Over the years, we have seen some great goalkeepers in the Premier League. Often some of the world’s top keepers have played in England, and that is the case now as well.
Peter Schmeichel, arguably the greatest goalkeeper of his generation, spent time with Aston Villa, Manchester City, and most notably Manchester United, with whom he won five Premier League titles, and famously the Champions League title in 1999.
In the last few years, we have almost seen the role of goalkeepers change. No longer is their job just to keep the ball out of the net, it is to play out from the back as well. This has come into prominence particularly with Pep Guardiola, who demands his ‘keeper plays the ball out from the back.
With that in mind, here are the top ten goalkeepers in the Premier League right now.
#10 Bernd Leno (Arsenal)
Arsenal have had a strange history of goalkeepers over the last few years. David Seaman was one of the greatest we have seen in the Premier League, and Jens Lehmann was a massive part of their Invincible season.
Bernd Leno will hope to be one of those who is remembered for the right reasons. It wasn’t a great start to his Premier League career, as he was stuck behind Petr Cech in the pecking order, but with him now injured, he has been given the chance to impress.
#9 Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City)
The greatest challenge of Schmeichel’s career was always going to be to step out of his father’s shadow. His father Peter was regarded as the greatest goalkeeper of the Premier League era, and the issue for Kasper is that he will always be compared to his dad, and what he achieved during his career. Though we have seen in the last few years, he has begun to make a name for himself.
#8 Rui Patricio (Wolves)
We have seen a massive change at Wolves over the past year, thanks to the influence of super agent Jorge Mendes. They have been able to sign some top class talent, usually with some connection to Portugal. This saw them run away with the Championship title last season, before making an excellent start in the Premier League this time around.
#7 Petr Cech (Arsenal)
Peter Schmeichel is considered the greatest ‘keeper that we have seen in Premier League history, but Cech isn’t too far behind. Although he is now at Arsenal, the majority of success in his career has come at his former club Chelsea. He won four Premier League titles at Chelsea, as well as the Champions League, and a number of individual honours, as for a short period of time, he was probably the best goalkeeper in Europe.
#6 Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Pickford has become a real favourite for fans in England after his superb performances for his national side at the World Cup in Brazil this summer. He saved Carlos Bacca’s penalty in the shootout against Colombia in the round of 16, before putting in a superb performance against Sweden in the quarterfinals. He is now his nation’s undisputed number one, and his club performances have been crucial to that.
#5 Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea)
A year ago, very few people would have seen the rise in stock of Kepa Arrizabalaga. Chelsea paid £72 million to make him the most expensive goalkeeper in world football, and now all eyes are firmly fixed on the Spaniard. There is no doubting that it was a lot of money for someone with little experience, but he has already proved himself to be a more than capable ‘keeper for the Blues.
#4 Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Tottenham have enjoyed their best spell in the Premier League era over the past few years, and Lloris has had to be a big part of that. The World Cup-winning French captain has been with Spurs since 2012 after his move from Lyon, and his club have qualified for the Champions League in each of the last three seasons. He is now the club’s captain, despite some off-field issues.
#3 Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
For just a few weeks this summer, Alisson was the world’s most expensive goalkeeper after making the £67 million move from Roma last season. The Brazilian had an excellent season in Serie A last time out, and played a crucial role as his side made the Champions League semi-finals, where they were beaten by Liverpool. He may have conceded seven goals over the two legs, but it didn’t stop the Reds splashing the cash on the ‘keeper in the summer.
He hasn’t done too much too far in the Liverpool goal so far this season, but he hasn’t really had to, and has kept six clean sheets in his nine Premier League games so far. He is expected to offer something with the ball at his feet as well, but this hasn’t exactly worked out well so far, and he was at fault for the goal they conceded away at Leicester City in August.
#2 Ederson (Manchester City)
He has the ability to hit the long passes as well and proved that with his 70-yard defence-splitting pass against Huddersfield Town earlier this season, setting up Sergio Aguero to score. His passing range is outrageous.
#1 David de Gea (Manchester United)
There is no doubting that there are massive problems at Manchester United at the moment, but one area where they are absolutely fine is in goal. In David de Gea, they have the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, and maybe the best in the world as well. The Spaniard may have had a difficult World Cup, and he isn’t as good with the ball at his feet as Ederson, but his shot stopping abilities are second to none.
In his 245 Premier League games, he has kept 94 clean sheets, an impressive record given the fact that he has never had a settled defence in front of him. He has won United countless points over the years, and with all the talk about Paul Pogba’s future, people seem to have forgotten that de Gea’s contract is up at the end of the year. There is no doubting who is more important to the side.