Journalist James McNicholas is concerned that Arsenal could struggle in one area of the pitch against Brentford on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale will start for Arsenal against Brentford this weekend.
Due to the nature of his loan agreement, David Raya cannot feature against his parent club. Therefore, he is ineligible to play when Brentford come to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Whilst Arsenal have their intention fixed on signing Raya on a permanent basis, that process has not yet been completed.
Therefore, Ramsdale will be handed his first Premier League start since the Gunners travelled to take on the Bees for the first time this season, back in November.
Of course, the 25-year-old began this season as the Arsenal No. 1. Ramsdale is also an established fan favourite at the Emirates Stadium. This will likely be his final ever appearance for the north London outfit, and the supporters can be relied upon to get behind him from the start. Arsenal know that Ramsdale is almost certain to leave the club in the upcoming summer transfer window.
Mikel Arteta will not be thrilled by the prospect of being forced to shake up his back line. The Arsenal defence has been in sensational form of late. Whilst Raya often has had very little to do in terms of shot-stopping, his aggressive positioning, quick distribution, and authority in claiming crosses all form a crucial part of how Arsenal play.
Arsenal warned of Aaron Ramsdale uncertainty factor v Brentford
That being said, Ramsdale is a top-quality ‘keeper himself. The England international has made 88 appearances for the Gunners, across all competitions, and has often impressed. Arteta was heavily criticised for his decision to promote Raya ahead of Ramsdale at the time of making that call, and whilst the Brentford loanee has gradually been able to silence many of his doubters since then, Ramsdale will see this weekend’s clash as an opportunity to remind everyone of just how good he is.
With EURO 2024 coming up this summer, Ramsdale has to take his chances to shine, albeit if they do only come around rarely these days. James McNicholas believes that the former Sheffield United shot-stopper will view this match as an opportunity to boost his profile.
Speaking on the Handbrake Off podcast, the reporter said, “shop window, I suppose he’s got his EUROs place to fight for as well. It’s going to be tricky, there’s an interesting situation developing with the England goalkeepers, and who is playing, and who is not…I think [Gareth] Southgate is going to have a tough call to make there.”
However, McNicholas is also concerned that the Arsenal defence, who are now used to playing with Raya, may struggle with the change between the sticks. He warned, “we all think he’s a good goalkeeper, I think, Aaron Ramsdale. But…there is a kind of relationship, there is a settled defence that we’ve kept in place through this really good run of form, you disturb that and sometimes mistakes can happen. So, it’s obviously going to be a really critical area for us on Saturday.”
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