Petr Cech has had a tremendous career. As has been said on another blog post on this site, the Europa League final is a fitting sendoff for a player who has done everything in the game.

However, if we take sentiment completely out of the equation for a minute, is it the right call to select him in goal against Chelsea on Wednesday night?

Cech is still a capable goalkeeper, and I’m sure he won’t let his teammates down, but Bernd Leno’s form since the New Year, in particular, does give pause for thought.

This is the biggest game for the Gunners, arguably since the Champions League final in 2006, and manager Unai Emery is going to select a goalkeeper who has spent most of the season as the German’s understudy?

The Spaniard is a cold and calculating manager. Systems play a central role in his team selections, and players like Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil have had to be patient whilst they have been rotated to fit into his tactical plans.

So, the question has to be raised, why would Emery pick Cech ahead of Leno for such an important game, considering he has always put the team first?

If you look purely at the stats, Leno saved 71.2% of his shots last season in the Premier League. Cech’s percentage playing two more games in the Premier League in the 2017/18 campaign was just 64.4%.

Of course, that doesn’t tell you everything as there are many different variables, including the fact that they were playing behind different backlines and under different managers, but it shows Cech’s clear decline as a goalkeeper.

Leno has already said he wouldn’t have a guilty conscience if he were to be picked ahead of Cech for the final:

“I have great respect for Petr, and we get along very well. He deserves all credit, and I treat him well. But it’s clear that I’m a competitor, I always want to play, especially in a final.”

“Therefore, it would be the completely wrong time to have a guilty conscience. I’m certainly not going to say ‘I’d rather not play’. I’m keen to play. That’s my mindset.”

Whether Emery can take the emotion out of the decision quite as easily, it remains to be seen. The Spaniard will be very aware of taking away the Czech veteran’s last game of professional football if he does bench the keeper.

The fact he has been selected as first choice in the majority of European games would also make it a very tough call, but he would surely understand the decision as he is a professional and would want to put the team first ahead of his personal ambitions.

It would be a bold move, one I think Emery probably won’t make, but replacing Cech with Leno for the final on Wednesday would be logical based on the performances from the two goalkeepers this season.