Pagliuca: Emiliano Martinez is so underrated and the best goalkeeper in the Premier League

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is Gianluca Pagliuca's pick of the bunch in the Premier League.

Emiliano Martinez's Argentina will contest the World Cup final with France this afternoon to end a 36-year drought for the biggest prize in football.

The 30-year-old has been sensational at this World Cup by keeping three clean sheets in six games while saving Virgil Van Dijk and Steven Berghuis's spot-kicks against the Netherlands in the quarter-final.

And for Pagliuca, who reached the 1994 World Cup final with Italy in the States, one should look no further than the Aston Villa stopper when it comes to crowning the Premier League's best keeper.

He told Capital Football: "I like Emiliano Martinez.

"He is a very good keeper with great qualities but sadly very underrated.

"He’s only been an undisputed first-choice keeper for two years, before at Arsenal he was in and out of the starting line-up and he had to pay his dues.

"For me he is the best in the Premier League."

Will Martinez get one up on Pagliuca by succeeding where the Italian failed 28 years ago today?