The Golden Glove

The best goalkeepers in the land go head-to-head in an attempt to win our brand spanking new award!

Van der Sar continues to lead the way

First there was the Golden Shoe, then came the Golden Espadrille, and this season Soccer AM is proud to introduce the Golden Glove! Outfield players may grab most of the headlines, but at the heart of every great side there is a great goalkeeper. They are the final line of defence and are often worth as many points as a striker over the course of the season, but just who is the best? Here at Soccer AM, we think the men between the posts with the best clean sheets-to-games ratio should be recognised, which is why every week for the remainder of the season we will be revealing who, in our opinion, are the best goalkeepers in the land. To qualify, players must have played in at least half of their side's matches this season and only league games count.

The Golden Glove

They say clean sheets are like goals for the men between the sticks and if that really is the case then Edwin Van der Sar will be a very happy man. Not only do his Manchester United side top the Premier League table after their last-gasp win against Bolton, but they have now kept an incredible 11 clean sheets in a row. The 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium was the Dutch shot stopper's 14th shutout of the season and he has once again increased his lead over the chasing pack. Petr Cech, Jose Reina, Scott Shearer, Adriano Basso and Ben Hamer all dropped further behind after failing to keep the opposition out, while Mark Schwarzer and Luke Daniels drop out of the top ten completely. In their place comes Leicester City's David Martin and Millwall's number one David Forde. Martin, who is on loan from Liverpool, was in good form in the Foxes' 2-0 victory away to Yeovil, while Tranmere could find no way past Forde, despite having seven shots on target in their 1-0 defeat. The only other mover this week is Paddy Kenny, who is up two places into eighth, after Sheffield United beat Watford 2-0 to go fourth in the Championship.

PLAYER	TEAM	GOALS	GAMES	RATIO
Edwin Van der Sar	Man Utd	14	19	0.74
Petr Cech	Chelsea	11	20	0.55
Jose Reina	Liverpool	12	22	0.55
Scott Shearer	Wycombe	13	25	0.52
Adriano Basso	Bristol City	10	22	0.45
Ben Hamer	Brentford	10	23	0.43
Marcus Hahnemann	Reading	9	21	0.43
Paddy Kenny	Sheffield United	11	26	0.42
David Martin	Leicester City	8	19	0.42
David Forde	Millwall	10	24	0.42

* Accurate as of January 22nd