Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is confident Eddie Nketiah will score goals with Crystal Palace ahead of his return to the Emirates Stadium tomorrow night.
England striker Nketiah graduated from Arsenal’s academy and spent seven years at the club before moving from north to south London in the summer for a fee of £25 million.
However, he had a difficult time at Selhurst Park, scoring just once in 13 appearances.
Nketiah looked good after coming on as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 3-1 win over rivals Brighton and Glasner hopes it can give his Palace career a new lease of life.
He said: “He is very ambitious and works hard. He was set back by injury and during his injury the team started winning games and playing better and better.
“He, along with Daichi Kamada, had a really positive influence on Brighton because we were really struggling at the start of the second half and couldn’t get any pressure on the ball. As soon as they came in they worked really hard and we got more control of the game.
“He got an assist for (Ismaila) Sarr and also had a great chance himself.
“You can see that he maybe doesn’t have the greatest confidence and that’s completely normal when you’re a striker because he wants to score. In my experience, if a player works as hard as they do, they will be rewarded.
“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 undergoes a scan 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 role tomorrow
Although he did not commit to starting Nketiah in tomorrow’s EFL Cup quarter-final, Glasner said he would start, adding: “I don’t know who will play and who will be in the starting line-up. We have to make two or three decisions. We don’t know if Ebs (Eze) can play and since one or two players are a bit tired, we still have time to decide. I’m sure Eddie will get minutes in his old stadium.”
Palace have overcome a poor 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 difficult task.
“We still have a lot of games left but winning at the Emirates would be a great achievement for all of us,” he said.
“It’s not a place that Crystal Palace wins every year so it would be a huge 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.”
“We have everything we need before a game, but the most important thing is that we show it on the pitch tomorrow.”
Palace will definitely be without Adam Wharton while Daniel Munoz is suspended.
