Aaron Ramsdale can prove he is ready to take the England No 1 shirt from Jordan Pickford this weekend.
That is the view of Arsenal great Paul Merson, who believes Ramsdale needs a bounceback game after his mistake in Wednesday's 2-0 loss to Liverpool. Ramsdale let a soft goal in as the Gunners lost at the Emirates but has a chance to redeem himself against Aston Villa today.
And if he comes through Merson says he should start ahead of Pickford in England's two upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. Writing in his Daily Star column, the former Arsenal and England forward said: "Ramsdale gets a chance to show this weekend if he's ready to take the England No 1 spot.
"It was poor goalkeeping from him against Liverpool. Don't get beaten at your near post. But I don't think there's a lot between Ramsdale and Pickford at all. And I don't think Pickford's place is safe. He could be playing in the Championship for Everton next season.
"It's okay saying someone will buy him but all the best teams have a good keeper already. Ramsdale needs experience and might as well play in these England friendlies. Ramsdale hasn't made too many mistakes. It's not so long ago, before he joined Arsenal, that he was letting in goals left, right and centre for Bournemouth and Sheffield United.
"So you can see how far he's come that we're shocked when he makes a mistake like he did against Liverpool. We thought he'd cut those kinds of things out of his game. Now we'll see on Saturday how he reacts. Does it affect him or does he come out still for crosses, dominate his box? It's a hard job being a goalie. Is he ready to be England No 1? I'd like to see how he responds to making that mistake."
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Merson reckons Ramsdale just needs to make sure he doesn't fall into the trap his old team-mate David James used to. The former Liverpool, Portsmouth and England netminder earned the cruel nickname Calamity James for his habit of being too erratic after making a mistake.
And Merson said: "That's the test. Do you keep on playing your normal game or do you try and do too much? Is he going to try and make up for it by trying too hard to do something special? I played with David James. He was an unbelievable keeper.
"But if he made a mistake sometimes he would try to make up for it by doing something special and that's when it comes back to bite you. I think we'll know whether he's ready to be England's No 1 after this game. But if he comes through it, I would play him in the England friendlies."
