The best goalkeepers in the 2024/25 seasons in UEFA’s top five major leagues
are surprisingly not from the big teams.
The 2024/25 campaign is coming to an end with only two games left or fewer.
Some leagues have found their champions, such as the Premier League,
Bundesliga, and Ligue 1, whereas La Liga and the Italian Serie A have yet to
see the winners. The former might be determined soon, as Barcelona is already
leading seven points over their archrival, Real Madrid, on the table. However,
the latter has a more thrilling title race, as it could be decided through a
playoff, should Inter and Napoli share the same points.
In each league, the top scorer award definitely has more exposure than the
best goalkeeper. The former is often dominated by well-known names, whereas the
latter is quite the opposite. This season, for example, the goalkeepers from
the elite sides are barely named the best in the stats. In fact, most of them
are probably beyond the fans’ expectations. The best goalie in each domestic
league here is determined by the one with the top stats in making the saves,
not the number of clean sheets. Here are those unlikely five figures between
the sticks who could make a big move in the future.
Mark Flekken (Brentford)
The Dutch international is currently the best goalkeeper in the Premier
League statistically. His clean sheets record might not be the highest, with
Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels on the top. Yet, when it comes to the top saves,
Flekken is in the lead.
This season, the former Freiburg man has made 148 saves in 37 games in all
competitions with Brentford. It's the highest save record in the European top
five in the current campaign. Such top form helps his team sit in the top ten,
although The Bees once again fail to snatch one place in Europe.
Unfortunately, the 31-year-old shot stopper is not the first choice in the Netherlands
national team. He is only the understudy for Brighton’s Bert Verbruggen.
Flekken has only earned eight international caps so far.
Flekken’s contribution in his previous club did not go unnoticed either, as
he brought Freiburg to finish third in the 2021/22 season. Yet, his tale is not
always about gold and glory. The goalie who started off his senior career in
Germany instead of on his own home soil was once infamous for his ridiculous
blunder while playing for Duisburg in Bundesliga 2. He was conceded whilehaving a drink inside the goal line in the match versus FC Ingolstadt in February 2018.
|
Number of saves and appearance |
Top games (contribution) |
Rating (from Whoscored.com) |
|
144 saves in 35 games (2 Man of the Match) |
vs Nottingham Forest (A) 2-0 (5 saves & 1 assist) |
8.29 |
|
|
vs Man United (H) 1-2 (9 saves) |
8.26 |
|
|
vs Fulham (A) 1-2 (10 saves) |
7.87 |
Joan
Garcia (Espanyol)
The current Espanyol goalie has been in the spotlight this season following his top form. He topples all La Liga goalkeepers in the stats with 142 saves in total, despite the fact that his team is still at the lower table. Espanyol which just earned promotion to the top flight again last season is currently sitting 16th with 39 points or just five points shy of the red zone. It's still two rounds remaining in the Spanish top flight meaning that Garcia's side is still relatively not safe.
Nevertheless, he should not worry about his future as his current performance garners interest from the elite sides in Europe from Arsenal, Manchester City to Real Madrid and Barcelona. Garcia himself has decided to rule out his move to Camp Nou, meaning that with his €25 million release clause would likely be paid off by either their archrival or EPL sides easily.
Garcia made his senior
debut with Espanyol in the 2022/23 season. He only became the first choice in
Segunda Division in the last campaign. One of his memorable forms this season
was when he helped his team beat Los Blancos 1-0 at their home turf. Garcia
made seven saves in the game.
|
Number of saves and appearance |
Top games (contribution) |
Rating (from Whoscored.com) |
|
140 saves in 36 games (6 Man of the Match) |
vs Real Betis (A) 0-1 (10 saves) |
9.29 |
|
|
vs Celta Vigo (H) 2-0 (6 saves) |
8.73 |
|
|
vs Real Madrid (H) 1-0 (7 saves) |
8.34 |
Peter
Gulacsi (RB Leipzig)
The Hungarian shot stopper is the only name from the
elite team in this list. He managed to contribute 109 saves in 30 appearances in
Bundesliga. The 35-year-old goalie was even the man of the match while RB
Leipzig smashed Dortmund 2-0 and thumped the reigning champions, Bayer
Leverkusen 3-2 on the road. He made nine and eight saves respectively in both
games. Unfortunately, his side missed the European spot. They only sat seventh
in the final standings and could not even snatch one berth in UEFA Conference League.
