David Raya has guaranteed at least a share of the Premier League Golden Glove for the 2025-26 season, and he has done it with 17 clean sheets already on the board. That puts him ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is on 13 clean sheets with Manchester City having four league matches left. The award is not settled outright yet, but the share is locked in and this is now a third straight season in the conversation for Arsenal's No 1.

Why this one matters

Goal.com reported that Raya has “officially secured at least a share of the Premier League Golden Glove award for the 2025-26 season.” It also noted that by doing so for a third consecutive year, he becomes only the fourth goalkeeper in Premier League history to achieve the feat.

That group is small for a reason. Raya now sits alongside Pepe Reina, Joe Hart and Ederson in the record books, which is a proper sign of consistency rather than a one-season spike. His 17 clean sheets are also a personal best in a single Premier League campaign, so this is not just another repeat, it is his best league season in this metric.

The numbers point to the same place. Raya has started 35 Premier League matches, so the clean-sheet total has come across a full workload. His 6.94 league rating is steady rather than flashy, but that fits the story here. This has been built on repetition, not occasional heroics.

Arsenal's defence has set the floor

The larger point is Arsenal's defensive record. They have conceded just 26 Premier League goals, the fewest in the division, and that platform is doing a lot of the work for Raya's clean-sheet count. In Europe the pattern has held too, with only 6 goals conceded in the Champions League and the team still in the semi-finals.

So while the Golden Glove is a goalkeeper award, this one is clearly a team achievement as well. Raya has benefited from being behind the best defensive record in the league, and Arsenal's structure has given him the chance to keep stacking shutouts. The clean-sheet lead is deserved, even if the share is not yet the final end point.

The only real remaining question is whether Raya ends with the award outright or as a shared winner. On the evidence available now, the share is secure and the third straight season is already confirmed. Whatever happens over the final rounds, the season has already put him in a very small Premier League club.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 8 outlets. How we work →