Arsenal: 3 reasons why we should all believe in Eddie Nketiah

2. Better by association

One reason why I’ve not yet been nervous about Nketiah starting up top is because there’s just so much quality around him. In every match, he’s flanked by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe with Mesut Ozil floating behind him.

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He’s got Hector Bellerin and Bukayo Saka whipping crosses into the box and meanwhile, all Nketiah has to do is be there to receive the ball and turn it home. Well, more than that. He has to get involved, but as we saw against Everton in particular, he absolutely was. With just one match to build on against Newcastle, Nketiah improved drastically, and a large part of that comes down to understanding his teammates and what they’re capable of and not trying to do too much.

The opportunities will fall at Nketiah’s feet left and right if he’s just present in the attack. We saw that with Saka’s assist to him. That was a perfect ball, all Nketiah had to do was be there. Now granted, it was still a great finish, but the first step was reading the play and adjusting. He did that.

Growing alongside such elite talent is only going to serve to make him better. And the longer we give him to do that, the better he gets.

Finally, No.1.