Raya enjoying stellar season for defensive juggernauts Arsenal yet remains Spain back-up

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is on course to win yet another Premier League Golden Glove, joining fellow Spaniard Pepe Reina as the only player to win it three times in a row. He has an astonishing 21 clean sheets in 40 games in all competitions, more than any other keeper, with 15 of those coming in the league. Yet for Spain, he remains second-choice behind Athletic Club's Unai Simon.

Part of the most resolute defence in Europe,?Raya is having the best season of his career, confirming himself as one of the world's finest goalkeepers and arguably the most complete.

After picking up another clean sheet against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League recently, which saw the Gunners move into the quarter-finals, Raya made another stunning save to add to his growing collection this season, prompting Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to speak about him in glowing terms.

"This guy should be in contention to be player of the season because what he does for Arsenal every single time. It’s very difficult sometimes to see what a goalkeeper does, as he cannot make you win the game," Henry said after the game.

"But he can make you hope that you’re not losing by making saves, and he does that two to three times every single game. It’s just outstanding."

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice also showered Raya with praise.

"He deserves every bit of credit he’s getting," Rice said. "I wish people could come in every day and see how he trains.?Because the intensity he trains at and the level that he trains at there’s no reason why he’s not doing what he’s doing on the pitch it’s incredible to see him every day.

"The effort with the lads, he’s turned into a real leader for us and when you’ve got a keeper like that it gives everyone confidence and yes, he’s incredible."

Arsenal remain on course for a first Premier League title in 22 years, and are real contenders for the Champions League. A lot of that is down to their defence and the class of Raya in goal.

He has just been nominated for Premier League Player of the Month and Save of the Month for March, which showcases what a rich vein of form he is in.?

Come the end of the season, he will be a candidate for the Player of the Year awards, which would be a just reward for his campaign.

Yet come the international break, when he joins up with Spain teammates for friendlies against Serbia and Egypt, he will know that he is not the starting goalkeeper, with?Athletic Club's Unai Simon the number one for Luis de la Fuente.

A peculiar choice for many, but what is the reason for the Spanish national team manager's choice?

Simon vs Raya

Athletic are having a poor season, sitting ninth in LaLiga while failing to even make the top 24 in the Champions League group phase.

After finishing fourth in LaLiga in 2024/25, conceding a league-low 29 goals, they are now in a real battle to even qualify for Europe at all, and have already conceded 41 goals.

As a result, Ernesto Valverde will be leaving his role as manager at the end of the season. The Spaniard has led the club across three spells and 10 seasons, and no coach has managed more matches than him in the club’s history.

So it is more than fair to say that Arsenal are having a significantly better season than Athletic. But what do the stats say about the Simon vs Raya debate?

Raya has 15 clean sheets in the league compared to Simon's five, while Raya has conceded 22 goals to Simon's 41. Of course, as good as Raya has been to Arsenal, he does play with a far better defence in front of him than Simon does, which is a factor in this.

Simon has prevented 0.5 goals (the ratio of goals conceded to the expected number of goals based on the quality of shots (xGOT). Nothing outstanding.

Perhaps surprisingly, though, Raya has prevented -0.9, suggesting he has only just conceded more goals than he should have.?

But it is vital to remember that Arsenal rarely allow shots on their goal because of how strong they are defensively. Therefore, Raya himself faces fewer shots, so he doesn't have the chance to make a lot of saves to inflate these numbers as much as other keepers.

Regarding save percentage, Raya's is 69%, while Simon's is 65.5%, giving the former a slight edge.

So, in terms of pure shot-stopping, both players' stats are similar, but it is hard to come to a conclusion either way, as they are playing in very different teams in terms of defensive prowess.

However, when looking at other aspects of goalkeeping, this is where Raya dominates.

Raya has successfully claimed 35 high balls and completed 66.5% of his passes, while Simon has claimed 22 high balls and completed 58.1% of his passes. Arsenal aren't a team afraid to launch the ball long, too, making Raya's numbers more impressive.

The 30-year-old is an incredible all-round goalkeeper and is unmatched at claiming crosses, dominating the box, and having the ball at his feet, which is why manager?Mikel Arteta is such a fan of him.

Earlier this season, Arteta called him 'the most attacking goalkeeper in the league by far'. Perhaps that is somewhat of an oxymoron, but it demonstrates just how irreplaceable he is to the way Arsenal defend and start attacks quickly from the back.

There are very few - if any - goalkeepers in the world who can match Raya here - certainly not Simon.

Simon always delivers for Spain

So while the numbers lean towards Raya, Simon was the man in goal when Spain won EURO 2024, and he has absolutely never let his country down.

As we know, national team managers like to have a group of players they trust who have always performed for their country, and don't like to make drastic changes for no reason. As Simon has always performed for Spain, why should De la Fuente drop him for anyone?

During qualifying for this World Cup, Simon kept five clean sheets in six games, conceding just two goals.

He made zero errors leading to goals, with a save percentage of 83.3%, and was rock-solid throughout the qualification campaign.

And that has been the story of Simon for Spain. Perhaps not as spectacular or flashy as Raya, he is super reliable in goal. You could argue that De la Fuente would be foolish to spoil a formula that saw them become European champions.

You don't really need a goalkeeper at international level who is quick to start attacks and be super daring with the ball, which is perhaps a factor as to why Raya isn't desperately needed.?

What about Joan Garcia?

Some of those in Spain may not even be looking towards Simon or Raya. A portion of fans believe that Barcelona?goalkeeper Joan Garcia should be the man in goal.

At 24 years old, Garcia is a remarkable talent with all the potential to be the best goalkeeper in the world for years to come. He is already up there amongst the standouts.

Garcia earned his first call-up to the national team during this international break, alongside Simon, Raya and Real Sociedad's Alex Remiro.

His performances this season for Barca have been out of this world, and his stats make for stunning reading.

Garcia has conceded just 17 goals this season, although he has played eight fewer games than Raya and six fewer than Simon.

However, he has prevented a whopping 9.47 goals and has a save percentage of 78.8%, which is staggering.

He is a shot-stopping monster, although these numbers may be amplified by the fact that he faces a high number of shots on goal for a Barcelona team that are so attacking and play such a high line. He has the chance to be a hero and make a lot of saves.

But even with that in mind, he is still miles ahead of anyone else in LaLiga.

He has claimed just 16 high balls, though, which is nowhere near as good as Raya, underscoring how good the Arsenal man is in this facet.

Interestingly, while on national duty this week, Garcia was asked who he thinks is the best goalkeeper in the world, to which he answered: "I like David Raya. He's having an incredible season in the Premier League.

"He's at a very high level and I'm really enjoying his season"

Yet there is a genuine possibility that Garcia doesn't even head to the World Cup. Simon and Raya have been De la Fuente's undisputed number one and number two goalkeepers, and he will likely have to battle it out with Remiro for the third spot.

But being called up for the first time is a major step forward, and he will be desperate to get a plane ticket to the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Follow Spain's friendly against Egypt on Friday evening with Flashscore

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