Arteta advises Ramsdale to stay focus amid England’s best talk

Mikel Arteta emphasised the importance of focus and consistency when asked about Aaron Ramsdale’s chances of becoming first-choice England goalkeeper in time for the 2022 World Cup.

Ramsdale was the star of the show as Arsenal beat Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium yesterday, saving all eight of the hosts’ shots on target to ensure first-half goals from Gabriel Magalhaes and Emile Smith Rowe secured the three points.

The 23-year-old’s heroics saw his overall save percentage for the season improve to 85.7, which is bettered by only Edouard Mendy (89.7) among goalkeepers to have faced more than two shots.

On top of that, Ramsdale’s saves cumulatively saw him prevent 2.4 goals against Leicester, according to Stats Perform’s xGOT (expected goals on target) data – the next best record of any goalkeeper in a single Premier League game this season was Alisson preventing 1.7 against Norwich City.

It was the latest in a string of impressive performances from Ramsdale, who earlier this month backed himself to be England’s go-to option ahead of Jordan Pickford between the posts by the time next year’s World Cup rolls around.