Most Premier League Clean Sheets

Petr Cech holds the Premier League record for the most clean sheets, with 202, a milestone no other goalkeeper has ever reached. He built the total across two clubs, keeping 162 for Chelsea and a further 40 for Arsenal, and remains the only keeper in the competition’s history to pass the 200 mark.

A clean sheet is the goalkeeper’s defining currency, rewarding the shutouts that win titles and grind out results. Reaching a double-century of them demands not just brilliance but rare longevity as a first-choice keeper behind a consistently strong defense. Here is the full leaderboard of the Premier League’s greatest goalkeepers, the careers behind the numbers, and why Cech’s record is so secure. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Petr Cech and 202 clean sheets

Cech arrived at Chelsea in 2004 and immediately rewrote the record books, keeping 24 clean sheets in his debut season, a single-season Premier League record that still stands. Behind the miserly defenses of Jose Mourinho’s title-winning sides, he became the gold standard for goalkeeping in England.

His move to Arsenal in 2015 allowed him to push the career total to 202. The 162 clean sheets he kept for Chelsea alone are the most by any goalkeeper for a single club, a record within the record that underlines just how dominant his prime years were.

The full leaderboard of Premier League clean sheets

The table below ranks goalkeepers by total Premier League clean sheets.

Rank	Clean sheets	Goalkeeper	Main clubs
1	202	Petr Cech	Chelsea, Arsenal
2	169	David James	Various
3	151	Mark Schwarzer	Middlesbrough, Fulham
4	147	David de Gea	Manchester United
5	140	David Seaman	Arsenal
6	137	Nigel Martyn	Leeds, Everton
7	136	Pepe Reina	Liverpool
8	132	Brad Friedel	Blackburn, Aston Villa
8	132	Tim Howard	Manchester United, Everton
8	132	Edwin van der Sar	Fulham, Manchester United

The list features goalkeepers from across the Premier League era, from David Seaman and David James in the 1990s to David de Gea in the modern game, but Cech’s 202 stands more than 30 clear of the field.

David James, Schwarzer and the chasers

David James, second on the list with 169, is also the goalkeeper with the most Premier League appearances, a reminder that longevity is central to this record. Mark Schwarzer’s 151, compiled largely at Middlesbrough and Fulham rather than at a perennial title contender, is one of the more remarkable totals on the list. David de Gea’s 147, built almost entirely at Manchester United, leads the more recent generation. The team side of these shutouts feeds into our broader look at Premier League records.

Why longevity defines the record

Clean sheets accumulate slowly, one match at a time, which is why the leaderboard rewards keepers who stayed at the top for a decade or more. Appearance milestones and clean sheet totals go hand in hand, as our leaderboard of the most Premier League appearances shows. For a fuller explanation of the statistic itself, see our guide to the clean sheet in football.

Why the record matters

Goalkeeping rarely fills highlight reels the way scoring does, but clean sheets are the foundation of championship teams. Cech’s 202, earned over 15 years and two of the league’s biggest clubs, is the definitive measure of Premier League goalkeeping. With no active keeper close, it is one of the competition’s safest records.

The short version: Petr Cech holds the Premier League clean sheet record with 202, well ahead of David James (169) and Mark Schwarzer (151). As of the 2025 season, he remains the only goalkeeper to reach 200, and no current keeper is close to challenging the mark.