David Raya believes Arsenal now know they can beat any team in the Premier League, but he’s still looking for further improvement.
Arsenal have made a strong start to the new campaign, winning the Community Shield and three straight Premier League fixtures before picking up three points in their Champions League opener away in Napoli in midweek.
As the newly-crowned Premier League champions, there’s obviously a bit of a target on Arsenal backs this season, with every team hoping they can be the ones to knock Mikel Arteta’s side off their perch.
But David Raya stressed the other side of things this week, insisting Arsenal are feeling more confident, less pressured, and just generally happier than before. He believes that can all combine to help the team beat any opponent.
“Of course, winning the league after that many years and after those years that you are so close, it gives you that relief and it gives you that extra confidence,” Raya said.
“And of course, winning the title last year is a lift to make these fans happy. These people around the club are really happy. So hopefully, we can keep playing this way because we know how good we are.
“We know we can beat anybody in this league. Let’s just focus on the moment and be in the present. And I just want more from me.”
Raya can’t be too disappointed with his start to the season, having kept clean sheets in four of his five games. The only exception was the Chelsea match, and he made a few key interventions to deny the away side a point in that game as well.
Other than Raya, Hull City’s Konstantinos Tzolakis is the only Premier League goalkeeper to keep more than one clean sheet in the competition. But Tzolakis has three to Raya’s two, so the Arsenal man will need to come from behind to earn his fourth consecutive Golden Glove this season.
Raya’s record is just as good in Europe, where he’s kept clean sheets in 54% of his matches. That’s the best rate of any goalkeeper to keep 20 or more in the competition.
With Arsenal conceding so few goals, they’re certainly in a great position to beat any opponent. But it’s a long season, and we’re only one month into it.
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