ISL: FC Goa, Mumbai City or Bengaluru FC – which team has the most number of clean sheets in ISL?

After three points, if there is anything that a football manager demands from his players, it is, more often than not, a clean sheet. And it is no different in the Indian Super League (ISL) as well. Nevertheless, keeping a clean sheet is an arduous task as almost all teams have an attack that is led by accomplished finishers. 

But at the same time, teams have equally able goalkeepers in Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who can single-handedly change the complexion of a match with their outstanding shot-stopping skills.

Indians dominate in the goalkeeping department and in the top 10 list, we have only one foreigner in Edel Bete who plied his trade for ATK FC, Chennaiyin FC and then FC Pune City. But before we find out which keeper has the most clean sheets, let us take a look at the club that has been the most consistent in defence over the years. 

*There have been some late entrants in ISL and hence those clubs have played lesser games. Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC joined in the 2017-18 season. Odisha FC and Hyderabad FC came into being from the 2019-20 season. Whereas, SC East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan became a part of the league from the previous edition in 2020-21. 

RANK	CLUB	GAMES PLAYED	CLEAN SHEETS	CLEAN SHEET %
1.	Mumbai City FC	123	44	35.77%
2.	Chennaiyin FC	127	34	26.77%
3.	FC Goa	130	33	25.38%
4.	NorthEast United FC	120	32	26.66%
5.	Bengaluru FC	82	30	36.58%
6.	Kerala Blasters	122	30	24.59%
7.	Jamshedpur FC	74	22	29.72%
8.	ATK Mohun Bagan	23	10	43.47%
9.	Hyderabad FC	38	8	21.05%
10.	Odisha FC	38	5	13.15%
11.	SC East Bengal	20	3	15%

As far as individual performances are concerned, three keepers are tied at the top with maximum clean sheets. However, Bengaluru FC’s Gurpreet Singh Sandhu edges out the previous season’s Golden Glove winner Arindam Bhattarcharya with a better percentage.

Credit must be given to the defenders as well who have shielded these keepers. Former Bengaluru FC defender Juanan had been one of the most consistent performers and he was ably supported by the likes of Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran over the years.

Similarly, Bhattacharya who has played most of his matches for ATK and then the merged entity of ATK Mohun Bagan has had the luxury of getting the services of sturdy defenders like Augustin Garcia and Pritam Kotal in front of him. Even youngsters like Sumit Rathi had stepped up when called into action. In fact, the youngster was also adjudged as the Emerging Player of the Season for his consistent performances during ATK’s title-winning season in 2019-20. Moreover, Antonio Habas’ sides are known for their defensive organisation and that’s a bonus for any keeper. 

Amrinder Singh has an equal number of clean sheets to that of Sandhu and Bhattacharya but has taken more games to get that to number. He had spent five seasons with Mumbai City FC and has played 82 games for the Islanders keeping 28 clean sheets.

Let us now take a look at the top 10 keepers with the most number of clean sheets in ISL. 

RANK	PLAYER NAME	GAMES PLAYED	CLEAN SHEETS	CLEAN SHEET %
1.	Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	77	29	37.66%
2.	Arindam Bhattacharya	79	29	36.70%
3.	Amrinder Singh	95	29	30.52%
4.	Subrata Paul	95	28	29.47%
5.	TP Rehenesh	81	23	28.39%
6.	Vishal Kaith	61	17	27.86%
7.	Karanjit Singh	49	13	26.53%
8.	Subhasish Roy	53	13	24.52%
9.	Edel Bete	35	11	31.42%
10.	Laxmikant Kattimani	59	11	18.64%