Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been urged not to play goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga again this season after his poor recent performances.

Kepa was selected over David Raya in Arsenal’s cup matches this season, playing in every round of the Carabao Cup, including in their final defeat against Manchester City.

The former Chelsea man was also in goal as Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup in a surprise defeat at Southampton last weekend.

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Raya was brought back into Arteta’s starting XI for the game against Sporting Lisbon last night, and Darren Bent feels it’s clear he now has to start every single game between now and the end of the season.

Bent doesn’t want to see Kepa again as Arteta urged to start Raya

Speaking on talkSPORT, as quoted by Football365, Bent said: “Stop playing Kepa. I know it’s not necessarily his fault, but I don’t want to see Kepa again this season.

“As a back-up, perfect. David Raya, between now and the end of the season, has to play every single minute.

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“Even if Arsenal destroy Sporting in the Champions League, next week I need David Raya in goal. Play him from now in every game until the end of the season.

“I understand he’s trying to play bodies but these players are letting him down, they keep being given opportunities and they’re not taking them.”

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Arsenal fans will surely agree with this after Raya’s superb goalkeeping heroics in the win over Sporting last night.

The Spanish shot-stopper is quite simply on a whole other level from Kepa, who flopped at Chelsea and who will surely never be more than a backup for a top club.

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When evaluating the monumental evolution of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, it is incredibly easy to be mesmerised by the outfield superstars.

It is tempting to point to the sheer match-winning brilliance of Bukayo Saka on the right flank, or the relentless, ground-covering engine of Declan Rice in midfield.

It is equally easy to look at the imposing, brick-wall partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães and declare them the definitive bedrock of the team.

They are all unequivocally world-class. Yet, if you strip away the layers of Arsenal’s tactical blueprint, the most indispensable player, the absolute linchpin of the entire system, wears the number 22 shirt. David Raya is Arsenal’s most important player.

The Cost of Absence: Domestic Cup Struggles

To understand Raya’s profound value, one must look no further than what happens when he is removed from the equation.

The recent domestic cup stumbles offered a stark, sobering reality check. During the painful League Cup final defeat to Manchester City, Arsenal looked utterly disjointed in their build-up phase.

Without Raya’s supreme composure and pinpoint distribution, City’s high press suffocated the backline.

Similarly, the frustrating FA Cup quarterfinal exit at the hands of Southampton laid bare the defensive anxiety that creeps in when Raya isn’t there to act as the ultimate sweeping insurance policy.

The defenders dropped deeper, the midfield was bypassed, and the entire geometry of Arteta’s possession-heavy system fractured.

The Tactical Trigger: More Than Just a Goalkeeper

Raya is not merely a goalkeeper; he is Arsenal’s deep-lying playmaker and the tactical trigger for their attacks.

His ability to thread a pass through the first line of pressure or drop a 50-yard diagonal ball perfectly onto Saka’s chest allows the likes of Rice, Saliba, and Gabriel to operate with absolute supreme confidence.

They play higher and press harder because they know their goalkeeper is both a tactical genius with his feet and a commanding sweeper behind them.

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Shining on the European Stage

Furthermore, any lingering doubts regarding his traditional shot-stopping abilities were emphatically silenced on the grandest European stage.

In the Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Sporting CP, Raya was nothing short of a revelation.

Earning a thoroughly deserved Man of the Match award, he single-handedly kept Arsenal in the tie during periods of intense Portuguese pressure, producing a string of breathtaking reflex saves while continuing to dictate the tempo from his own penalty area.

Strikers sell shirts, and defenders win titles, but a transformative modern goalkeeper elevates a great system into an elite, unstoppable force.

Arsenal result has just handed Liverpool and Chelsea a massive UCL boost

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