Former Liverpool player Pepe Reina has been crowned the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League history – in terms of clean sheet percentage per game. Research by football magazine FourFourTwo reveals that in 285 Premier League matches for the Reds between 2005 and 2013 the Spaniard kept 134 shut outs – that’s a total of 47.02% of all his games. Such form earned Reina the Premier League’s Golden Glove award in each of his first three seasons at Anfield but was never selected for the PFA Team of the Year. His statistics are even more impressive when you consider that Liverpool’s average position throughout Reina’s time at the club was fifth and he never won the Premier League either – the rest of FourFourTwo’s top five won 16 English titles between them.
A hugely-popular figure with both team-mates and fans alike, Reina, nevertheless earned a reputation for being something of a nearly man.
An FA Cup and League Cup almost six years apart were his only major winners’ medals with the club while his time with the Spain team during a golden era that saw them collect a World Cup and two European Championships was largely confined to a role as an enthusiastic cheerleader and master of ceremony for celebrations as he played understudy to captain Iker Casillas.
However, his sparkling numbers for the Reds owe much to Rafael Benitez’s defensive solidity with Reina displaying the consistency to start 183 consecutive Premier League matches between the start of the 2007/08 campaign and a suspension in April 2012.
He takes his place head and shoulders above Premier League greats such as Petr Cech (45.68%); Edwin Van Der Sar (42.17%); Peter Schmeichel (41.29%) and David Seaman (40.70%).
The only other Liverpool goalkeeper on the list is Champions League winner Jerzy Dudek at 11 with figures of 127 games, 49 clean sheets (38.58%).
Now 36 and playing second fiddle to Italian wonderkid Gianluigi Donnarumma at AC Milan, perhaps the greatest indicator of Reina’s Anfield legacy is that it has arguably taken Liverpool some five years to find a potentially worthy successor to him – and that has cost some £65million in the shape of Brazil number one Alisson.
TOP 20 PREMIER LEAGUE GOALKEEPERS BY CLEAN SHEET PERCENTAGE
1) Pepe Reina – Games 285; Clean Sheets 134; 47.02%
2) Petr Cech – Games 440; Clean Sheets 201; 45.68%
3) Edwin Van Der Sar – Games 313; Clean Sheets 132; 42.17%
4) Peter Schmeichel – Games 310; Clean Sheets 128; 41.29%
5) David Seaman – Games 344; Clean Sheets 140; 40.70%
6) Carlo Cudicini – Games 161; Clean Sheets 64; 39.75%
7) Tomasz Kuszczak – Games 63; Clean Sheets 25; 39.68%
8) Manuel Almunia – Games 109; Clean Sheets 43; 39.45%
9) Bobby Mimms – Games 61; Clean Sheets 24; 39.34%
10) David De Gea – Games 241; Clean Sheets 94; 39.00%
11) Jerzy Dudek – Games 127; Clean Sheets 49; 38.58%
12) Joe Hart – Games 325; Clean Sheets 124; 38.15%
13) Thibaut Courtois – Games 126; Clean Sheets 48; 38.10%
14) Ed De Goey – Games 123; Clean Sheets 46; 37.40%
15) Nigel Martyn – Games 372; Clean Sheets 137; 36.83%
16) Jens Lehmann – Games 148; Clean Sheets 54; 36.49%
17) Wojciech Szczesny – Games 132; Clean Sheets 48; 36.36%
18) Mark Bosnich – Games 206; Clean Sheets 74; 35.92%
19) Hugo Lloris – Games: 209; Clean Sheets 75; 35.89%
20) Thomas Myhre – Games: 93; Clean Sheets: 33; 35.48%