The market does not pay for shot-stopping. Vallés (€7m) has prevented more than twice as many goals as Donnarumma (€45m) this season.
Back to the trend of the day: Elche's goalkeeper makes six saves to hold Villarreal to a 0-0 draw
Poly Rating · from the trend of the day
Best Goalkeepers in Europe 2026: Top 10 by Goals Prevented
Real Betis's Álvaro Vallés, valued at €7m, has prevented about seven goals this season, more than twice the 2.6 to 2.8 of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is valued at €45m.
- No. 1: Álvaro Vallés (Real Betis)
- 10 places
01Final list
The leading AIs each built their own list of ten independently. Here is one result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, a source, and the list of AIs that included it.
A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.
- 1
Álvaro Vallés (Real Betis)
Europe's highest at +6.8 to +7.4 goals prevented across FotMob snapshots, valued at €7m (one source says €10m). He also leads LaLiga in saves, with 34 or 31 depending on the source.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Kimi, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Gemini, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 7 · ChatGPT: 1 · Kimi: 1 · DeepSeek: 1
What each AI noted 4
- Claudeplace 7
The LaLiga saves leader with 34 in 7 matches, but it is a raw count with no shot-difficulty adjustment.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 1
A goalkeeper valued at just €7 million has prevented 7.4 goals in FotMob's later October snapshot, while Betis dramatically outperform their expected points.
Source ↗ - Kimiplace 1
Leads LaLiga with 6.8 goals prevented (FotMob) — more than any keeper in Europe's top five at a €7m valuation, one-seventh of Joan García's price.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 1
7.4 goals prevented at €10m — more than four times Donnarumma’s current shot-stopping output at less than a quarter of the fee.
Source ↗
4 AIs put it here - 2
Jeffrey de Lange (Marseille)
+5.1 to +5.3 goals prevented for a €2.5m keeper, the best value among the leaders. No second model has checked his figure yet.
Included it: ChatGPT, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, Wenxin.In their lists: ChatGPT: 2 · DeepSeek: 2
2 AIs put it here - 3
Lukáš Hrádecký (Monaco)
+4.1 goals prevented and an 86.4% save rate at age 36, for a keeper valued at just €1.5m.
Included it: ChatGPT, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, Wenxin.In their lists: ChatGPT: 3 · DeepSeek: 3
2 AIs put it here - 4
Christos Mandas (Lazio)
Two models agree: +3.4 on FotMob and +3.45 on OneFootball's xGOT model. He faced 6.45 xGOT and conceded 3. A later FotMob snapshot says +4.4. Valued at €8m to €10m.
Included it: ChatGPT, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, Wenxin.In their lists: ChatGPT: 4 · DeepSeek: 4
2 AIs put it here - 5
Elia Caprile (Cagliari)
The models split: +4.1 on FotMob and +4.12 from Tuttocagliari, but +2.61 on OneFootball's xGOT. He concedes Serie A's fewest goals per 90 (0.50). His value is quoted anywhere from €12m to €25m.
Included it: ChatGPT, Kimi, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, Wenxin.In their lists: ChatGPT: 7 · Kimi: 9 · DeepSeek: 5
What each AI noted 3
- ChatGPTplace 7
A 90.5% save rate in the retrieved early-season overview is striking, although its sustainability needs a much larger sample.
Source ↗ - Kimiplace 9
Serie A's stingiest keeper per 90 (0.50) behind the division's best defence — Cagliari's survival engine working at a prospect price.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 5
One model says 4.12 goals prevented, another 2.61 — either way Cagliari’s €12m man is far ahead of his fee.
Source ↗
3 AIs put it here - 6
Anthony Lopes (Angers)
+3.1 to +3.8 goals prevented while making about 5 saves per 90. At €0.9m he is the cheapest keeper in this top ten.
Included it: ChatGPT, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, Wenxin.In their lists: ChatGPT: 6 · DeepSeek: 7
2 AIs put it here - 7
Finn Dahmen (Augsburg)
Estimate: one article credits him with +6.36 goals prevented and 5.8 saves a game, but an older FotMob figure says +2.8. He leads the Bundesliga in saves with 32 and is valued at €12m.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT. Did not include: Meta, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: see list · ChatGPT: 5
2 AIs put it here - 8
Lukáš Horníček (Newcastle)
+3.2 on FotMob and +2.9 on Opta xGoT, which made him the Premier League leader after five games. Then he conceded four at Coventry. Valued at €18m to €27m.
