Unai Emery is set to give Petr Cech another chance in goal against Chelsea this weekend, despite criticism of the goalkeeper in the media after his performance facing Manchester City.
The Daily Star write that they’ve received exclusive information that Emery plans to stick with the 36-year-old at Stamford Bridge, rather than making the change to summer signing Bernd Leno. Leno reportedly hasn’t convinced staff that he’s quite ready for a Premier League start just yet.
Arsenal fans are unlikely to be happy about the news, because they’re still eagerly awaiting the chance to watch Leno get a proper test in goal. The German looked good in pre-season, particularly when it came to playing out from the back, but missed the club’s only Premier League friendly against Chelsea.
In his place, Čech performed impressively against the Blues, and was pretty much the only reason Arsenal didn’t end up losing the match. He saved a penalty, and a number of one-on-one chances, before making a decisive save in the shootout, after Alexandre Lacazette’s late equaliser.
Perhaps that’s why Emery thinks it makes sense to give the former Chelsea man another chance against his old club.
One thing to keep in mind is that Emery didn’t pick his starting eleven until the day before the game last week. If he does the same again this time, the Daily Star can’t possibly know for sure who will start. We’ll see on Saturday.