at least 500 minutes this season, Arsenal’s David Raya has the highest save percentage, keeping 73.5 per cent of shots on target out of the Gunners’ net.
That’s marginally ahead of Sels (73.3 per cent), Flekken (73.0 per cent), Sanchez (72.6 per cent) and Alisson (72.5 per cent).
At the other end of the spectrum, we should really look at the lowest save percentage in the Premier League as well (min. 500 minutes).
Ipswich Town’s Christian Walton has only saved 51.5 per cent of shots on target faced this season in 540 minutes of action, though has also faced the highest Expected Goals on Target conceded (xGOT) per 90 minutes (2.55), so has in theory been facing harder chances than anyone else.
The next lowest percentage belongs to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Sam Johnstone (57.5 per cent), followed by teammate Jose Sa (58.5 per cent), Leicester’s Jakub Stolarczyk (58.6 per cent) and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen (58.7 per cent).
In fact, according to Opta's goals prevented metric – consisting of goals conceded (excluding own goals) minus xGOT – Verbruggen has conceded 50 goals from 44.7 xGOT, meaning he has conceded around 5.3 goals more than would normally be expected from an average goalkeeper.
That’s the most of anyone in the division, ahead of West Ham United’s Alphonse Areola (-3.5 goals prevented), Leno (-3.2), Sa (-3.0) and Johnstone (-3.0).
It doesn’t mean they are bad goalkeepers, though, any more than a striker over-performing against their Expected Goals (xG) means they are world class; quite often these things even out over time. It does, however, mean that they’ve underperformed over the course of this season.
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In terms of the most efficient 'keepers this season, Henderson has prevented the most goals compared to xGOT faced, conceding just 42 goals from 46.35 xGOT. That means the Palace man has prevented 4.4 more goals than an average goalkeeper would normally have been expected to concede.
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That’s ahead of Ederson (4.2), Tottenham Hotspur’s Guglielmo Vicario (4.2), Sels (4.2) and Hermansen (3.7).
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Henderson is also joined by Raya as the only two goalkeepers to have been ever-present for their team in the Premier League this season while also not making a single error that has led to a goal.
The 'keepers to have made the most errors leading to a goal this season are Sanchez, Arijanet Muric and Verbruggen (all five), ahead of Onana (three), Nick Pope, Ederson, Alex McCarthy and Areola (two).
Like someone being dragged to a salsa class by their partner, goalkeepers must also be good with their feet these days, so let’s get to what separates the wheat from the chaff and look at who has thrived when doing an impression of an outfielder this season.
It would be remiss of us not to start with assists, just so we can bring up Ederson’s achievement in that area. Man City’s goalkeeper has four assists to his name in his 22 league matches this season; that’s half the eight in total from goalkeepers, with no one else recording more than one.
It is also more assists than Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden, Brennan Johnson, Kaoru Mitoma, Noni Madueke, Cody Gakpo, Kai Havertz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Emile Smith Rowe and Callum Hudson-Odoi, among others, have managed.
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The other goalkeepers to have an assist to their name this season are Verbruggen, Pickford, Leno and Flekken (all one).
Ederson has also created the most chances for a team-mate in 2024/25 with four, meaning every chance he has created has led to a goal.
No other 'keeper in the Premier League has created more than two, though Pickford and Raya have the most secondary chances created with five apiece, which is passing to a team-mate who then creates a chance.
Looking purely at passing accuracy, some may expect to see Ederson top of that list too, but it’s actually Spurs's Vicario who leads the way, with 88.8 per cent.
Ederson is in second place (86.6 per cent), ahead of another Spurs man in Fraser Forster (82.6 per cent), suggesting Ange Postecoglou’s preferred style of passing out from the back is well and truly ingrained in his team no matter who is between the sticks.
Chelsea’s Filip Jorgensen (82.4 per cent) and Alisson (80.4 per cent) come next.
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Looking at goal kicks, you can get a good idea of which goalkeepers are tasked with going long or keeping it short.
Vicario, for example, has seen more than three-quarters (75.4 per cent) of his goal kicks not even leave the penalty area before finding a team-mate.
No other goalkeeper in the Premier League has even seen half of theirs do the same.
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The lowest overall passing accuracy belongs to Sels, who has found a team-mate with just 46.5 per cent of his passes, though this can be partly explained by the fact he also has the longest average successful pass distance (36.7 metres) of any goalkeeper in the Premier League.
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Forest’s keeper is expected to go long with a lot of his passes – just 18.7 per cent of his goal kicks are to a team-mate inside his own penalty area – as are many of the others with the lowest passing accuracy; Hermansen (56.0 per cent), Sa (57.6 per cent), Henderson (57.7 per cent), and Ramsdale (61.8 per cent).
Some might not have expected Ramsdale to be there considering Southampton’s possession-based style for most of the season, but the former Arsenal man has attempted 533 long balls, the fifth-most of any goalkeeper.
Pickford has attempted the most long balls – passes with a length of at least 32 metres – of Premier League goalkeepers this season, and his total of 776 is 41.2 per cent accurate.
That’s ahead of Flekken (687 – 44.7 per cent accuracy), Sels (657 – 35.8 per cent accuracy) and Henderson (548 – 26.8 per cent accuracy).
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In terms of getting the ball deep into enemy territory, Pickford comfortably leads the way again for passes into the opposition’s final third (118), well ahead of Flekken (74), Ramsdale (54), Raya (52) and Sels (52).
Pickford and Flekken, with 49 and 33 respectively, are also the only two 'keepers to have played at least 20 passes that have ended in the opponent’s penalty area.
Goalkeepers can of course still use their hands, though, and the art of the thrown pass has not been entirely lost.
Chelsea’s Sanchez is the biggest fan of distribution with his hands this season, having thrown the ball 159 times, 153 of which found a team-mate, also the most, one ahead of Pope (152 successful of 153 throws).
We sometimes come down a little too hard on goalkeepers. When they make a mistake, it often leads to a goal being conceded, but they can also be the heroes, and the Premier League has some of the best in the world.
It will be interesting to see how much further the role evolves over the coming years.