Sport nationArsenal have the ‘new Thierry Henry’ as Alan Shearer and Ian Wright send Edu transfer message
Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah came in for plenty of praise for his hat-trick against Sheffield United over the weekend
Arsenal star Eddie Nketiah has come in for plenty of praise over the weekend after impressing with his performance against Sheffield United. The Hale End academy product has been tasked with filling the void left by Gabriel Jesus after the Brazilian was confirmed to be injured for the next few weeks.
Nketiah has often done well to step in from the cold to provide a presence up front, finding the back of the net on a regular occasion. So far this season, the striker has five goals in ten Premier League games, with the latest clash against Sheffield United perhaps his best performance to date.
With a rotated side to face the struggling Blades, Nketiah opened the scoring in the first half after receiving a cross from Declan Rice and smashing the ball home. In the second half, his goal scoring instincts kicked in again as the forward pounced on a loose ball from a corner to double the lead.
Just moments later and the England international struck for a third time as he took aim from outside the box and found the top left corner. It completed an ideal hat-trick that could’ve been even more, had he not passed penalty duties to Fabio Vieira later in the match.
It has led to plenty of praise from former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who compared Nketiah to former Arsenal star Thierry Henry. Speaking to Betvictor, he said: “My star man this week is Eddie Nketiah. There’s been a lot of pressure on him this season, but he was superb at the weekend.
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“I know people will say it was Sheffield United at home, but he took his goals like a natural striker. The third one in particular, wow what a goal. With that number 14 on his back, it was like watching Thierry Henry. Well, almost!”
Nketiah was also topic of discussion on the BBC’s Match of the Day, with plenty of praise from Gary Lineker, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer. Lineker started by asking: “It was a first Premier League hat-trick for Arsenal for Eddie Nketiah and a reward perhaps for his perseverance?”
Wright replied: “I think so, yeah, especially coming into a team where there’s a lot of rotation and you’re not playing with the major first-team guys and you wanna be playing with the players that’s gonna be making you the chances. But what he [Nketiah] done today was brilliant, I thought he was fantastic today.”
Lineker continued: “I suppose he’s a squad player, but every club needs someone who can come in and do a job like that?”
Before Wright went into great detail on the place Nketiah fills within the squad and the discussions surrounding a new striker in January: “When you look at it and you think to yourself that Arsenal now, they’re challenging for trying to win the league, they’re in the Champions League, there was a time where we were worried he weren’t gonna sign [a new contract last summer] and in the end he did sign but you’re thinking ‘where else would he go to get the opportunity that he’s got now? You’ve got [Gabriel] Jesus ahead of him, people are talking about another striker, but at the same time he’s in there, coming in and doing a job that we need him to do and he’s done it, done it last season and he’s doing it again this season.”
Premier League record goalscorer Shearer added: “He’s a good player to come in there isn’t he? He’s unlikely to ever be the main man but you’re absolutely right, when you’re in a football club that’s challenging for honours, you need players of quality to come in and he is that and he’ll always be a threat.”
Arsenal have the ‘new Thierry Henry’ as Alan Shearer and Ian Wright send Edu transfer message
Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah came in for plenty of praise for his hat-trick against Sheffield United over the weekend
Arsenal star Eddie Nketiah has come in for plenty of praise over the weekend after impressing with his performance against Sheffield United. The Hale End academy product has been tasked with filling the void left by Gabriel Jesus after the Brazilian was confirmed to be injured for the next few weeks.
Nketiah has often done well to step in from the cold to provide a presence up front, finding the back of the net on a regular occasion. So far this season, the striker has five goals in ten Premier League games, with the latest clash against Sheffield United perhaps his best performance to date.
With a rotated side to face the struggling Blades, Nketiah opened the scoring in the first half after receiving a cross from Declan Rice and smashing the ball home. In the second half, his goal scoring instincts kicked in again as the forward pounced on a loose ball from a corner to double the lead.
Just moments later and the England international struck for a third time as he took aim from outside the box and found the top left corner. It completed an ideal hat-trick that could’ve been even more, had he not passed penalty duties to Fabio Vieira later in the match.
It has led to plenty of praise from former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who compared Nketiah to former Arsenal star Thierry Henry. Speaking to Betvictor, he said: “My star man this week is Eddie Nketiah. There’s been a lot of pressure on him this season, but he was superb at the weekend.
READ MORE: Jamal Musiala sends Arsenal wonderkid message amid transfer links
READ MORE: Arsenal handed huge twist in race to land Thomas Partey transfer replacement in January
“I know people will say it was Sheffield United at home, but he took his goals like a natural striker. The third one in particular, wow what a goal. With that number 14 on his back, it was like watching Thierry Henry. Well, almost!”
Nketiah was also topic of discussion on the BBC’s Match of the Day, with plenty of praise from Gary Lineker, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer. Lineker started by asking: “It was a first Premier League hat-trick for Arsenal for Eddie Nketiah and a reward perhaps for his perseverance?”
Wright replied: “I think so, yeah, especially coming into a team where there’s a lot of rotation and you’re not playing with the major first-team guys and you wanna be playing with the players that’s gonna be making you the chances. But what he [Nketiah] done today was brilliant, I thought he was fantastic today.”
Lineker continued: “I suppose he’s a squad player, but every club needs someone who can come in and do a job like that?”
Before Wright went into great detail on the place Nketiah fills within the squad and the discussions surrounding a new striker in January: “When you look at it and you think to yourself that Arsenal now, they’re challenging for trying to win the league, they’re in the Champions League, there was a time where we were worried he weren’t gonna sign [a new contract last summer] and in the end he did sign but you’re thinking ‘where else would he go to get the opportunity that he’s got now? You’ve got [Gabriel] Jesus ahead of him, people are talking about another striker, but at the same time he’s in there, coming in and doing a job that we need him to do and he’s done it, done it last season and he’s doing it again this season.”
Premier League record goalscorer Shearer added: “He’s a good player to come in there isn’t he? He’s unlikely to ever be the main man but you’re absolutely right, when you’re in a football club that’s challenging for honours, you need players of quality to come in and he is that and he’ll always be a threat.”
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