Premier League Golden Glove 2026/27: How the Award Works and Who Leads

How the Premier League Golden Glove is decided

The Golden Glove goes to the goalkeeper who keeps the most clean sheets in Premier League matches across the season. It has been presented every season since 2004/05. Only league games count, so a clean sheet in the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup or Europe adds nothing.

• Level finishes are shared. If two or more keepers finish level on the most clean sheets, the Premier League shares the award. That has happened three times: Petr Cech and Wojciech Szczesny on 16 in 2013/14, Alisson and Ederson on 20 in 2021/22, and David Raya and Matz Sels on 13 in 2024/25. Before 2013/14, a dead heat went to the keeper with the better ratio of clean sheets to matches played.

• Clean sheets belong to the keeper who played. If two keepers split a season, they split the tally, and neither may keep enough to stay in the race.

• Total clean sheets is all that counts. The award is decided on the number of league clean sheets, so the only real qualification is playing enough games to keep them.

A clean sheet is a team achievement with one name on it

A clean sheet is a team statistic credited to one player. A goalkeeper can win a single match on his own, but over a season he can't pile up clean sheets without a settled back four, a holding midfielder screening the defence and a manager who sets up to concede little.

A keeper at a side that dominates possession may face a handful of shots a game and finish with a big total. A keeper at a mid-table club can make twice as many saves, have the better season and finish nowhere.

When the Premier League compared the 2025/26 contenders mid-season, Raya led on 13 clean sheets, yet seven of the top 10 had a better save percentage than Raya's 67.3% figure.

Two measures help separate the keeper from his defence:

• Save percentage - The share of shots on target the keeper keeps out. A low figure on a big clean-sheet total suggests the defence is doing the work.

• Goals prevented - This compares the expected goals on target a keeper faced with the goals he let in.

Pickford is a good example. In 2024/25 he conceded 44 league goals from shots worth 50 expected goals on target, preventing six, more than any other keeper.

The roll of honour reads like a list of good defences

The record belongs to Cech, whose 24 clean sheets for Chelsea in 2004/05 came as the club conceded just 15 league goals, a Premier League record that still stands. Totals have ranged from Cech's 24 down to 13 for Raya and Sels in 2024/25, the fewest by any winner.

The recent Golden Glove winners:

• 2021/22 - Alisson (Liverpool) and Ederson (Man City), 20 each

• 2022/23 - David de Gea (Man Utd), 17

• 2023/24 - David Raya (Arsenal), 16

• 2024/25 - David Raya (Arsenal) and Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest), 13 each

• 2025/26 - David Raya (Arsenal), 19

Raya's three in a row matched Pepe Reina, who won it for Liverpool in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 with 20, 19 and 18. Joe Hart and Ederson also won three in a row at Man City. Cech's Chelsea kept 25 clean sheets as a team in 2004/05, another Premier League record.

In 2018/19, Alisson kept 21 clean sheets as Liverpool conceded the fewest goals in the league, 22. In 2021/22, Alisson and Ederson shared the award on 20 clean sheets each, keeping goal for the two meanest defences, Liverpool and Man City, on 26 conceded each. In 2023/24, Raya won it with 16 as Arsenal conceded only 29 goals, five fewer than any other team.

The award doesn't always follow the best defence. In 2022/23, De Gea took the award with 17 clean sheets while Man Utd conceded 43 league goals, 10 more than both Man City and Newcastle United. Because only clean sheets count, a 7-0 defeat at Anfield cost De Gea no more than a 1-0 would have. Availability and a run of tight 1-0s can outweigh a leaky overall record.

Sels broke a different pattern: his share in 2024/25 made him the first goalkeeper from outside Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd to win the award.

What wrecks a bid: injury, rotation and the cup keeper

A bid depends on being on the pitch every week. Every league game a keeper misses is a clean sheet he can't add.

• Injury - A six-to-eight-week midwinter layoff can cost several league games through the busiest part of the fixture list.

• The cup keeper - Handing the Carabao Cup and FA Cup to a second-choice keeper protects the No1's league run, but the deputy is one knock away from league starts.

• A change of No1 - A January signing, or a dip in form, splits the club's clean sheets between two names and often ends both keepers' hopes.

Why the Golden Glove deserves a closer look

The award is worth following because it often points to the league's best defence. Read next to save percentage and shots faced, it shows how much of that defence is down to the keeper.

The World Cup has its own Golden Glove, and Ladbrokes covered the 2026 tournament's race separately. The 2026/27 Premier League race has more than 30 rounds to run, so October's table can still change a lot.

See the latest Premier League markets at Ladbrokes.

18+. Please gamble responsibly. The Ladbrokes safer gambling page explains the tools available, including deposit limits and time-outs. For anything about your account, visit Help & Contact.