Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed he will be forced to make a late decision over David Raya’s fitness ahead of his side’s Premier League showdown with Leicester on Saturday. The goalkeeper sustained a muscle injury against Manchester City last weekend.
Raya has impressed between the posts since usurping Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal’s No. 1 in the early part of last season.
He managed to make it through the 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, but missed the Gunners’ 5-1 Carabao Cup victory over Bolton on Wednesday night.
“We have to wait another 24 hours,” Arteta explained in his pre-match press conference. “We have to wait 24 hours to see if it’s looking good or not that good.
“It’s about a player being fit and available or not. When we have that clarity for Leicester we will make that decision tomorrow.”
The Spaniard also gave updates on Jurrien Timber and Ben White after the duo were absent in midweek. “Jurrien was able to take part in training today so he’ll be available in the squad. Hopefully Ben too,” he stated.
Arteta has been unable to hand a debut to summer signing Mikel Merino, who fractured his shoulder during his very first training session at the club after team-mate Gabriel Magalhaes fell on him.
And discussing the midfielder’s progress, the Gunners boss continued: “Tomorrow is too soon. Next week we’ll see.
“He had partial training today. It’s about the healing of the bone and seeing when he’s ready for contact. Trying to keep him in the cage. I think we are comfortable now to expose him with contact.”
Arsenal have also been forced to deal with the loss of Martin Odegaard since the international break after the midfielder damaged his ankle ligaments while playing for Norway.
And Arteta added: “Well if you put me in this scenario before the season with the fixtures that we had and the amount of injuries that we had, I would be very pleased with how we got out of that. It’s not just with Martin, but with many others as well. The team has coped exceptionally well. They embraced the challenge and I’m happy for that.”
Arsenal welcome Leicester to the Emirates Stadium after earning a hard-fought point against Pep Guardiola’s side on Sunday. The Gunners were forced to play the entirety of the second half with 10 men after Leandro Trossard had been sent off in stoppage time at the end of the opening period.
John Stones popped up with an equaliser at the death to deny the Gunners the chance to leapfrog the Citizens at the top of the Premier League table, and Arteta’s side find themselves two points adrift of the leaders ahead of the visit of the Foxes.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk