Who was the better goalkeeper in the 2022/23 Premier League season, Ramsdale or Raya?
Nobody would have expected Arsenal to be chasing a goalkeeper this summer. There are still other areas of the pitch that need more attention, but the Gunners seem determined to add another body in the goalkeeping department.
Despite boasting three good keepers in the likes of Aaron Ramsdale, Matt Turner and Karl Hein, Mikel Arteta seems far from happy.
Just think about this for a moment: The Gunners have three international goalkeepers in their squad currently but want to add another one to increase the competition.
That’s the sign of an elite club, which does not want to rest on its laurels. If Raya joins Arsenal, he can certainly not be considered as just a “second choice shotstopper.” Because he is way too good for that tag.
In this article we will look at the data to see who is the better keeper between the current number one of Arsenal or probably the future number one of the same club.
When it comes to pure shot-stopping Raya has defeated his Arsenal counterpart by some distance. The Brentford man made 4.05 Saves per 90 minutes last season as compared to Ramsdale’s 2.47.
But you might say that is because the North London side have a more robust defense than the Bees. But when it comes to Save %, Raya has come on top again. He boasts a 77.7% Save Percentage while the Englishman stands at 70.6%.
When it comes to Clean Sheets, Ramsdale defeated Raya by a few notches. The former Bournemouth man had 14 Clean Sheets to his name compared to Raya’s 12.
But the latter can’t be blamed for it as he was playing for a team fighting relegation last season.
When it came to conceding a goal through corners, the Gunners man again came out on top. Ramsdale conceded 0.16 goals per 90 minutes compared to the Spanish international’s 0.24.
We have come to appreciate the distribution skills of Ramsdale ever since he took the throne from German international Bernd Leno.
However, it is worth noting that distribution is a skill that Raya is exceptionally good at. In fact he is so good, that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp called him a “Number 10” two seasons back.
Raya launched 23.21 passes last season, completing 9.13 per 90 minutes. Ramsdale figures would shy in front of those numbers, as they stood at 25.16 (attempts) and 2.87 (completed).
The length of the passes in the case of the Spaniard were also more than the Englishman as they stood at 39.5 yards and 33.3 yards.
That means Raya is launching passes further down the pitch and with more accuracy than the England international.
One of the special traits on why Arsenal spent an astonishing £30million on Ramsdale was his ability to deal with crosses.
But yet again Raya has defeated competition from the Arsenal number 1. The Brentford man faced 15.74 crosses in the last league campaign and was able to deal with 8.7% of them. While Ramsdale faced 10.03 crosses and was able to deal with 5.8% of them.
Brentford have been strong on their stance of selling their prized asset for £40million. If Arsenal paid £30million for Ramsdale, adding a few pounds more on arguably a better keeper is not something that should attract eyeballs.
Other stats of Raya include 154 Saves in the league last season (ranked number 1), 64 Saves from Shots Outside the Box (number 1), 50 Crosses Caught (number 2), 1882 Touches (number 1) and 410 Long Passes Completed (number 1).
At 27 years, he is at the peak of his powers and would not be moving to the Emirates Stadium if he was to play second fiddle to Aaron Ramsdale.
At the moment the former is a more rounded keeper than the latter. But that does not mean that the Englishman will certainly lose his place.
Competition for the top spot in the goalkeeping department will get massive, if the London side acquire the services of the Spanish international.
The competition will rise in the squad and so will the excitement in Arsenal’s footballing circles.
Writer – Yash Bisht