Peter Schmeichel says Arsenal would be ‘nowhere near the title’ without £27m signing

Peter Schmeichel says Arsenal would have been ‘nowhere near the Premier League title’ without David Raya.

Mikel Arteta guided Arsenal to their first Premier League title since 2004 last season, with the Gunners finishing seven points above Manchester City.

Arsenal, who also reached the Champions League final, boasted a sensational defensive record, conceding just 27 goals across the 38-game campaign.

The Gunners have made a promising start to their title defence, winning six of their opening seven games and conceding just five goals – the fewest in the division.

Central to Arsenal’s success over the past 12 months has been three-time Premier League Golden Glove winner Raya, who has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world since joining Arteta’s squad in 2024.

‘David Raya has done really well,’ Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel told The Overlap Daily, sponsored by Sky Bet. ‘I was really surprised.

‘I have to give Mikel Arteta some credit, because when Aaron Ramsdale was playing for Arsenal, I thought he did really well.

‘I liked his aggression, flying out and all of that, so I was surprised they brought another goalkeeper in, and that it was him [Raya].

‘But I interviewed him last season when they won the championship, and I said, “Just so you know, if you had not been in that goal, you would have been nowhere near the championship.”

‘I absolutely mean that, because he came up with all the important saves. In order to win the Premier League, you have to take chances and commit more people going forward.

‘As I said before, that means defending with fewer people, and the chances that came from that, he was making big saves at crucial times. One of the things where he has massively improved is coming for crosses.

‘And he’s got to the point where, when there’s a chance, you think, “No, he’s going to save it, it’s not going to be a goal.” You have that feeling before it happens, and that’s good going.’

Arsenal looked set to drop points at Nottingham Forest on Sunday before Noni Madueke’s deflected strike earned the Gunners a late win.

Speaking after Arsenal kept the pressure on early pacesetters Manchester City, Arteta said: ‘Big win. A win that we didn’t have in the last two seasons at a really tough place.

‘We knew the game was going to be with small margins, especially if we were going to score in the first few minutes, which we didn’t do. There’s a team that is extremely difficult to break down.

‘Almost everything has to be perfect, but you even need to take in the chaotic moments, which we had in the first half a few, but we didn’t hit the target.

‘Then in the second half we had to play a completely different game; stay very far from any frustration, elevate the level of threat and risk that we would have to take.

‘But at the same time, be very composed and disciplined to make sure that the game doesn’t open up and lose it, and we sustained the level. We had better moments, more sustained attacks, much closer to the 18-yard box.’

Arsenal put their Premier League title defence on hold this week as they return to Champions League action with a daunting trip to Bayern Munich.

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