Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has admitted that Viktor Gyokeres could cause problems for the Gunners when they travel to face Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The north London side have enjoyed a reasonable start to the 2024/25 competition, recording wins over Shakhtar Donetsk and Paris Saint-Germain to sit 12th in the tournament’s new-look league format. Their next challenge, however, comes against high-flying Sporting in Lisbon.
Ruben Amorim’s former side have been an unstoppable force this season, winning every deomestic games, thrashing Manchester City last time out in Europe and sitting just behind Champions League leaders Liverpool. Joao Pereira will be at the helm after being named successor to thenew Manchester United head coach and will be keen to continue Amorim’s legacy in Lisbon.
But, Arsenal stopper Raya, has one particular player on his mind ahead of the meeting.
“We know his strengths,” the Spaniard told reporters when asked about the ability of Gyokeres, who has scored 33 goals already this season across all competitions for club and country.
“How he runs a lot in behind and scores a lot in one v one and he is a top player in-form. We are going to try and keep him very, very quiet. Don’t give him any chances. We have to step up defensively. Hopefully we can do a great job and keep a clean sheet.”
Raya shared his feelings on the meeting with Sporting, admitting that the Champions League is still new territory for him.
“We know it’s a tough opponent in good form in all competitions,” he said. “They score a lot of goals but we’re focused on ourselves to play the football we want to play and to make it very difficult for them to create chances and to win the game.
“I only had one season in the Champions League last season and this season is a bit different, but every game is important in this competition and we want to get as many points as we can to qualify straight away and have less games to play. We’re really happy to be here.”
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