David Raya sets to win the Golden Glove again this season

So here I was, watching some international football last night and managed to catch a glimpse of the Serbia vs Spain game. This was the first time the new European champions take to the pitch after their monumental triumph a couple of months ago in Germany, and they seemed to be in a post-hangover mode, even though the man of the match was undoubtedly Serbia’s goalie, Predrag Rajkovic, raking up save after save for his nation.

Yes, Spain had 21 shots and their prestigious youngster, Lamine Yamal, was undoubtedly the best player on the pitch, creating so many chances and taking a couple of shots, but my interest on the night was on the man between the sticks for Spain, that in all honesty, was relatively untested – Arsenal undisputed No. 1 shot stopper, David Raya.

With Serbia on the end of a battering like Vikings attacking some Saxons in a town in Mercia, Raya had basically nothing to do, but was faced with only one shot on target from the Serbian attack and made a consummate save. If a keeper like Ederson was faced with the same chance, the net would have been bulging because Manchester City has a newly-found penchant for conceding low xG attempts.

At the end of the night, Spain’s profilgacy proved to be their undoing and the match ended in a goalless stalemate, which was a clean sheet for Raya.

Then the million dollar question popped up in my head – will Raya Win the Golden Glove again this season?

With three games played, Raya has racked up two clean sheets thus far and boy, he was made to work hard for them. Yes, Arsenal controlled the opening fixture against Wolves from start to finish, but there was that Bruun Strand Larsen point-blank header that was destined to hit the back of the net but Raya was on hand to make a spectacular save. Then in the very next game at Villa Park, a ground where we lost last season, Ollie Watkins had a glorious shot that was odds on to go into the net, but Raya someone picked himself from the ground and made a contender for save of the season. Mind you, the game was still tied at 0-0 at that moment, so it was a very crucial point of the match.

Raya’s potential third clean sheet was unfortunately wiped out when Brighton came to the Emirates last weekend and much of it can be attributed to Declan Rice’s unfortunate red card that turned the game on its head. Even when Lewis Dunk’s killer pass somehow contrived to pass through William Saliba and Gabriel in the heart of the defense, Yankuba Minteh was one on one with Raya and fired a goal-bound shot that was saved superbly but everyone was ball watching as Joao Pedro pounced on the rebound to equalize for Brighton.

You can attribute the equalizer to Arsenal’s numerical disadvantage but after the tactical tweak to 5-3-1 by Mikel Arteta, bringing on Riccardo Calafiori for Leandro Trossard, the landscape changed and despite the Big Bad Brighton Wolf huffing and puffing, the Arsenal defensive piggy stayed in the brick house and it didn’t come down.

Which gives me confidence going into the remaining games of the season. The fact that Arsenal conceded the lowest xGC last season, combining it with the lowest goals conceded (29) and the most clean sheets (18) is a testament of how Arteta has transformed the team to a mean and impregnable defensive unit. Hell, there was a time when Arsenal conceded more than 50 goals a season and it felt like a norm. There were games where Arsenal would be under so much intense pressure and the inevitably of them buckling was as sure as a Premier League ref making a mistake, or PGMOL issuing an apology.

In Raya, Arsenal has an all-rounder that’s very good with his hands, as well as amazing with his feet. And with the telepathic colossal behemoths in front of him, Gabi-Saliba, he has the confidence that they would rather die trying to defend his goal than let him concede.

So back to my initial question and the essence of this entire ramble tonight – will Raya win the Golden Glove again?