With Pierre-Emerick and Alexandre Lacazette monopolising the centre-forward position, and the rise of Saka, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli for the other forward positions at Arsenal, it has been extremely difficult for Eddie Nketiah to get even a sniff of first-team football this season.
But this weekend it was revealed that Aubameyang has been suffering from malaria, which has definitely affected his form and fitness, and then Lacazette was taken off during the weekend’s game against Fulham, and Mikel Arteta did not seem too confident that h the Frenchman will be returning to the side very quickly.
The coach told Arsenal.com: “We’ll have to see [how long he will be out for],” he said. “We’ll have the scan, probably on Tuesday, to see the extent of the injury and the timeline for it. But I don’t know.
“I cannot tell if it’s going to be a week, two weeks, five weeks or six weeks. He felt something in his hamstring and we don’t know the extent of it. We are all disappointed because we all know the moment that Laca was on.”
Yes Laca has been on fire lately, with a brace against both Sheffield United and Slavia Prague, but this could be the chance that Nketiah has been waiting for. After not playing since the New Year, he replaced Lacazette for the last 20 minutes against Fulham, and popped up with the last-gasp 96th minute equaliser.
As Arteta said after the game: “It was great [to see him score], that’s why he came on and that’s why it’s a great option that we have with him,”
“He always shows that real desire to score goals. I think he had another two big chances to score and he put one in the back of the net.”
So it is likely that Eddie will now start against Everton, and this could be his big chance to show Arteta what he is worth as a starter rather than a supersub. I really hope that he grabs this chance with both hands and grab a couple of goals, for himself as well as the team.
Come on Eddie! Here is your big chance!