David Raya's availability for Arsenal vs. Manchester City is up in the air following Mikel Arteta's pre-match press conference.
The Spanish goalkeeper was a surprise exclusion from Arsenal's matchday squad against Girona in the Champions League. Neto received his first start as an Arsenal player with Tommy Setford backing him up on the bench. Neto was likely to start the game given Arteta rotated his side, but Raya's exclusion was concerning. Ahead of their clash with Manchester City, Arteta spoke to the press revealing Raya is dealing with a muscular injury.
Will David Raya Play Against Manchester City in the Premier League?
Though, a positive sign from the conference is that Arteta didn't completely rule him out. The manager did go as far as to say that Ben White is unavailable considering he didn't train with the team. Raya's availability was defined as "uncertain" with the club needing another training session and 48 hours to determine if he was good enough to play. The manager has a knack for not revealing as much to keep opposing managers on their toes, but for supporters' well-being Raya starting would be calm nerves.
Neto was okay in net against Girona, but the goal conceded raised some red flags given he was so far outside the box when Arnaut Danjuma curled the ball in. Raya remains Arsenal's number one goalkeeper and a commanding force in the box. He routinely claims crosses and corners that come in and has shown time and time again to be a strong distributor with his hands and feet.
If Raya is fit enough, he'll start given Arsenal should have a first choice in defense available with Riccardo Calafiori back and firing.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Will David Raya Play Against Manchester City in the Premier League?.
