The 10 PL players with the most errors leading to goals since 2017

There can be little more embarrassing for a Premier League footballer than an error that leads directly to an opposition goal – and these 10 players have been made to blush on more than one occasion.

With numerous camera angles, 24/7 punditry and groups of screaming hyenas on social media, any player making a potentially match-defining mistake is sure to be placed under heavy scrutiny.

Using statistics from the Premier League website, we've looked at the 10 players who've made the most mistakes leading to opposition goals in the English top-flight since the start of 2017-18.

=10. Petr Cech – 6

Cech is a Premier League legend but was very much at the tail end of his career when making six clangers for Arsenal in 2017-18. No wonder they replaced him with Bernd Leno immediately after the season concluded.

=10. Ben Foster – 6

The full-time Go-Pro wearer has rarely played in sides that were anything other than relegation fodder and the relentless barrage of opposition attacks perhaps makes mistakes inevitable.

Foster has made six during the last five years, encompassing spells with West Brom and Watford.

=10. Ederson – 6

Yes, Ederson is arguably the best goalkeeper in the word. Some of those long-range passes he regularly pings about the Etihad are filthier than a miner's shovel.

But the Manchester City custodian isn't immune from dropping the odd b*llock or two. Well, six to be precise over his five seasons in England.

=8. Cedric Soares – 7

We get to our first outfield player on this list and who is surprised to find that he plays for Arsenal? Nobody? Good.

Soares' tally of seven errors that directly led to an opposition goal also includes two-and-a-half seasons at Southampton before his 2020 move to the Emirates, where Arsenal regulars greet his inclusion on the team sheet with a world-weary sigh.

=8. Granit Xhaka – 7

Not content with being a red card magnet, Xhaka has also made the joint-most errors from an outfield player that led to his side conceding.

The Switzerland international brings plenty of energy, endeavour and the odd flash of brilliance to the Arsenal midfield but Mikel Arteta must surely realise that a replacement for Xhaka is needed sooner rather than later.

READ: Remembering the five times Granit Xhaka has been sent off for Arsenal

=6. Alisson – 8

The two best sides in the Premier League – Liverpool and Manchester City – have the best two goalkeepers. That is unquestionable.

But Alisson has made two more goal-costing errors than his Brazilian counterpart, each one causing Jurgen Klopp to gurn angrily on the touchline.

The Liverpool shot-stopper has saved his side on numerous occasions in the past and has helped transform the Reds backline into an intimidating force. And at least he's not Loris Karius…

=6. Bernd Leno – 8

Arsenal's replacement of Cech in the summer of 2018 went about as well as Unai Emery's time in charge at the Emirates.

Although Leno's career in England began well, a combination of lost confidence and playing behind a shambolic defence saw the number of errors begin to creep up. He was replaced by Aaron Ramsdale in the starting XI for the 2021-22 season.

“It was a setback and a bitter moment. But that's sport, you have to accept that. It wasn't easy, but I couldn't feel sorry for myself, I wanted to attack again immediately,' Leno said in an interview with SPOX and GOAL in April 2022.

“I don't want to say I was a pawn, but when the results aren't right, sometimes things happen quickly in football. The coach wanted to set a new impulse – and then the results came.

“That was bitter for me, because I had held up well before that.”

=4. David de Gea – 9

De Gea has been one of United's standout performers during a miserable time in their history but the goalkeeper has made some pretty big howlers over the past five years.

Following a tricky start to his Manchester United career, the goalkeeper went on to establish himself as one of the best in the world, winning the club's Player of the Year award four times.

His errors have attracted criticism from some United legends. “I'm shocked at that goal,” Roy Keane told Sky Sports during United's 1-1 draw with Tottenham in 2020. “I watched a lot of football down the years and I can't believe they have given away that goal.

“I would be fining him at half-time, there is no getting away from that. I would be swinging punches at that guy. An established international goalkeeper? I am flabbergasted.”

But, after a rocky couple of seasons, he's seen off the challenge of Dean Henderson to retain possession of the No. 1 jersey at Old Trafford.

=4. Martin Dubravka – 9

After joining Newcastle United in January 2018, Dubravka became one of their steadiest performers and won the club's Player of the Year award in 2019-20.

It remains to be seen whether Eddie Howe will buy a new goalkeeper with his lottery winnings this summer but the Slovakia international's nine errors may come into his thinking.

=2. Asmir Begovic – 10

Despite making just 64 appearances in the Premier League since the start of 2017-18, Begovic has still made 10 errors leading to opposition goals.

The Bosnia & Herzegovina goalkeeper made his mistakes while playing for Bournemouth under Eddie Howe and the most error-prone keeper in Premier League history remains in the division at Everton.

=2. Hugo Lloris – 10

Lloris has been a wonderful servant for Tottenham Hotspur over the past decade, keeping goal with distinction during the best period of their modern history.

But the World Cup winner has still made 10 errors that led to opposition goals in the Premier League over the last four and a half years.

1. Jordan Pickford – 13

As he showed in Everton's recent victory over Chelsea, and for England, Pickford is capable of making some astonishing saves and his energy between the sticks appears infectious.

But he's made 13 errors leading to goals since 2017, including that mistake for Divock Origi's winner in the Merseyside derby in December 2018.

“Everyone hates you, for some reason, that's part of being an England player,” Pickford told the BBC in February 2020.

“I think the press and everybody, the punters – look at Gary Neville – they just want to come for England players.

“You have got to live with it, you have got to learn. I know what I am capable of and I know what I am good at.”