Most Premier League clean sheets: The goalkeeper position is perhaps the most polarising position in football. Few argue that goalkeepers are the most important players on the pitch, who can influence the game the most. However, on the contrary, it might be said that goalkeepers receive far less credit than what they actually deserve.
In the case of the latter, that changes today. As we will take a look at the goalkeepers with the most clean sheets in the Premier League’s history. The below given data includes those of players that have registered at least 100 clean sheets. As usual we will take a closer look at the most impressive layers among them.
Most Premier League clean sheets
| Rank | Nationality | Player | Clean sheets | Apps | Percent | Club(s) | Date of birth |
| 1 | Czech Republic | Petr Čech | 202 | 443 | 45.60% | Chelsea FC (162 appearances), Arsenal FC (40 appearances) | May 20, 1982 |
| 2 | England | David James | 169 | 572 | 29.55% | Liverpool FC (72 appearances), Portsmouth FC (39 appearances), Aston Villa FC (21 appearances), Manchester City FC (19 appearances), West Ham United FC (18 appearances) | August 1, 1970 |
| 3 | Australia | Mark Schwarzer | 151 | 514 | 29.38% | Middlesbrough FC (92 appearances), Fulham FC (56 appearances), Chelsea FC (2 appearances), Leicester City FC (1 appearances) | October 6, 1972 |
| 4 | Spain | David de Gea | 147 | 415 | 35.42% | Manchester United FC (147 appearances) | November 7, 1990 |
| 5 | England | David Seaman | 141 | 344 | 40.99% | Arsenal FC (138 appearances), Manchester City FC (3 appearances) | September 19, 1963 |
| 6 | England | Nigel Martyn | 137 | 372 | 36.83% | Leeds United FC (82 appearances), Everton FC (30 appearances), Crystal Palace FC (25 appearances) | August 11, 1966 |
| 7 | Spain | Pepe Reina | 136 | 297 |
45.79% |
Liverpool FC (134 appearances), Aston Villa FC (2 appearances) | August 31, 1982 |
| 8 | Netherlands | Edwin van der Sar | 134 | 313 | 42.81% | Manchester United FC (92 appearances), Fulham FC (42 appearances) | October 29, 1970 |
| 9 | United States | Tim Howard | 132 | 399 | 33.08% | Everton FC (116 appearances), Manchester United FC (16 appearances) | March 6, 1979 |
| 9 | United States | Brad Friedel | 132 | 450 | 29.33% | Blackburn Rovers FC (77 appearances), Aston Villa FC (35 appearances), Tottenham Hotspur FC (14 appearances), Liverpool FC (6 appearances) | May 18, 1971 |
| 11 | Denmark | Peter Schmeichel | 128 | 310 | 41.29% | Manchester United FC (112 appearances), Manchester City FC (9 appearances), Aston Villa FC (7 appearances) | November 18, 1963 |
| 12 | England | Joe Hart | 127 | 340 | 37.35% | Manchester City FC (109 appearances), Birmingham City FC (10 appearances), West Ham United FC (4 appearances), Burnley FC (4 appearances) | April 19, 1987 |
| 12 | France | Hugo Lloris | 127 | 361 | 35.18% | Tottenham Hotspur FC (127 appearances) | December 26, 1986 |
| 14 | Republic of Ireland | Shay Given | 113 | 451 |
25.06% |
Newcastle United FC (89 appearances), Manchester City FC (14 appearances), Aston Villa FC (9 appearances), Blackburn Rovers FC (1 appearances), Stoke City FC (0 appearances) | April 20, 1976 |
| 15 | Finland | Jussi Jääskeläinen | 108 | 436 | 24.77% | Bolton Wanderers FC (89 appearances), West Ham United FC (19 appearances) | April 19, 1975 |
| 16 | Denmark | Thomas Sørensen | 107 | 364 | 29.40% | Aston Villa FC (46 appearances), Sunderland AFC (35 appearances), Stoke City FC (26 appearances) | June 12, 1976 |
| 17 | Brazil | Ederson | 102 | 217 | 47.00% | Manchester City FC (102 appearances) | August 17, 1993 |
1. Petr Čech (202 clean sheets)
Čech made 443 appearances across his Premier League career with Chelsea and Arsenal. Of which he registered a record clean sheet tally of 202. Thus the Czech shot stopper registered clean sheets in 45.60% of his Premier League matches.
