Raya’s shaky form leaves Arteta with goalkeeper conundrum ahead of Sevilla clash

Like last season, Arsenal have made an impressive start to the campaign: second in the Premier League and second in their UEFA Champions League group.

The Gunners, though, have gone through a few changes in terms of personnel on the pitch. Granit Xhaka is no longer in midfield, with his place taken by £105 million signing Declan Rice.

While Rice has hit the ground running, Kai Havertz, another big-money signing, has struggled and, therefore, has been in and out of the starting lineup.

The biggest change in the team, though, is in the goalkeeper department, where David Raya has usurped Aaron Ramsdale.

It’s a good thing to have two good players competing for one position, but it’s always controversial when goalkeepers are involved, especially when both are good enough to man the post.

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Shaky Raya under the spotlight

That's exactly what is happening at Arsenal, where Mikel Arteta has the uncomfortable task of choosing between Aaron Ramsdale, who hasn’t put a foot wrong since last season, and new signing David Raya.

Since replacing Ramsdale in the post, Raya has started Arsenal’s last five Premier League games. However, despite keeping three clean sheets in that period, his errors have also been glaring.

A goalkeeper confident with the ball at his feet, Raya was brought in to help Arsenal build better from the back. However, he has panicked under pressure, and it hasn’t yet come together for him.

The Spaniard gave the ball away several times against Manchester City but the Gunners still won the game. His shaky performance against Chelsea on Saturday, though, has once again put him under the spotlight.

Not only did Raya misplace several passes, but his position was also questionable when he was beaten by Mykhailo Mudryk from a newrly impossible angle. Raya nearly gifted Chelsea a third goal after playing the ball straight into the path of Cole Palmer, who squandered the opportunity to make it 3-0 for the Blues.

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Ramsdale or Raya against Sevilla?

Arteta has had to face several questions over Arsenal’s goalkeeper situation, and although he has tried to answer them honestly, such questions will keep coming.

Raya’s shaky form also leaves the Spaniard in a conundrum over which goalkeeper to start in Tuesday’s Champions League game against Sevilla.

The Arsenal boss has often defended Raya in front of the press, but Ramsdale is an England international and was the man in the post during Arsenal’s Premier League title charge last season.

If he’s going to be replaced, the person should be an upgrade. At the moment, though, Raya isn’t doing himself any good with his shaky form.

“Errors are part of football; mistakes happen from defenders, strikers and goalkeepers,” Arteta is quoted as saying by the Guardian ahead of the Sevilla clash.

“That’s the pressure of playing at a big club where you have to win, you have to be at your best level and you have someone alongside you who is pushing you every day.

The boss continued:

“If we go player by player and position by position, you will say to me: ‘What’s happening at left-back? What’s happening with the holding midfielder?’ That’s the beauty of the game and that’s the debate as well. And the fact that you have other options is going to make all that talk more frequent.”

With one win and one defeat in the Champions League thus far, Arsenal cannot afford to drop points against Sevilla on Tuesday.

Some fans, though, will be keenly following to see which goalkeeper starts against the Europa League holders. If it’s Raya again, he must seize the opportunity to repay the faith reposed in him by the manager.