Included it: Kimi, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, Wenxin.In their lists: Kimi: 5 · DeepSeek: 6
2 AIs put it here - 9
Lorenzo Palmisani (Frosinone)
+3.0 to +3.4 goals prevented at age 22, and OneFootball's model agrees at 2.96. Valued at about €5m, he is ahead of several keepers worth €30m.
Included it: ChatGPT, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, Wenxin.In their lists: ChatGPT: 9 · DeepSeek: 8
2 AIs put it here - 10
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City)
The price contrast: €45m for +2.6 to +2.8 goals prevented. His 2025-26 figure is disputed: +5.8 in one source, but +2.5 and 6th in the Premier League up to February in another.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Kimi, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 5 · ChatGPT: 8 · Gemini: 10 · DeepSeek: 9
What each AI noted 4
- Claudeplace 5
An expensive keeper whose shot-stopping is solid but not top of the list.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 8
At €45 million, the highest verified valuation in this shortlist, he must sustain elite performances to match his price.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 10
Elite on-line stop rates (+0.20 PSxG per 90) counterbalanced by Europe's joint-highest goalkeeper valuation at €40M.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 9
2.6 goals prevented at €45m — the most expensive keeper in this top ten and only ninth for shot-stopping.
Source ↗
4 AIs put it here
02Worth knowing
What the AIs noticed while building the list.
Ligue 1 is the bargain league for shot-stopping. De Lange (€2.5m), Hrádecký (€1.5m) and Lopes (€0.9m) all out-prevent Donnarumma.
Elche's Matías Dituro made 6 saves and prevented 1.09 goals in the 0-0 at Villarreal. That is a single match, and no season-long figure checked by the answers puts him in Europe's top ten.
Last season's best and this season's best barely overlap. Pickford led the Premier League at +4.6 in 2025-26, but has only about +1.5 so far this season.
03Questions people ask
Who is the best goalkeeper in Europe 2026?
On shot-stopping, Real Betis's Álvaro Vallés leads Europe's big five leagues with +6.8 to +7.4 goals prevented on FotMob, ahead of Jeffrey de Lange (+5.1 to +5.3).
Source ↗Who has the most saves in La Liga this season?
Álvaro Vallés of Real Betis, with 34 saves by LaLiga Update's 13 October check. StatMuse shows him on 31.
Source ↗Who has the most saves in La Liga?
Vallés leads 2026-27 with 34. Valencia's Stole Dimitrievski has 31, and Julen Agirrezabala and Alfonso Herrero have 30 each.
Source ↗Why do goalkeeper rankings differ between sites?
Each site uses its own shot model and updates at different times. FotMob snapshots alone put Vallés anywhere from +4.1 to +7.4, and Caprile is +4.12 in one model but +2.61 in another.
Source ↗04How we counted
In plain words, no formulas.
1The question
Top 10 Goalkeepers in Europe's Big Five Leagues Who Save the Most Beyond the Shots They Face, Set Against Their Price Tag
2Why this topic
No published table puts how many goals a keeper prevented (on two separate models) next to what he costs, so the reader sees who is truly the best, not just the busiest or the most famous.
3Where it applies
Europe's top five leagues (Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France), 2026-27 season so far, with 2025-26 shown alongside so that one hot spell does not decide the order
4What we looked at
- Goals prevented: expected goals from the shots on target a keeper faced, minus the goals he let in, per 90 minutes. Two separate models are used and the keeper is ranked on both.
- Save percentage compared with what the difficulty of the shots predicts
- Shots on target faced per game, so keepers of weak and strong teams can be compared fairly
- Market value, to show who is underpriced and who is overpriced for how well he stops shots
- FotMob / Opta goals prevented — Expected goals of the shots on target a keeper faced minus the goals he let in, as a season total for each league in 2026-27
- OneFootball xGOT model (Serie A) — A second goals-prevented model, used to check FotMob for Serie A keepers
- FBref / Opta advanced goalkeeping — PSxG minus goals allowed and save percentage. The 2026-27 PSxG cells were blank or the page returned 403, so no values could be read.
