David Raya Settles All Arguments About His Status As Arsenal First-Choice Goalkeeper After Winning The Premier League Golden Gloves For 2023/24 Season.

 Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has now won the Premier League’s Golden Glove this season with three league games yet to conclude the 2023/24 season.

Raya has kept the ball out of the net 14 times in 29 Premier League games this season, and will become the first Arsenal goalkeeper to win the Golden Glove since Petr Cech in the 2015-16 season, keeping 16 clean sheets as the Gunners finished second in the Premier League.

It was confirmed on Friday night that the Spaniard's 14 clean sheet tally for the season cannot be beaten as his closest contender Jordan Pickford who is second on the list with 12 clean sheets conceded a goal in Everton's 1-1 draw against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

Calvert-Lewin's opener from the spot in the 24th minute was cancelled out by Elijah Adebayo’s 31st-minute goal for Luton, which was assisted by Gunners loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga and ended Pickford's chance of overtaking Raya in the standings. 

With two games now remaining for the Toffees, the England goalkeeper can only possibly achieve 14 clean sheets, which will equal Raya's total.

Raya can also ensure that he is the sole winner of the Golden Glove accolade if he can keep another clean sheet when the Gunners take on AFC Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium. A clean sheet will take the 28-year-old total to an unmatched 15 for the season.

Raya is currently on a season-long loan at Arsenal after joining from Brentford in August, with the option to make the move permanent.

The move brought about heavy criticism for the Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, as the North London club already had a settled English keeper in Aaron Ramsdale who had played all 38 of Arsenal's matches the previous season, keeping 14 clean sheets.

Despite Raya's underwhelming start to the season, with his lowest point coming after making two mistakes in Arsenal's last-gasp 4-3 win over Luton Town in December, Arteta still gave him the chance to establish himself as the club’s first choice in between the sticks ahead of Ramsdale who has had to settle for a place on the bench for the majority of the season.

From 'anxiety' to 'unity' - Raya has turned doubters into believers, It now seems that Arteta's decision has been justified with Raya recording the most clean sheets of any goalkeeper this season.

The Spaniard became a hero after saving two penalties during Arsenal’s shootout victory against Porto in the UEFA Champions League, helping his team into the quarter-finals after waiting for 14 long years since 2010 to get to that stage of the competition.

Since breaking into the Arsenal side in September, Raya has only missed two league matches this season when he was ineligible to face his parent club Brentford.

Ramsdale played in both those games with Arsenal winning the first 1-0 and the second 2-1

Arsenal have a brilliant chance of opening up a four-point gap on second-placed Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title. City take on Wolves at the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s 5.30pm kick-off.