Crystal Palace’s only two wins this season have both come in the EFL Cup, beating Norwich 4-0 and QPR 2-1. Their Premier League season, however, has gotten off to a slower start, losing two and drawing two of their opening four fixtures.
This leaves Oliver Glasner’s side 16th in the Premier League after four games played, on two points, only one point from the relegation zone. However, it is very early days, and Glasner even pulled out a new formation in the second half against Leicester – their most recent Premier League game – deploying a 4-2-2-2 in the second half.
Eberechi Eze celebrates for Crystal Palace
Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada played as the attacking midfielders, with the ability to drift wide, but also come narrow, with Adam Wharton and Will Hughes behind them in the double pivot, leaving Jean-Philippe Mateta upfront alongside the Eagles’ new star, a certain Eddie Nketiah.
The striker has made an instant impression at Selhurst Park, moving on from pastures where he was perhaps underappreciated.
Eddie Nketiah at Arsenal
Nketiah came through the ranks at Arsenal, having been released by Chelsea in 2015. The young Englishman made 60 appearances across the various youth levels for the Gunners, scoring 46 goals, providing 11 assists, and totalling 4,349 minutes played.
Nketiah-Marquinhos-Arsenal
The striker then spent some time on loan at Championship side, Leeds United, during the 2019/20 season, making 19 appearances for the club where he was rarely selected from the start. He was an impact sub, however, scoring five goals and supplying one assist across 667 minutes.
Nketiah went on to make 168 senior appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, scoring 38 goals and providing seven assists in his 7,000 minutes played. However, having struggled to sustain a starting spot in the Arsenal XI, Alan Brazil claimed the striker was “not good enough” for the Gunners.
A move to Palace certainly made sense then.
Nketiah’s move to Palace
The 25-year-old striker will be keen to prove people wrong, securing a £30m move to Crystal Palace this summer, with a £25m initial fee, plus £5m worth of performance-related add-ons.
Nketiah has already opened his account for the Eagles, scoring in Palace’s 2-1 victory over QPR in the EFL Cup. The Englishman played 65 minutes, scoring one goal, having two shots on target, and making one key pass, in a successful evening for his side.
