Ranking every Premier League No. 1 by ball-playing ability

A goalkeeper being good at football is quite important these days. Stopping the ball going into the back of the net is well and good, but if you can’t play out from the back you are not likely to excel at a top club.

Look at four-time Golden Glove winner Joe Hart. Pep Guardiola had one look at his ball-playing ability and said ‘No, thank you’.

We rank every Premier League’s starting goalkeeper by their ability to kick the ball well.

20) Fraser Forster (Southampton)

Sorry, Fraser. It had to be someone.

19) Tim Krul (Norwich)

Krul is extremely one-footed and has never been a great distributor. Great hair, mind.

18) Martin Dubravka (Newcastle)

I have watched a fair bit of Newcastle over the years and it is fair to say that Dubravka has failed to impress me with his ball-playing ability.

It is a surprise to some that the Geordies are looking to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer, but his distribution, passing and vision is not good enough for a team as rich and ambitious as Eddie Howe’s tricky Mags.

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17) Nick Pope (Burnley)

Pope actually leads the league in attempted long balls by a goalkeeper in 2021/22 but that is not too much of a surprise given how Burnley operate on a football pitch.

The England international is less than convincing with the ball – not helped by the Clarets’ style or his height – which could potentially hold him back from making the step-up to a bigger club.

16) Ben Foster (Watford)

Foster might be the best vlogging, cycling goalkeeper in the Premier League, but in terms of his actual goalkeeping and footballing skillset, the former England international is near the bottom.

In fairness to the 39-year-old, he is one of three GKs with a