‘I don’t want to see him again this season’ – Mikel Arteta told to drop Arsenal star | OneFootball

Darren Bent claims that Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta should refrain from using Kepa Arrizabalaga over David Raya again this season.

The Gunners bounced back from two defeats in a row to beat Sporting CP 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

Arsenal were beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final before the international break and then lost to Championship side Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup at the weekend.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal secured a one-goal advantage heading into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium next week.

Raya came back into the starting XI for the match against the Portuguese outfit after Kepa had started the last two matches.

And former Tottenham striker Bent, who is an Arsenal supporter, insists he doesn’t want to see Kepa in between the sticks again this season.

Bent told talkSPORT: “It was just worrying, the performance, because there were so many players who I have lauded this season, like [Cristhian] Mosquera, whenever he has come in to play when [William] Saliba has been injured, at times he’s looked really good, he looked like he was nervous against Southampton.

“Gabriel [Magalhaes], I don’t know if it was because Saliba wasn’t next to him, he looked a little bit nervous, not like his normal self.

“Gabriel Jesus… I mean, I don’t know why we keep trying, I could’ve told you, it’s not worked for like three years and yet we’re still… I know you’ve got to give players minutes but that’s not working.

“As I said, [Max] Dowman was the only one who I thought, ‘he’s got a little bit about him’.

“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.

“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. Gabriel Jesus was like a passenger.”

Reacting to the win over Sporting, Arteta said in a post-match press conference: “Extremely happy, obviously. It was a big night, a big moment in the season. Especially where we’re coming from. I think we had a point to prove. And yesterday I talked about identity and the things that I wanted to see on that pitch.

“It certainly happened. Certainly there was a shift there. And then we played our opponent. It’s very tricky, very difficult to play. That’s the reason why they won 17 games in a row here. They haven’t lost for a long, long time and really had to earn it.

“We had moments of real dominance with a lot of situations in and around the box without creating enough threat sometimes. Lacking to be a bit crispier, the movement a bit sharper, the final ball. But we took the game where we wanted.

“But after saying that, we knew as well that it’s a team extremely dangerous when they have space to run and they have two situations where David had to intervene in a brilliant way. And then, again, the story of the season, the finish is coming when the most important part of the game is about to happen and then make the difference for us to go and win it.”