According to reports, Mikel Arteta is “unsure” if David Raya, Ben White, and Jurrien Timber will be able to play against Leicester City this coming weekend.
Following Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup victory over Bolton, Arteta gave an update on his Raya during the post-match press conference. Rumor has it that the manager of Arsenal has expressed concerns about White and Timber’s fitness as well.
Raya’s “muscular injury” kept him out of Arsenal’s 5-1 victory over Bolton, and he might have to miss Saturday’s matchup with the Foxes as well.
Concerns regarding White and Timber’s fitness as well as rumors of Raya’s potential exclusion surfaced following news that Martin Odegaard would be out for some time.
The Gunners, who are also without Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Mikel Merino, are starting to experience a bit of an injury crisis.
When asked whether Raya would “fine” to start against Leicester, Arteta responded, “We don’t know yet.” He sustained a muscle ailment.
Should Raya be unable to play Leicester, Arteta might choose to give No. 2 goalkeeper Neto his debut.
Due to a cup tie, Neto, who is on loan from AFC Bournemouth to Arsenal, was unable to participate against Bolton.
In the press conference held after the game, Arteta gave 16-year-old Jack Porter a start, and the Spaniard was all praise for the young goalie.
Jack has been practicing with us since the preseason, so we knew he could handle the part, according to Arteta.
He plays for the [England youth] national team, of course. Given what we’ve seen of him, we think this was the right decision.
When we told him yesterday, he was ecstatic right away. I believe that when he spoke with his family, they weren’t ready for it. For them, it’s a significant step and an important occasion, so I imagine they were anxious.
However, I believe he handled the situation really well. He was very calm during training both yesterday and today. On that, his teammates were a huge help to him as well. What a memorable encounter.
