Micah Richards completely disagrees with Gary Lineker's Max Dowman prediction at Arsenal

Everyone is excited about Max Dowman at Arsenal.

The 16-year-old is one of the greatest products of the Gunners’ academy, and he has impressed in almost every opportunity he has received.

Mikel Arteta is being cautious with Dowman and rightly so. He is still very young, and there’s just no reason to throw him into difficult games on a consistent basis.

However, Gary Lineker believes that is going to change, but Micah Richards thinks he is wrong.

Gary Lineker and Micah Richards disagree on Max Dowman

Arsenal fans want to see Dowman get more opportunities in the first team.

The young Englishman has played just twice for the first team this season. The first was in the Carabao Cup against Ipswich and more recently at Brighton in the 3-0 defeat.

Even though he is very likely to play more than he did last season, Dowman has Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard starting in his two positions. That makes it incredibly difficult.

Yet, Lineker has predicted that the 16-year-old will end up becoming a regular for Arsenal by the end of the 2026/27 season. Richards, however, disagrees for one particular reason.

On the Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “This is just a little prediction. I think he’ll be in as a regular before the end of the season.”

Richards replied: “No, no, I disagree, only because – not in terms of ability – I think, on ability, really good point. Not just to nurture him either.

“The way Arteta wants his players to do the defensive side, that requires discipline. So to stick a 16-year-old in to do that, I think it’d be very difficult.”

Mikel Arteta may have dropped a big hint on Max Dowman’s opportunities this season

We are inclined to agree with Richards here. Dowman doesn’t quite have the consistent defensive discipline yet to be a regular starter in Mikel Arteta’s system.

Arsenal are the best out-of-possession team in the world, and the Gunners boss demands a lot of work off the ball from his players, irrespective of their position.

However, against Brighton, Arteta brought on Dowman ahead of Noni Madueke, even though the latter is far more experienced and better defensively.

That may just be a hint that Dowman could end up being Saka’s back-up in the coming months. If that happens, Lineker’s prediction that he will play regular football may well come true.

However, we still think Dowman is some way off being a guaranteed starter ahead of either Saka or Odegaard in the Arsenal first team.