Former Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack backs David Raya to overcome his costly mistake ahead of Sunday's North London Derby and predicts Gunners will beat struggling Tottenham
David Raya has received backing to bounce back from his mistake that cost Arsenal valuable points in the Premier League title race ahead of Sunday's North London Derby.
The Gunners travel the short distance to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face Igor Tudor's side, who haven't secured a Premier League victory in eight matches. Arsenal are now only two points clear of Manchester City following Pep Guardiola's team's 2-1 triumph over Newcastle on Saturday evening, and Arteta will be keen to stretch that advantage to five points with victory at Spurs.
Arsenal head into the fixture following back-to-back league draws, though. On Wednesday they could only manage a 2-2 stalemate with bottom-placed Wolves, with Raya's late error presenting Tom Edozie with the opportunity to net his maiden senior goal.
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Ex-goalkeeper Graham Stack has expressed confidence that Raya will leave the error behind him and rediscover his top form. Stack, speaking exclusively to Reach via the best betting apps, said: "I would say that the most experienced and best goalies in the world, the most successful ones, are the ones that are able to deal with failure really quickly, to move on and not dwell on it.
"The best make the fewest mistakes, don't they? But those fewest mistakes, they're probably highlighted the most because of the platform and the team and scrutiny on teams and players at the top of the league. Raya might make one error and even when he make ten absolute worldies in the same game, it'll be that one error that would be spoken about.
"With Raya, I think the team he has around him, in terms of his goalkeeping coach, who he's worked with previously at Brentford, his manager and the players, I guarantee you now they will be giving him nothing but self-belief and confidence throughout the week, which he may or may not need in truth. The strongest individuals are able to park it up, deal with it and move on within minutes, and it's all about the next action in the game. Raya falls into that category for sure of one with an abundance of resilience and mental strength."
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Spurs currently languish in 16th position and sit merely four points clear of the drop zone. As Tudor prepares for his maiden match in charge of the north Londoners on Sunday, the Croatian boss will be desperate for three points - though the odds are heavily against the hosts.
"I really do think Arsenal will win the game, and that's not my heart speaking," Stack said. "I know there'll be arguments saying how can you say they're going to go and turn them over when they've obviously struggled at home against Wolves."
He added: "But I'm not being funny, Tottenham with a new manager will be buoyed, but I think Arsenal will win the game, and that's my brain, that's my football head talking. I really do, because I think Tottenham, I jut think the club is in a bad place and moment in time.
"They're not a good footballing side versus their teams that we’ve seen in past years, I think the stadium is toxic because I think their supporters have had enough, I think they're clutching at straws in terms of they've got a manager until the end of the season, I just think they've completely lost their stability at the club at the minute, I really do, I don't think they've got much stability at all."