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Leno - Ospina: Opposite faith but one thing in common between Arsenal and Napoli goalkeepers

Leno - Ospina: Opposite faith but one thing in common between Arsenal and Napoli goalkeepers

  • Nikita Fesyukov
This summer Arsenal chose to send Davide Ospina on loan to Napoli, with the Partenopei extremely eager on signing an experienced goalkeeper with international experience to form a duo with young starlet Alex Meret. But what have been the paths of Ospina at Napoli and his replacement Bernd Leno in London?

At the start of the season, Leno was struggling to earn a starting spot at Arsenal, with Petr Cech starting in 7 consecutive Premier League matches until he sustained a hamstring injury that gave Leno his opportunity to shine. Since then, Cech has recovered, but Leno has not let the Czech goalkeeper back in the net with his good performances.

From the 17 Arsenal matches in all competitions, however, Leno started 9 of them, keeping one clean sheet in the Premier League and two in the Europa League. Cech, on the other hand, kept two clean sheets in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, in Naples, Ospina has also been rotating with another goalkeeper - Orestits Karnezis, However, the Arsenal loanee clearly has the upper hand.and has started in 9 matches, including the 3 Champions League clashes of the Partenopei, keeping 3 clean sheets.

Paradoxically, however, Karnezis only conceded 2 goals in his Serie A matches, keeping 3 clean sheets, while conceded 10 goals. Nevertheless, it seems clear that Carlo Ancelotti prefers the Colombian in goal thanks to his rich experience, while on the Emirates stadium, Leno has now seemingly won the heart of coach Unai Emery, after struggling to adapt initially.

Click on the gallery to see the stats of both Leno and Ospina altogether.