‘He should not play today ‘: Mikel Arteta told he must not play ERROR PRONE £60m Arsenal player vs Man United today to avoid stories that touch – Not KAI HAVERTZ
Pundit Tony Cascarino has suggested that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could drop Aaron Ramsdale for David Raya against Manchester United.
Cascarino was speaking on TalkSPORT (3/9 7:55am) ahead of a huge Premier League clash.
Both teams have started the season well in terms of points without necessarily convincing with their performances.
Mikel Arteta wouldn’t have been pleased to drop two points against Fulham last weekend.
They dominated possession and created plenty of chances but didn’t really test Bernd Leno.
Two lapses in concentration at the beginning and end of the game was all Fulham needed to score their two goals.
The first goal in particular was very sloppy with Bukayo Saka playing Andreas Pereira through on goal.
Andreas Pereira took full advantage and wrong-footed Aaron Ramsdale from long range.
Cascarino now believes Arteta could spring a surprise and start David Raya over Ramsdale today.
He doesn’t believe the Spanish international was signed to be the £30m goalkeeper’s backup this season.
Cascarino backs Raya to start over Ramsdale today
Talking about the goalkeeper situation, Cascarino said: “This is only my gut feeling, I’m not sure, but do you think he’ll play [David] Raya today?
“I’m not so sure. I’ve got a sneaky feeling you might see a surprise in goal today.
“And I don’t know anything, the goal they conceded when [Bukayo] Saka lost the ball, [Aaron] Ramsdale gets caught out a little bit out of position early doors.
“Yeah, there’s something in me that thinks when he bought him and talked about equal number ones, I just kept thinking, Raya’s your number one.
“I kept thinking you’ve used that to say they’re both number ones but I’m just not convinced.”
It would be a surprise for Cascarino’s prediction to come true and Raya to replace Ramsdale.
The 25-year-old hasn’t done an awful lot wrong this season but will know he’s under pressure from a very strong competitor.
It will be interesting to know how many minutes Raya has been promised by Arteta this season.
It’s unlikely he would have agreed on the move to sit on the bench at the Emirates all season.
Both goalkeepers will be hoping to make their Champions League debuts later this month.