David Raya and his Arsenal teammates have just had to watch Liverpool win the Premier League title with some ease.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool side were ultimately dominant in the title-race — Arsenal fell away when momentum at Anfield continued to grow.
Earlier in the season, Arsenal’s trip to Anfield in May was being billed as a battle of the ages, a game that might decide the Premier League.
| Position | Team | Played MP |
Won W |
Drawn D |
Lost L |
For GF |
Against GA |
Diff GD |
Points Pts |
| 1 |  |
34 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 80 | 32 | 48 | 82 |
| 2 |  |
34 | 18 | 13 | 3 | 63 | 29 | 34 | 67 |
| 3 |  |
34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 65 | 44 | 21 | 62 |
| 4 |  |
34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 66 | 43 | 23 | 61 |
However, Liverpool might even take the chance to rotate a few players on that occasion now as Slot begins his preparations for next season.
Of course, Arsenal might actually field a slightly weakened team too, depending on how they fare against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
David Raya explains why Alisson is among world’s best
That being said, Alisson Becker was in remarkable form when Liverpool beat PSG 1-0 away in Paris earlier this year.
And when speaking to Amazon Prime ahead of Arsenal facing the Parisiens, Raya saw fit to compliment his Brazilian counterpart, who has just won another major honour on Merseyside.
Speaking to Ben Foster, Raya was asked who he considered to be among the top keepers in the world, and despite naming Thibaut Courtois and Gregor Kobel too, the Arsenal man directed his main praise towards Alisson.
Replying to the best in the world question, Raya said: “Alisson. Obviously Alisson, Courtois. I really, really like Kobel from Borussia [Dortmund].
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“I think Alisson is just…the one vs ones, he saves everything. I don’t know how he does it, he saves every single one on one.”
Asked if learns from watching Alisson, Raya replied: “Yeah of course, you have to have an open mind just to see how can he be so good in one vs ones, what he does.
“And it’s weird because he’s always so close to the ball, when sometimes you don’t have that time to get close to the ball, and you have to be set and react.
“He reads those situations so well where maybe he’s (an opponent) made the pass or he’s driving with the ball and then the last touch is a bit heavy — so he’s on top there.
“The way he reads things is incredible in those situations. He’s been one of the top goalkeepers in the world for so many years and the quality he has, the experience.
“That’s those things that gives you that extra edge to make one vs one saves.”
Alisson was linked with Liverpool exit
Of course, Liverpool’s goalkeeping situation overall is far from certain this summer.
Caoimhin Kelleher might leave Liverpool and new signing Giorgi Mamardashvili is scheduled to arrive at the club from Valencia.
In fact, it was believed that Liverpool could sell Alisson this summer earlier in the season, a position that may have now changed given his extraordinary form this season.
The futures of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have dominated the news recently owing to their contract situations.
However, as Raya would seemingly agree, Alisson is just as crucial to Liverpool moving forward.
