Arsenal Forced to Start 16-Year-Old in Goal Due to David Raya's Injury

The Gunners put on a resilient display against the Premier League champions over the weekend, showing true grit as they played with ten men in the second half. They successfully held off City's attacks until the 98th minute, when John Stones scored an equalizing goal with a clever finish.

Although it is early in the season, Mikel Arteta has a number of injury concerns to contend with, with another first-team player appear to injury himself in the Etihad stalemate.

Arsenal could play 16-year-old goalkeeper against Bolton

Arsenal will host League One Wanderers knowing that Martin Odegaard remains sidelined with an ankle injury, while Leandro Trossard will be suspended following his red card against City.

But Arteta's latest injury worry is goalkeeper David Raya, who required treatment at the end of the match at the Etihad and was later seen limping with a bandage on his knee.

While The Mail report that the former Brentford stopper, who joined Arsenal on a permanent deal this summer following last year's loan spell, does not have a serious issue, he is likely to be rested for Wednesday night's cup tie.

They add that he should be fully fit to return for the Gunners against Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday, but his midweek absence leaves Arteta with very few options between the sticks.

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Summer signing Neto played for Bournemouth in their second round defeat to West Ham last month, so he is cup-tied, while third-choice stopper Tommy Setford who arrived from Ajax in the summer is injured.

That means the club may hand a senior debut to Jack Porter, who only turned 16 in July. The youngster has only made one under-21s appearance for the club, and six for the under-18s, but he did earn a place on the bench for last week's Champions League match in Atalanta.

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Porter is also an England under-16 international and has been called up to the Young Lions' under-17s squad.

In FourFourTwo's view, Arteta finds himself backed into a corner here, as he will not want to risk Raya in a cup match. Arsenal have previously had a rich history of blooding youngsters in the League Cup and while Arteta has previously tended to err on the side of caution when it comes to playing the kids, this could end up being a useful experience for Porter, provided he has plenty of experienced defenders alongside him on the line-up.

Who is Jack Porter?

Porter is the fourth-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal – though the 16-year-old would really have been the fifth-choice, had the Gunners got their way over the summer. 

Having made it through Arsenal's Hale End academy, the goalkeeper is a part of the club's goalkeeping revolution under custodian coach Inaki Cana, which extends from No.1 David Raya to the youth setup. Porter is highly-rated at Arsenal and below summer acquisition Tommy Setford in the pecking order. 

Arsenal wanted, however, to bring in Joan Garcia over the summer as their backup, following an agreement being struck with the Spaniard – but eventually resorted to signing Neto on deadline day. The club also tried to sign Dan Bentley as third-choice from Wolves, but failed.