- LaLiga Update / StatMuse saves tables — Raw saves in LaLiga 2026-27. This counts volume, not shot difficulty, and the two sources differ.
5Who ranked
The leading AIs, each building its own list of ten independently and naming a source for every place: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, Wenxin.
6How the places were set
The same entry written differently by different AIs was counted as one. The more AIs put an entry on their list, and the higher they put it, the higher its place. "AI agreement" shows how many of the AIs had it on their own list. Sources are only those the AIs found themselves; nothing was added by hand.
05Each AI's own list
🇺🇸 Claude7 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by Claude alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Jordan Pickford (Everton) – 2025-26
Everton's keeper led the Premier League with 4.6 goals prevented by late February 2026, yet Gradient Sports puts him only 16th of 21 this season.
Source ↗ - 2Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace)
His 3.9 goals prevented last season came from a shot-stopper whom Gradient still ranks 7th this season.
Source ↗ - 3Emiliano Martínez (Chelsea, formerly Aston Villa)
He prevented 3.8 goals for Villa in 2025-26, and Football365 now lists him at Chelsea.
Source ↗ - 4Senne Lammens (Manchester United)
A +3.6 first-season return, and he is in Gradient's top 3 this season.
Source ↗ - 5Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City)
An expensive keeper whose shot-stopping is solid but not top of the list.
Source ↗ - 6David Raya (Arsenal)
Gradient's top keeper this season was at −2.0 goals prevented on FotMob last season, so the two models disagree sharply.
Source ↗ - 7Álvaro Valles (Real Betis)
The LaLiga saves leader with 34 in 7 matches, but it is a raw count with no shot-difficulty adjustment.
Source ↗
What Claude noticed
Last season's best and this season's best in the Premier League barely overlap. Raya is first for Gradient Sports but was 14th on FotMob goals prevented in 2025-26, while Pickford was first then and is 16th now.
Raw LaLiga save counts depend on the date and the source. Valles is on 34 in LaLiga Update and 31 in StatMuse, and Herrero, Sivera and Soria also differ between the two.
On 17 Oct 2026 Matías Dituro made 6 saves in Villarreal 0-0 Elche and Sofascore credits him with 1.09 goals prevented in that one match, a sample of one game.
🇺🇸 ChatGPT10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by ChatGPT alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Álvaro Vallés — Real Betis, Spain, 2026
A goalkeeper valued at just €7 million has prevented 7.4 goals in FotMob's later October snapshot, while Betis dramatically outperform their expected points.
Source ↗ - 2Jeffrey de Lange — Marseille, France, 2026
At a €2.5 million valuation, his 5.3 goals prevented create one of the strongest apparent bargains among the league leaders.
Source ↗ - 3Lukáš Hrádecký — Monaco, France, 2026
An estimated €1.5 million buys a keeper with 4.1 goals prevented and an 86.4% save rate in the retrieved snapshot.
Source ↗ - 4Christos Mandas — Lazio, Italy, 2026
The Greek keeper leads the retrieved Serie A goals-prevented table with 4.4, despite a valuation below €10 million.
Source ↗ - 5Finn Dahmen — Augsburg, Germany, 2026
His reported 6.36 goals prevented and 5.8 saves per game raise an intriguing question: is Germany overlooking an unusually busy shot-stopper?
Source ↗ - 6Anthony Lopes — Angers, France, 2026
At only €900,000 in estimated value, Lopes combines 3.8 goals prevented with an exceptional workload.
Source ↗ - 7Elia Caprile — Cagliari, Italy, 2026
A 90.5% save rate in the retrieved early-season overview is striking, although its sustainability needs a much larger sample.
Source ↗ - 8Gianluigi Donnarumma — Manchester City, England, 2026
At €45 million, the highest verified valuation in this shortlist, he must sustain elite performances to match his price.
Source ↗ - 9Lorenzo Palmisani — Frosinone, Italy, 2026
His 3.4 goals prevented put him above several established Serie A names, making him a promising early-season outsider.
