Bernd Leno insists he’ll give everything to remain Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper, after starting against Liverpool despite Petr Cech’s return to full fitness.

After initially only appearing in the Europa League and League Cup matches for Arsenal, Leno got his chance in the Premier League after an injury to his competitor Cech in late September. The 36-year-old missed the majority of the rest of October, giving Leno an opportunity to nail down the number one spot.

The German duly obliged with some impressive performances. As a result, even with Cech fully fit for the Liverpool game last weekend, Leno retained his place all the same. Now he says he’s going to fight to make sure that doesn’t change.

“I am proud and happy the coach decided on me (against Liverpool) and I will give my best performances so that won’t change,” Leno said. “First of all, it gives me confidence to play in big games like against Liverpool on Saturday.

“But I think it pushes us because nobody is safe to play. I think both of us will play many games this season and so the performances have to be good. I think we push each other every day in training and in the games.”

The relationship between the two Arsenal goalkeepers seems to be a positive one so far. After the Gunners conceded a late first-half penalty to Crystal Palace, Cech was the first player to go over and console Leno. Similarly, after the Liverpool game they could be seen together:

From the sounds of things, that friendly demeanour between the two on matchdays is replaced by a competitive drive in training. That’s exactly what you want from your goalkeeping options to get the best out of them. Let’s hope they keep pushing each other to give everything for the rest of the season.