Gulacsi’s peak form was rather dramatic as he wasn’t
in the top stats in the previous weeks. The former RB Salzburg man was still
behind Heidenheim’s Kevin Muller and Mainz’s Robert Zentner. Yet, his experience
at the top level eventually made the difference. Sadly, it was not enough to
boost Leipzig’s position.
Gulacsi began his professional career in England
when he joined Liverpool in 2008. Yet, he never made his debut for The Reds.
Instead, he was loaned out three times to the lower tier sides, Hereford
United, Tranmere Rovers and Hull City, before sealing his move to Austrian
giant in 2013. That was when he began to play regularly and switched sides to the
Bundesliga outfit.
|
Number of saves and appearance |
Top games (contribution) |
Rating (from Whoscored.com) |
|
109 saves in 30 games (2 Man of the Match) |
vs Leverkusen (A) 3-2 (8 saves) |
8.09 |
|
|
vs Dortmund (H) 2-0 (9 saves) |
9.59 |
|
|
vs Bremen (A) 0-0 (7 saves) |
8.59 |
Vanja
Milenkovic-Savic (Torino)
The Serbia international goalie has stolen the
spotlight this season as he toppled the in Serie A goalkeeping stats. He has
made 132 saves in 35 Serie A matches. The brother of Sergej, the ex-Lazio star,
contributed well as his team AC Milan and Atalanta 2-1, and held Juventus and
Fiorentina in a 1-1 draw. Unfortunately, Il Torro still sit eleventh with two
games left, which is unlikely for them to play in Europe next season.
The 28-year-old goalie had to spent time on loan
stints in Ascoli, Standard Liege and SPAL before cementing his place in Torino.
Ahead of 2014/15 season, the shot stopper with 19 international caps was in
fact on the verge of playing for EPL giant, Manchester United.
Sadly, his hope dashed as he did not receive work
permit to UK. Vanja were forced to ply his trade to return to his former side,
Vojvodina before signing for Poland’s Lechia Gdasnk in 2015.
He was named in EURO 2024 squad but did not feature
in a single game during the tournament. Such was quite the opposite of 2022
FIFA World Cup, in which he played in all three games at the group stage.
|
Number of saves and appearance |
Top games (contribution) |
Rating (from Whoscored.com) |
|
132 saves in 35 games (6 Man of the Match) |
vs Atalanta (H) 2-1 (8 saves) |
8.96 |
|
|
vs AC Milan (H) 2-1 (7 saves) |
8.87 |
|
|
vs Atalanta (A) 1-1 (9 saves) |
8.39 |
Yahia Fofana (Angers)
He is the youngest one on the list. The Paris-born
goalkeeper is the mainstay in Angers, one of the relegation strugglers this
season but managed to keep his side on safety in the top tier. They finished in
the lower table and Yahia made 136 saves in only 33 Ligue 1 games.
The 24-year-old Ivorian international has been part
of Angers’ squad in the 2022/23 season. Initially, he was only Paul Bernardoni’s
understudy. They were sitting at the bottom of the table at that time but instantly
returned to the top flight as Yahia sealed his place in the first team.
The former Le Havre man was named in France national
team youth side before switching sides to Ivory Coast. 2024 AFCON was his first
major tournament and Yahia’s form was instrumental in helping his nation
clinching their title in the competition.
|
Number of saves and appearance |
Top games (contribution) |
Rating (from Whoscored.com) |
|
136 saves in 33 games (2 Man of the Match) |
vs Auxerre (H) 2-0 (4 saves) |
7.99 |
|
|
vs PSG (A) 0-1 (5 saves) |
7.61 |
|
|
vs PSG (H) 2-4 (8 saves) |
7.59 |
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