Arsenal’s Almunia is now 1st in the FTBL ranking of goalkeepers in the English Premier League for the first time this season after yesterday’s 3:0 win over No. 4 Aston Villa. The game pushed out of Almunia’s Last Five the loss to Chelsea, which lead to a gain of 17.6 rating points.

Yet the Spaniard is still unlikely to end the year as the top keeper in the EPL. Despite trailing by 9.21 points at the moment, the former leader, Chelsea’s Petr Cech, has a huge potential for growth: his plank to beat in the game against Fulham is a negative -1 point, while Almunia will have to clear a bar of 14.6 points against Portsmouth. If Chelsea win and concede less than 1 goal, then Almunia will lose his top spot even if he keeps his slate clean in a win.