Stevie Nicol says Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal won’t win the Premier League title this season if Eddie Nketiah continues to play.
The Liverpool legend thinks that Arsenal can’t rely on Eddie Nketiah for goals and he is someone who is ‘inconsistent’ with his finishing, as he told ESPN.
With Gabriel Jesus still returning from injury, it has seen Mikel Arteta hand Nketiah the chance to lead the line.
The 24-year-old scored during Arsenal’s opening-day win against Nottingham Forest, whilst he drew a blank against Crystal Palace last time out, with his captain Martin Odegaard scoring from the spot.
From the two games that Nketiah has played, he hasn’t done much wrong, in fact, he has done his job and helped his team to a 100% start.
But many are still going to doubt whether the Englishman can lead them to glory at the end of the season, with Nicol sharing why he doesn’t think he can help Arsenal cross the line.
On whether Nketiah will get better: “I don’t know, he is what he is,” said Nicol. “He is one of those guys that is stuck between the very best and just a really good player.
“His finishing is a little inconsistent. I don’t think he is a guy you rely on to score goals, to win you the Premier League. If Nketiah plays all season, then they won’t win the league.
“We have seen what he is. He isn’t a guy who, in the next 12-18 months, will go from where he is now to being more composed in front of goal.”
Fuel for Nketiah
Last season, this same talk was happening around Nketiah when Jesus came back injured after the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
He had his moments, including that late winner against Manchester United, but some felt that he could have given more.
Given that the penalty-box poacher is still taking verbal hits, then surely he needs to use this as fuel to prove people wrong because he is being handed starts.
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