The Blues legend won the Premier League golden glove in the 2004–05, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2015–16 seasons. Furthermore, he also lifted the Premier League trophies in the 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15 seasons.
2. David James (169 clean sheets)
David James has made a total of 572 appearances across five Premier League clubs. The clubs include Liverpool, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Manchester City and West Ham United. He is certain to have topped the list if his entire career had come within the Premier League era. He also played a considerable amount of games in the lower divisions and abroad.
Despite that, James has the most clean sheets registered by an Englishman in the Premier League era. He also stands 5th in the list of the most Premier League appearances.
3. Mark Schwarzer (151 clean sheets)
Next on our list is another foreign goalkeeper who made a mark in the English top flight. Schwarzer is undoubtedly an Australian and Premier League legend. However, it is only a matter of time before David de Gea surpasses his record. Disregarding the unlikely scenario that De Gea leaves old Trafford being unable to add five more clean sheets to his name.
Nevertheless, the Middlesbrough legend has amassed a whopping 151 clean sheets. He managed so across 514 appearances which is a record for a non-British player.
4. David de Gea (147 clean sheets)
De Gea is the first and only one of two active players in the top ten of this list. Furthermore, he is the only one currently employed at a Premier League club. The Spaniard has registered 147 Premier League clean sheets for Manchester United. Thus making him the only one club man, at least within England.
The goalkeeper has made 415 Premier League appearances. This puts his clean sheet ratio at 35.42%. The Spanish international has won the Premier League Golden Glove in the 2017–18, 2022–23 seasons. Furthermore, he also lifted the 2012–13 Premier League trophy.
Despite being at a rather young age of 32, for a goal keeper de Gea might need to find a new Premier League club, if he has to move up the ranks. Especially, considering the fact that Manchester United is in full swing looking for a replacement for the Spaniard.
5. David Seaman (141 clean sheets)
David Seaman is only the 2nd Englishman on this list. He is another player who played a bulk of his football outside the Premier League era. He was nearly 29 at the start of the Premier League era. An Arsenal legend, he played all but 19 games for the Gunner in the Premier League.
David Seaman won the equivalent of the Premier League Golden Glove in the 1993–94, 1998–99 seasons. He also won the Premier League title in the 1997–98, 2001–02 seasons.
6. Nigel Martyn (137 clean sheets)
Martyn is three years David Seaman’s junior. However, he is also unlucky to have missed out on his clean sheets added to the tally of the Premier League era. Him being loyal to a Crystal palace side that flip flopped between divisions also cost him a few clean sheets.
That being said, his best performances came for Leeds United. Before he could wind down his career at Everton. His 137 clean sheet puts his ratio at an impressive 36.83%.
7. Pepe Reina (136 clean sheets)
Reina is certainly among the most underrated footballers of this generation. With respect to this statistic, Reina played just eight seasons in England of the nine he was contracted to Liverpool for. This considering the fact that he is still going strong at the age of 40 for Villarreal is impressive.
Furthermore, Reina has by far the highest clean sheet ratio by any player in the top 15 of this list. This ratio comes out of 297 appearances in the Premier League. It will remain a situation of what if, had the Spaniard represented a club that competes for the title consistently in the Premier League.
In terms of current players, Hugo Lloris has the highest number of clean sheets. But it is safe to say he will not trouble the top five rank holders in this list. Ederson has a really good chance of troubling the top players. And so is Alisson who has not reached three figures. Łukasz Fabiański is another person approaching the 100 clean sheets club.
