Why David Raya’s Proactive Goalkeeping Won Arsenal the League

David Raya, Arsenal’s goalkeeper behind the 2026 title win

The Spanish goalkeeper details how loans, injuries, and coaching under Inaki Cana shaped him into Arsenal’s record-equalling shot-stopper.

With 19 clean sheets and the fewest saves per game in the Premier League, Raya redefined what modern goalkeeping looks like at Arsenal...

Spanish goalkeeper David Raya played a key role in Arsenal winning their first Premier League title in 22 years. During the final month of the season, he kept four clean sheets in a row, giving the team a strong foundation to secure wins.

Across the season, Raya recorded 19 clean sheets in 37 appearances. That tally matched the club record previously set by Arsenal legend David Seaman.

He shares a first name with his predecessor and plays for the same club, but his playing style is completely different. According to the statistics, he made only one mistake all season that led to a goal. He has also played every minute of the campaign.

His performance has been supported by the team’s defensive structure and discipline, qualities that his compatriot Mikel Arteta stresses.

Across those 37 matches, he averaged just 1.6 saves per game, the lowest average in the Premier League.

For example, in Monday’s match against Burnley, he did not make a single save. Arsenal are also the only team in the league that have not conceded a penalty all season.

The situation recalls Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Petr Cech, one of Raya’s predecessors at Arsenal. Cech still holds the league record for clean sheets in a season with 24 in 35 appearances during 2004/05.

Cech also had little to do during that campaign, and he said that made it harder to stay focused and perform at his best when it mattered.

“And that’s exactly Raya’s strength. He pulls off a brilliant save at the key moment, when it’s needed most, not when you’re leading 3-0. That’s exactly what you expect from a goalkeeper,” said legendary Gunners defender Nigel Winterburn in an interview for Flashscore.

The results back that up. Of Arsenal’s 25 wins, 14 came by a single goal, and eight finished 1-0, the scoreline often associated with Mourinho. In the last four rounds alone, Arsenal won three times by that margin.

Raya also stands out for how he organises the defence. Unlike many of his compatriots, he has no issue communicating in English.

He has lived in England for nearly half his life. Shortly before turning 17, he left his hometown of Barcelona. Thanks to a partnership between his then club Cornella and Blackburn, he moved to England.

He was sent on loan to amateur side Southport, where playing in the fifth tier gave Raya a tough first taste of senior football.

"I learned that nothing comes for free. At Blackburn, as a young player, they took care of everything for me, but here I realised I had to take care of myself. A big lesson - it opened my eyes,” he recalls in an interview for Arsenal’s club website.

He actually asked for the loan himself, feeling that playing for the youth team wasn’t enough. “Since I was a kid, I knew what I wanted to achieve and what I wanted to do. That was really important,” he explains.

The not-so-tall goalkeeper, at 184 cm, had a rough start. In his first four games for Southport, he conceded nine times, but he didn’t fall apart.

In the next six matches, he kept four clean sheets and helped the team reach the third round of the FA Cup. “We were knocked out by Derby County 1-0, with a penalty in the last minute,” he says.

In any case, the door to Blackburn’s goal was open for him. The club recalled him before the end of the season, and from the following year, he was their number one. Thanks to his experience in the lower leagues, he also learned the specifics of traditional British football.

19 clean sheets.

David Raya has tied the record for the most clean sheets by an Arsenal goalkeeper in a Premier League season.

He could set the outright record against Palace on Sunday.

Arsenal’s title was built from the back. pic.twitter.com/HftZFSc1sZ

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) May 20, 2026

“At every corner, every free kick, I’d get an elbow in every possible place,” he describes.

And it wasn’t just elbows. In a match against West Bromwich in 2018, he took a blow to the nose from an opponent’s foot that shattered the bones. He could not breathe, received an oxygen mask on the pitch, and after being taken to the hospital, doctors found the injury so severe that a bone fragment was nearly pressing against his skull.

The impact also caused severe swelling and facial damage. He finished the season wearing a protective mask, though unlike Cech, he could remove it. After the season, plastic surgeons gave him a new nose. The operation changed his appearance so much that fans do not recognise him in older photos.

David Raya has done the hard yards. pic.twitter.com/D8m4B6oCN2

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) May 6, 2026

He took time to adapt to aerial duels, but moving to Brentford helped him improve a lot in that area. He credits much of that progress to the club’s then goalkeeping coach, Inaki Cana, who was also key in bringing Raya to Brentford.

Both being from Catalonia, they became friends, and the goalkeeper later followed the coach to Arsenal.

“I changed a lot under his guidance. I used to rely on my reactions and wait on the line for a miraculous save. He taught me to be proactive and prevent shots from happening in the first place. That means coming off the line for crosses,” Raya explains.

Now 30, he has started working toward a coaching career. He has already earned a general UEFA B license and is studying for a specialised goalkeeping qualification. Winning the Premier League title has now cemented his status as one of the world’s best goalkeepers.

In one respect, though, he has been unlucky. Unai Simon has been Spain’s number one for a long time, and Raya has played only 12 matches for the national team. As a result, the new Premier League champion will likely watch the World Cup matches from the bench.