Arsenal were denied a famous victory at The Etihad on Sunday as John Stones struck in the 98th minute to secure a 2-2 draw for Manchester City. There was a full Gunners debut for Riccardo Calafiori at left-back and it was a mixed evening for the Italy international, who arrived from Bologna in the summer.
Savinho beat him with ease on the half-turn to set up Erling Haaland for the opener but he reacted to that by scoring a stunning goal from distance to level the game at 1-1.
Calafiori started due to a slight injury concern with Ben White, who then came on at half-time, and the England international is not the only player Mikel Arteta may be worried about.
Latest Arsenal injury news
After the 2-2 draw with City, the Spanish head coach revealed that his coaching staff did not want the versatile English defender to feature at The Etihad, but they turned to him at the break after Leandro Trossard’s sending-off. White made it through to the end of the match without any major issues, fitness-wise, and Arsenal will now be hoping to have him fully fit for their next Premier League clash with Leicester City.
However, the Gunners may have a new injury concern to be worried about after goalkeeper David Raya was spotted limping with a bandage around his knee after the match.
The Spaniard has a wrapping around his right knee and was not walking comfortably, whilst declining to speak to reporters in the mixed zone. The former Brentford man did drop to the floor before a goal kick in the second half and needed treatment on the pitch, which gave Arteta a chance to speak with his players. Hopefully, the bandage was a precaution.
Losing David Raya would be a big blow
If Arsenal do end up being without Raya for any period of time, it would be a blow for the Premier League giants as he has been in fantastic form this season.
The 29-year-old stopper made a whopping nine saves in the 2-2 draw with City and came into that game off the back of an extraordinary double save against Atalanta in the Champions League.
He has kept three clean sheets and prevented 1.36 xG in five appearances in the Premier League so far this season, whilst his ability to claim crosses has also been extremely valuable for Arsenal.
Goals against per 90
0.76
Top 1%
Clean sheet percentage
48.9%
Top 1%
Percentage of crosses stopped
12.1%
Top 1%
Average distance of defensive actions
16.9 yards
Top 8%
As you can see in the table above, Raya ranks incredibly highly against his positional peers in the top leagues across Europe in a number of key statistics, including claiming crosses. The Spaniard is quick off his line to sweep up danger, whether that is from through balls to crosses, to take some of the pressure off William Saliba and Gabriel.
Therefore, losing a player of his immense quality, as a shot-stopper and a dominant force in the box, would be a blow for Arteta and his defence.
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