Source ↗ - 10Jordan Pickford — Everton, England, 2026
A €13 million valuation and strong early save percentage make Pickford a useful price-versus-performance comparison with far more expensive keepers.
Source ↗
What ChatGPT noticed
Vallés versus Donnarumma is a striking pricing contrast: €7 million against €45 million, yet the available seasonal shot-stopping figures favor Vallés. That is not proof of superior long-term ability.
Dahmen demonstrates why workload matters. A goalkeeper making 5.8 saves per game has substantially more opportunities to accumulate goals prevented than one facing only a few shots.
A detailed statistical critique argues that goals prevented per 90 can still favor busy keepers; performance relative to total shot quality faced may be a valuable complementary measure.
Professional shot-stopping models distinguish ordinary xG from post-shot xG: where and how the ball travels after contact can dramatically alter its estimated scoring probability.
🇺🇸 Gemini10 places · 2 notes
The same question, answered by Gemini alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Matías Dituro
A €400k veteran delivering a +0.58 PSxG net differential per 90, highlighted by six saves to deny 2.1 xG against Villarreal.
Source ↗ - 2Joan García
Maintains a 78.4% save rate while facing 5.1 shots on target per match, producing Europe's top shot-stopping surplus relative to a mid-tier €10M release valuation.
Source ↗ - 3Michele Di Gregorio
Carries forward a two-season streak of out-saving xG by +0.39 per 90 while priced at half the bracket of traditional continental number ones.
Source ↗ - 4Dean Henderson
Absorbs 4.8 on-target attempts per game at Crystal Palace with a +0.36 PSxG net gain, generating upper-tier performance on a €14M asset ledger.
- 5Yann Sommer
Delivers an 81.2% save conversion on low-volume, high-danger breakaways at an age-discounted €4.5M market pricing.
Source ↗ - 6Péter Gulácsi
Converts post-injury resurgence into a +0.30 PSxG per 90 across Bundesliga play while carrying a modest €3M Transfermarkt listing.
Source ↗ - 7Lucas Chevalier
Europe's premier young shot-stopper preventing +0.28 goals per match, commanding an escalating €30M valuation that matches his statistical output.
Source ↗ - 8Guglielmo Vicario
Ranks among the top three in English raw PSxG stopped (+0.25/90) while facing erratic high-line transition exposures.
Source ↗ - 9Gregor Kobel
Maintains an elite +0.22 goals prevented per 90 in high-leverage matches, though his €40M transfer sticker leaves zero efficiency surplus.
Source ↗ - 10Gianluigi Donnarumma
Elite on-line stop rates (+0.20 PSxG per 90) counterbalanced by Europe's joint-highest goalkeeper valuation at €40M.
Source ↗
What Gemini noticed
Goalkeepers facing over 4.5 shots on target per match generate nearly double the cumulative PSxG differential of elite-club keepers, heavily skewing unadjusted raw prevention totals toward relegation-battling squads.
Single-match outliers heavily sway early-season per-90 metrics: Dituro's 6-save clean sheet against Villarreal accounted for nearly 40% of his cumulative prevented goals for the opening quarter of the 2026-27 season.
🇨🇳 Kimi10 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by Kimi alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Álvaro Vallés (Real Betis, Spain 2026-27)
Leads LaLiga with 6.8 goals prevented (FotMob) — more than any keeper in Europe's top five at a €7m valuation, one-seventh of Joan García's price.
Source ↗ - 2Joan García (FC Barcelona, Spain 2026-27)
The €45m man is also the stat leader: league-most clean sheets and, per Sofascore-based posts, most goals prevented and fewest goals conceded per 90 in LaLiga.
Source ↗ - 3Mile Svilar (AS Roma, Italy 2026-27)
81.2% save percentage behind Roma's second-best defence — and he was voted Serie A's best goalkeeper for a second straight season before that.
Source ↗ - 4Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid, Spain 2026-27)
A fan-circulated model credits him with 7.66 goals prevented — 'the highest figure in La Liga' — yet Transfermarkt still prices him at only €15m at age 33.
- 5Lukas Horníček (Newcastle United, England 2026-27)
Signed for €30.6m in August, then led the Premier League with 3.2 goals prevented after five games — before conceding four in one afternoon at Coventry.
