London, May 5, 2026, 22:04 BST
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is guaranteed at least a share of the Premier League Golden Glove after Manchester City conceded three goals at Everton, leaving his 17 clean sheets beyond being beaten this season. The Golden Glove is awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets, meaning matches in which his team does not concede.
The timing matters because the same result also shifted the title race. City’s 3-3 draw at Everton left Arsenal five points clear at the top, with 76 points from 35 games, and put Mikel Arteta’s side in position to secure their first league title since 2004 if they win their final three matches.
Raya has kept 17 clean sheets in 35 league appearances, his best return in England’s top flight, the Premier League said. Gianluigi Donnarumma, City’s goalkeeper and Raya’s only remaining challenger, can still share the award but would need four straight clean sheets while Raya concedes in each of Arsenal’s last three games.
It is Raya’s third successive Golden Glove. Premier League analyst Adrian Clarke wrote that the Spaniard had been “outstanding throughout this season,” and the award puts him one short of the competition’s career record of four. Premier League
The trigger came at Hill Dickinson Stadium, not at the Emirates. Everton fought back from 1-0 down through two Thierno Barry goals and a Jake O’Brien header before Jeremy Doku’s 97th-minute strike rescued a point for City. “It’s better than losing. (But) it’s not in our hands,” Guardiola told Sky Sports, according to Reuters. Reuters
Arsenal’s case rests on more than Raya. The current table shows Arteta’s side have conceded 26 league goals, compared with City’s 32, and that defensive gap now sits beside a five-point lead with time running out.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said the next league game, away to West Ham on Sunday, now carries the look of a title hinge. “If Arsenal win against West Ham next Sunday, they win the league,” Carragher said on Monday Night Football. Sky Sports
But the clean-sheet race is not entirely closed, and neither is the title race. Donnarumma can still force a shared Golden Glove in a narrow scenario, while Thierry Henry warned on Sky that “nothing is done” and told Arsenal: “Win your games.” Premier League
Raya’s run also gives Arsenal a rare individual marker in a season still being judged by the final league table. He now stands in the same three-year Golden Glove company as Joe Hart and Ederson, both linked with City’s dominant years, while Arsenal chase the team prize that has eluded them for more than two decades.
For now, the mathematics are plain. Raya cannot be overtaken. Arsenal can still be caught, but City need help, and the latest clean sheet race has already told part of the story: Arsenal have made not conceding look routine at the sharpest point of the season.
