Na former England striker Darren Bent come out talk strong talk wey concern Arsenal goalkeeper matter. The man wey dey support Arsenal say head coach Mikel Arteta no suppose use Kepa Arrizabalaga again for this season remaining matches. Him talk say David Raya na the main man wey suppose dey inside goal from now till season end.
This talk come after Arsenal bounce back from two losses wey dem suffer. Dem lose to Manchester City for Carabao Cup final before international break, then Championship side Southampton beat dem 2-1 for FA Cup last Saturday. But Tuesday night, Kai Havertz score one goal give Arsenal 1-0 win over Sporting CP for Champions League quarter-final first leg.
For that Sporting match, Raya come back to starting lineup after Kepa start the last two games. Bent wey dey talk for talkSPORT radio say him no wan see Kepa for goal post again this season. “Stop playing Kepa,” Bent yarn clear. “Kepa again this season. As a back-up, perfect. But David Raya, between now and the end of the season, has to play every single minute.”
The pundit talk say even if Arsenal destroy Sporting for second leg next week, him still need Raya for goal. “Play him from now in every game until the end of the season,” Bent insist.
Bent also talk about other Arsenal players wey perform below standard for Southampton match. Him mention Cristhian Mosquera wey sometimes don show good performance when William Saliba dey injured, but look nervous against Southampton. Gabriel Magalhaes too look anxious without Saliba beside am.
But the main talk na about Gabriel Jesus. Bent wonder why Arsenal still dey try with the striker. “I mean, I don’t know why we keep trying,” Bent talk. “I could’ve told you, it’s not worked for like three years and yet we’re still… I know you’ve got to give players minutes but that’s not working.”
Only Max Dowman get Bent small praise for that Southampton match. “He’s got a little bit about him,” Bent talk about the young player.
Meanwhile, for other football news wey come out from the sources, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard talk say him dey miss Luis Diaz. The Colombian winger help Liverpool win Premier League title last season before Bayern Munich buy am for £65.5 million last summer.
Gerrard talk for TNT Sports say him go welcome Diaz back to Liverpool any day. “I wouldn’t mind Diaz back as well. I’m missing him, I’m missing him,” Gerrard yarn with feeling.
But Gerrard former teammate Jamie Carragher talk say Liverpool do correct thing to sell Diaz. Carragher talk for CBS Sports say the £70 million deal wey Bayern pay for 28-year-old Diaz na good business for Liverpool, even though dem miss am as player.
Back to Arsenal matter, Kepa performance don cause concern since im join Arsenal. For Carabao Cup final against Manchester City three weeks ago, the 31-year-old goalkeeper fumble cross from Rayan Cherki, allow Nico O'Reilly score first goal for City 2-0 win.
For FA Cup quarterfinal against Southampton, Kepa dey goal but no directly cause the two goals wey Arsenal concede. But Bent believe say Kepa no get the level wey fit start games for top team like Arsenal.
After Raya return for Sporting match, Kai Havertz praise the goalkeeper well well. Havertz wey score winning goal talk with Amazon Prime Video after the game say Raya na world best. David Raya win Man of the Match award after making five saves for clean sheet.
The Spaniard don keep seven clean sheets for ten Champions League games this season. Him na central to Arsenal hope to win the competition. With Arsenal still leading Premier League by nine points over Manchester City, and still dey for Champions League, goalkeeper selection go play big role for remaining matches.
This weekend, Arsenal go host Bournemouth for Premier League match Saturday 12:30pm. All eyes dey on Arteta to see if him go follow Bent advice and stick with Raya for goal.
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