Paul Merson has accused David Raya of selling Mikel Arteta 'up the river'. The 28-year-old goalkeeper, who joined Arsenal from Brentford in the summer, has struggled to impress this season and the Gunners boss is under pressure to recall Aaron Ramsdale.

Arteta's decision to replace the England international raised a few eyebrows to say the least, piling the pressure on Raya to repay his manager's faith. However, the Spaniard has made some big mistakes in some high-profile games – one being the controversial clash against Newcastle United last weekend.

Raya was again at fault when he flapped at Joe Willock's cross which led to Anthony Gordon finding a late winner for the Magpies at St James' Park. After the game, Arteta stole the limelight and ripped into the match officials for awarding Newcastle the goal.

However, speaking on Sky Sports, Merson claimed that questions should have been asked of Raya instead – yet they weren't and he remains between the sticks against Burnley a week later. The former Arsenal midfielder said: "Mikel Arteta has gone mad at the end of the day his goalkeeper has sold him up the river.

"The goalkeeper should catch that every day of the week. If you see his position he’s two yards in front of the front post when he crosses the ball. Any other day of the week a goalie comes out, catches that and throws it out to his full-back.

"It’s just covered over, it’s unbelievable. If you watch his positional play, I’m not a goalkeeper but I played with two of the best you’ll ever see in David Seaman and Peter Schmeichel the positional play there was unbelievable. It wasn’t even a great cross it was middle of the goal."

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Also speaking on Sky Sports, Jamie Redknapp has blamed Arteta for putting Raya under unnecessary pressure, but urged Ramsdale to 'hang around' and eventually reclaim the No.1 role. The former Liverpool midfielder said: "Raya is now going to come under a lot of scrutiny.

"A lot is going to be said about Aaron Ramsdale now, but I actually think you should forget about Ramsdale for a second… what's happened with this situation is that it's made [Raya] look worse.

"He looks like a bag of nerves right now. Raya is really struggling with the pressure and the scrutiny he's under. He's giving the ball away, he's looking like he's always going to concede goals. The situation hasn't helped him.

"People have said that Aaron Ramsdale should consider leaving, but I disagree. I think he should hang in there given the way Raya has given away so many goals. He's not showing that he's good enough to be No 1. Mikel Arteta has complicated a situation that he really didn't need to."