Raya ranked behind seven keepers as Chelsea's Martinez tops charts

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David Raya has been ranked outside the top seven Premier League goalkeepers by Sofascore rating this season, with Chelsea's summer arrival Emi Martinez topping the list.

The Argentina international, a 2026 World Cup finalist, moved to Stamford Bridge and immediately displaced Robert Sanchez as Xabi Alonso's first choice. Chelsea have not kept a single clean sheet in the league and are conceding an average of 2.4 goals per game, yet Martinez's individual numbers have climbed to the top of the division.

The numbers behind the rankings

According to the Evening Standard, citing Sofascore's Premier League statistics, Martinez is averaging 4.5 saves per match — the highest figure of any goalkeeper in the competition so far. His average rating of 7.70 is also the best in the league.

That workload has been constant. Martinez made four saves in Chelsea's opening 4-3 win over Brighton, with the visitors registering six shots on target and creating four big chances. He then produced eight saves in the London derby against the defending champions, the highest total recorded by any goalkeeper on that Premier League matchday.

Raya, by contrast, is averaging 1.8 saves per game after five matches — less than half Martinez's figure. The context is significant: the Spaniard is operating behind a defence that has given up far fewer opportunities than Chelsea's, so the raw save numbers are not comparing like with like.

Raya's moments have still counted

The Arsenal number one has not been short of decisive contributions. His penalty save against Sunderland in September earned him an 8.8 Sofascore rating for the afternoon, with the platform crediting him with preventing 1.69 expected goals in that single match.

Ranked ahead of Raya in the goalkeeper standings are Walter Benitez, Martinez, Bart Verbruggen, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Konstantinos Tzolakis, Lukas Hornicek and Alisson — a list that features several shot-stoppers playing behind defences under considerably more pressure than Mikel Arteta's.

It is a familiar quirk of goalkeeping metrics. Save volume and rating systems tend to reward keepers who face a high number of shots, which can leave those behind organised defences with fewer opportunities to register standout numbers. Raya's two Premier League Golden Gloves were built on clean sheets rather than save counts.

For Chelsea, the early data points to a goalkeeper performing well despite the problems in front of him. The Standard notes that Martinez still has work to do to become a firm favourite at Stamford Bridge, but his statistics suggest the Blues have secured a highly effective keeper for a relatively modest fee.

For Arsenal, the metric that will matter most over the coming months is the one Raya has traditionally dominated — shutouts. With the campaign only five matches old, there is plenty of time for the numbers on both sides of London to shift.