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Arsenal fans insist Arteta was 'RIGHT' to drop Ramsdale for Raya

  /  autty

Arsenal fans believe Mikel Arteta made the correct decision to drop Aaron Ramsdale in favour of David Raya after a new statistic emerged showing the Spaniard is the top performer across Europe's top leagues.

The decision to relegate Ramsdale to the bench in favour of Raya has been one of the most controversial of Arteta's reign, but has recently been celebrated by Gunners supporters.

Arsenal remain top of the Premier League table as the English top-flight prepares to resume this weekend following the international break, with Raya in top form prior to the break.

The 28-year-old took an initial settling in period but now looks a confident figure between the sticks and now boasts the best crosses stopped percentage in Europe.

Raya has stopped 14.9 per cent of crosses into the box during Premier League fixtures this season, with the average for the division only at 6.7 per cent.

His aerial dominance has been key to Arsenal having the best defensive record in the league (24 goals conceded) and the highest amount of goals scored (70).

The preference to start Raya over Ramsdale is still questioned by some fans after the England international impressed during last season's title race and a possible summer exit now looms.

Meanwhile, Raya's loan deal from Brentford is set to be made permanent at the end of the season.

Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez claims the second most impressive results having stopped 11 per cent of crosses into his area.

Arsenal fans were amazed by the stat outlining Raya's exploits, with one supporter posting on X: 'This is what Arteta was talking about. Some things we don't see or don't appreciate. He is an incredible professional and with him my defence feels safe.'

Another similarly added: 'This was also something that Ramsdale looked visibly bad at. Dunno how the stats back that up though.'

A different comment stated: 'Remember when everyone was panicking about Mudryk mishitting a cross and how it was a testament to Raya’s poor positioning on crosses?'

A fourth continued: 'Another signing Arteta has got RIGHT while there were many doubters'.