Raya to compete with Ramsdale for the #1 spot
The Emirates Cup was inaugurated in 2007, a year after the famous stadium was commissioned with Arsenal winning the competition after competing with Paris St. Germain, Valencia and Inter Milan. Twelve editions later, the Emirates Cup is back with Arsenal taking on AS Monaco, with the legendary Arsene Wenger being the guest of honor, with the Gunners unveiling his statue last week.
Arsene Wenger managed AS Monaco from 1987 to 1994, winning the French Ligue Un in his first season with the club as well as the Coupe de France in the 1990/91 season. The present day AS Monaco is a far cry from the one that Wenger managed, or the famous class of 2003/04 that went all the way to the Champions League finals in Gersenkirchen against FC Porto. The Monaco side had some outstanding players with Maicon and Patrice Evra in defense, electric wingers, Jerome Rothen and Ludovic Giuly on the flanks and Fernando Morientes and Dado Prso leading the attack.
After excelling from a group that had Deportivo de la Coruna, PSV Eindhoven and AEK Athens, AS Monaco defeated Locomotiv Moscow in the Round of 16 before beating Real Madrid in a pulsating encounter in the quarterfinals. A clash with Chelsea (who defeated Arsenal) took place in the semis, with the French outfit victorious but Monaco fell short in the finals.
The club hasn’t won any major honors since their Coupe de la Ligue triumph in 2003 and last season was atrocious as Phillippe Clement’s side finished in sixth place in Ligue Un, as well as crashing out of the Coupe de la Ligue in the Round of 64, and after failing to qualify for the UEFA Champions League via the qualifying round, they competed in the Europa League and crashed out in the Knockout Round Playoffs to Bayer Leverkusen.
One of the standout performers for Monaco has been their captain, Wissam Ben Yedder, who scored 19 goals in the Ligue Un and 25 in all competitions. Arsenal will have to be weary about the threat he’d pose, despite this being a preseason encounter.
Arsenal vs Monaco Predicted Lineups
Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Havertz, Partey, Odegaard; Martinelli, Jesus, Saka.
AS Monaco: Nubel; Aguilar, Disasi, Maripan, Caio Henrique; Fofana, Camara; Vanderson, Ben Seghir, Minamino; Ben Yedder
Injury / Suspension Updates
Arsenal: Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf), Declan Rice (muscle)
AS Monaco: Breel Embolo (knee)
Form Guide
Arsenal Form
- Last Five Games: D D W L W
- Last Result: Arsenal 5-3 Barcelona (Saka 13?, Havertz 43?, Trossard55?, 78?, F. Vieira 89? | Lewandowski 7?, Raphinha 34?, F. Torres 88?)
- Leading Goalscorer: Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard (15 – last season)
AS Monaco Form
- Last Five Games: D W L L L
- Last Result: Monaco 1-2 Toulouse (Ben Yedder 78? | Aboukhlal 70′, Healey 95′)
- Leading Goalscorer: Ben Yedder (25 – last season)
Gooner Daily predicts a 3 – 0 win.
Elsewhere, it has been reported that Brentford’s wantaway goalie, David Raya, has agreed personal terms with Arsenal. Following Raya’s refusal to renew his contract with the club, the Spanish goalie has one year left on his contract, and the club are willing to sell one of their prized asset for a reported £40 million.
I have shared my thoughts regarding this potential transfer, but Raya agreeing terms with Arsenal is just one piece of the pie. The major one would be the alignment between Arsenal and Brentford for an agreeable transfer fee. Arsenal was faced in the same scenario not long ago, when the club was locked in intense negotiations with West Ham for the services of Declan Rice.
With Bayern Munich also interested in Raya, this saga isn’t far from over, but this is a situation that will be monitored closely. Some don’t believe that Arsenal needs a player like Raya with Ramsdale growing in influence within the club, but if Raya is a player Arteta wants, then he probably has plans for him and Ramsdale and will be able to manage them both.
History shows that you can’t have two dominant No. 1’s in a club, and I don’t believe Arsenal will be comfortable with dishing out 40 million quid for a goalie that might not be nailed as a regular starter. However, we will gauge Arsenal’s seriousness in signing Raya in the coming days, as the only barrier in this potential deal is both clubs reaching a price for him.
Sayonara.
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