Gianluigi Donnarumma impressed on his Premier League debut for Manchester City over the weekend, but another Italy goalkeeper in Guglielmo Vicario sits atop the clean sheet charts in England’s top flight.
Here is how the Italy internationals in the Premier League got on this weekend.
Donnarumma debut
Donnarumma made a positive impression at The Etihad during his first start for Man City following his €27m transfer from Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the summer transfer window.
Thrown in straight away for his first start in the Manchester Derby this weekend, Donnarumma earned rave reviews for his shot-stopping abilities against Ruben Amorim’s Man United. The highlight for the Italy captain came in the second half, with a wonderful, one-handed diving save to prevent Bryan Mbeumo within the area.
While Donnarumma is not best known for his ball-playing ability, like his Man City predecessor Ederson, there are few better on the planet when it comes to traditional goalkeeping values, ie. shot-stopping and commanding his area.
Donnarumma’s debut earned him an average rating of 8/10 from local outlets.
Vicario has best clean sheet record in Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur and Italy’s Guglielmo Vicario currently boast the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League after four matches.
Vicario started and kept another clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over West Ham in a London Derby over the weekend.
That was Vicario’s third clean sheet from four league matches so far this season, and he has only conceded once so far in the Premier League, which puts him level with Arsenal’s David Raya and Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson at the top of the charts in the race for the Premier League Golden Glove.
Fellow Italy international Destiny Udogie is still awaiting his first Premier League start of the 2024-25 campaign. He came into the season carrying an injury, and though he has come off the bench in the last two matches either side of the international break, he has dound it difficult to displace recent international Djed Spence, who has impressed in the Italian’s absence.
How the other Italy international got on in the Premier League this weekend
Italy international Riccardo Calafiori started at left-back once again as Arsenal picked up a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. He and his teammates are level with the aforementioned Tottenham and Crystal Palace with the best defensive records in the Premier League so far this season.
The former Bologna centre-back has now started four Premier League matches in succession, his longest run of consecutive starts in the league since leaving the Rossoblu last summer.
Sandro Tonali earned an average rating of 8/10 for his performance in Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend. The Italy star was involved in the build-up for debutant Nick Woltemade’s goal and earned praise for his positive passing and energy in the middle of the park.
Federico Chiesa once again came off the bench for a cameo appearance at the end of Liverpool’s 1-0 win away against Burnley. Giovanni Leoni, however, did not make the matchday squad on this occasion.
Nicolo Savona earned his Premier League debut sooner than expected, coming on as a first-half substitute for the injured Murillo, but he was not able to prevent the goals flooding in, as Arsenal went on to record a 3-0 victory.
Michael Kayode started in a 2-2 draw for Brentford against Chelsea in the West London Derby this weekend, Wilfried Gnonto appeared off the bench towards the end of Leeds United’s unfortunate 1-0 loss against Fulham, while Diego Coppola was once again an unused substitute for Brighton in their 2-1 loss against Bournemouth.