Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is confident the goals will come for Eddie Nketiah ahead of his return to the Emirates Stadium with Crystal Palace tomorrow night.
England striker Nketiah came through the Arsenal academy and spent seven years at the club before making the switch from north to south London over the summer for a reported fee of £25million.
He has found it tough at Selhurst Park, though, scoring just once in 13 appearances.
Nketiah made a good impression after coming on as a second-half substitute during Sunday’s 3-1 win at rivals Brighton and Glasner hopes that can kickstart his Palace career.
He said: “He is very ambitious and working hard. He was thrown back with an injury and during his injury the team started to win games and started playing better and better.
“He had a really positive impact at Brighton along with Daichi Kamada because we struggled heavily at the beginning of the second half, we didn’t get pressure on the ball. As soon as they came in they worked very hard and we got the game more under control.
“He got an assist for [Ismaila] Sarr and had a big chance himself as well.
“You can see that he maybe doesn’t have the highest confidence and that’s completely normal when you’re a striker because he wants to score. My experience is, if a player works as hard as he is working then he will get his reward.
“It will be a great story if he scores at the Emirates.”
Adam Wharton remains out with a groin injury and Daniel Munoz is suspended while Eberechi Eze will be assessed ahead of Crystal Palace’s EFL Cup quarter-final at Arsenal 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Xnn6gwbDMm
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 17, 2024
Nketiah will play a part tomorrow
While he did not commit to starting Nketiah in tomorrow’s EFL Cup quarter-final, Glasner did say he would make an appearance, adding: “I don’t know who will play and who will start. We have two or three decisions to make. We don’t know if Ebs [Eze] can play and with one or two players a little bit tired – we still have time to decide. I’m sure Eddie will get minutes in his old stadium.”
Palace have overcome a slow start to the season and are unbeaten in five games.
The Eagles are full of confidence but Glasner accepts a trip to Arsenal is always a tough assignment.
“We still have many games to play, but it would be a big achievement for all of us to win at the Emirates,” he said.
“It is not a place that Crystal Palace is winning every year, so it would be a big achievement.
“It will be a tough and intense 90 minutes, but we have confidence, we feel ready, we are in good shape and we are in a good mood in the dressing room.
“Everything we need before a game, we have, but the most important thing is that we show this tomorrow on the pitch.”
Palace will definitely be without Adam Wharton while Daniel Munoz is suspended.
