Arsenal: Jamie O’Hara must be having a laugh as he shares David Raya best in the world verdict
Arsenal fans will be seething with Jamie O’Hara after he left David Raya out of a list of the world’s top five goalkeepers on Wednesday.
The former Tottenham man was asked to name his list of world football’s leading goalkeepers on Sky Sports News on Wednesday morning, but he notably left the Gunners star out of his final reckoning, despite including Liverpool’s Alisson.
Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Everton hero Jordan Pickford were the other Premier League representatives in O’Hara’s top five, but the exclusion of Raya has raised plenty of eyebrows.
The 30-year-old’s total of 15 clean sheets in the league so far this season is the highest of any ‘keeper in the division, but that isn’t enough to convince O’Hara.
Raya starred for Arsenal in their 1-0 win over Sporting CP on Tuesday night, and O’Hara’s reasoning for the snub is simply laughable.
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VISIT THE ARSENAL MATCH HUBJamie O’Hara shares ridiculous Spain number one claim
O’Hara based his argument on the fact that Raya is not the number one goalkeeper for the Spanish national team, with Unai Simon often preferred between the posts in the big games.
However, that simply should not come into the equation when you look at Raya’s numbers in the domestic game in 2025-26.
| Stats | Raya | Alisson | Pickford | Donnarumma |
| Apps | 31 | 25 | 31 | 27 |
| Clean Sheets | 15 | 8 | 11 | 11 |
| Save Percentage | 69.4% | 65.1% | 71.1% | 72.7% |
| Saves per 90 | 1.61 | 2.24 | 2.77 | 2.37 |
| Goals Prevented | -0.88 | -2.55 | 5.13 | 2.29 |
| Goals Conceded per 90 | 0.71 | 1.2 | 1.13 | 0.89 |
The Arsenal star has conceded fewer goals per 90 minutes than every player on O’Hara’s list, and he is on course for his third successive Golden Glove in the Premier League.
The pundit went on to suggest that Raya’s individual performances should not be the held in the same regard because he has four top-quality defenders in front of him, but that argument is also arguably invalid given the number of times he has saved his team this term.
Raya proved against Sporting why he is one of the best shot-stoppers in the game at the moment, as he made five crucial interventions throughout the game to ensure that Mikel Arteta’s side went back for the second leg with a slender advantage.
The fact that O’Hara cannot see that is simply baffling, especially considering the plaudits that Raya has received from elsewhere this term.
Arsenal’s Champions League hopes intact because of Raya
Raya’s performance for Arsenal in their win away at Sporting was the best possible example of the decisive impact that he can have on games.
Arteta’s men laboured from start to finish in Lisbon in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, and it would have been a very different outcome had they not had Raya in goal.
He kept the Gunners’ hopes of European glory alive almost single-handedly throughout the first hour of the game, as they could have been facing a huge uphill battle without his efforts.
In the end, the North Londoners even brought the tie back to the Emirates Stadium with a lead, despite that looking like a distant possibility throughout the evening.
World-class goalkeepers pride themselves on keeping their teams afloat in the difficult moments, and that is exactly what Raya proved he could do yet again, showcasing exactly why O’Hara is so wrong with his claim.
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