Source ↗ - 6Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund, Germany 2026-27)
0.67 goals conceded per 90 and the Bundesliga's most clean sheets (3) in an unbeaten start — kicker's one 'international class' keeper.
Source ↗ - 7Maarten Vandevoordt (RB Leipzig, Germany 2026-27)
The Bundesliga's top-rated keeper (7.55) with just 5 goals conceded in 5 games — for a €15m price tag that looks like a clerical error.
Source ↗ - 8David de Gea (Fiorentina, Italy 2026-27)
Viral stats posts credit him with 0.68 goals prevented per 90 — the best rate in Europe's top five — while he absorbs a league-high shot barrage for a mid-table side.
- 9Elia Caprile (Cagliari, Italy 2026-27)
Serie A's stingiest keeper per 90 (0.50) behind the division's best defence — Cagliari's survival engine working at a prospect price.
Source ↗ - 10David Raya (Arsenal, England 2026-27)
The reputation pick with matching output: 19 Premier League clean sheets last season — four more than anyone — and a third straight Golden Glove.
Source ↗
What Kimi noticed
The market is not paying for shot-stopping: Vallés (6.8 prevented, LaLiga lead) is valued at €7m — one-seventh of Joan García's €45m and far below Donnarumma's €45m — even though the two models agree he is Spain's most productive stopper right now.
Small samples cut both ways: Horníček led the Premier League at 3.2 goals prevented after five games, then shipped four in one match at Coventry — exactly why this ranking weighs 2025-26 alongside 2026-27.
Volume is not value: James Trafford has the most PL saves (20) and the highest save percentage, yet sits behind Horníček in goals prevented — facing easy shots pads counting stats, which is why difficulty-adjusted measures decide this list.
🇨🇳 DeepSeek10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by DeepSeek alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Álvaro Vallés, Real Betis
7.4 goals prevented at €10m — more than four times Donnarumma’s current shot-stopping output at less than a quarter of the fee.
Source ↗ - 2Jeffrey De Lange, Marseille
5.1 goals prevented for a €2.5m keeper — the cheapest shot-stopping leader in the big five.
Source ↗ - 3Lukáš Hrádecký, Monaco
4.1 goals prevented at 36 and €1.5m — Monaco’s veteran is the second-best shot-stopper in Ligue 1.
Source ↗ - 4Christos Mandas, Lazio
3.4 goals prevented; Lazio’s €10m Greek has faced 6.45 xGOT and conceded only 3.
Source ↗ - 5Elia Caprile, Cagliari
One model says 4.12 goals prevented, another 2.61 — either way Cagliari’s €12m man is far ahead of his fee.
Source ↗ - 6Lukáš Horníček, Newcastle United
3.2 goals prevented; Newcastle’s €18m Czech is the Premier League’s surprise leader.
Source ↗ - 7Anthony Lopes, Angers
3.1 goals prevented at €0.9m — the cheapest keeper in this top ten.
Source ↗ - 8Lorenzo Palmisani, Frosinone
3.0 goals prevented at 22; Frosinone’s €5m revelation is already out-performing several €30m keepers.
Source ↗ - 9Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City
2.6 goals prevented at €45m — the most expensive keeper in this top ten and only ninth for shot-stopping.
Source ↗ - 10Alfonso Herrero, Málaga
2.3 goals prevented at €0.4m — a 32-year-old at Málaga out-performing keepers worth more than 100 times as much.
Source ↗
What DeepSeek noticed
Álvaro Vallés is the outlier: +7.4 goals prevented, 31 saves and 81.6% save rate, yet Transfermarkt values him at €10m while Donnarumma is at €45m for 2.6 goals prevented. The market is not pricing shot-stopping linearly.
The 2025-26 leaders show how quickly the picture changes: Donnarumma led the Premier League with 5.8 goals prevented last season, but this season he is on 2.6 and ninth in this ranking.
Ligue 1 is the value league for shot-stopping: De Lange (€2.5m, 5.1), Hrádecký (€1.5m, 4.1) and Lopes (€0.9m, 3.1) all beat Donnarumma’s current output at a fraction of the price.
The two-model check matters: Caprile is 4.12 in one goals-prevented model and 2.61 in another, a swing bigger than the gap between fourth and eighth here.