Aaron Ramsdale is set to start against Burnley this weekend, but Bernd Leno could return to the team against Tottenham Hotspur.

Bernd Leno Arsenal, APRIL 29, 2021 - Football / Soccer : UEFA Europa League Semi-finals 1st leg match between Villarreal CF 2-1 Arsenal FC at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Vila-Real, Spain.
Bernd Leno – Arsenal, APRIL 29, 2021 – Football / Soccer: UEFA Europa League Semi-finals 1st leg match between Villarreal CF 2-1 Arsenal FC at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Vila-Real, Spain

The Daily Mail report that Aaron Ramsdale is expected to keep his place in the Arsenal team after his first Premier League appearance for the side over the weekend.

They add that Arsenal signed Ramsdale with the expectation he would be number one by the end of the season, and Bernd Leno’s future with the club is hanging by a thread as a result. They won’t look to sell him in January, but they may do so next summer.

Reports in Germany paint a different picture. Christian Falk claims Mikel Arteta has promised Leno he’ll only be out for a couple of matches, and he’ll return to the pitch against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.

If true, that makes it seem more like a temporary situation to get Ramsdale settled. Or perhaps Arteta prefers Ramsdale for the games against the Premier League’s lesser sides, but not a big-six opponent when he’d face more shots.

It would be a strange way to deal with the goalkeeping situation, though. It’s hard to think of any other big club where the starting position is decided in advance on a game-to-game basis.

There are obviously some teams where the two goalkeepers are so close in ability that you essentially just pick the one in form on matchday.

But it’s a different matter to be telling a goalkeeper they’ll be starting a game weeks before it happens, and that they won’t start any matches in the meantime. If it does turn out to be true, it’s an odd one.