Gary Neville says 24-year-old Arsenal player was basically anonymous vs Manchester City

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Gary Neville has admitted that the way Manchester City now set up meant that Eddie Nketiah was virtually anonymous for Arsenal in their victory on Sunday.

Neville was speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast after the Gunners claimed a famous win at the Emirates, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring late on.

It was a goal that looked destined to never come. It was an incredibly frustrating day for the attacking players, with Eddie Nketiah one of those who really struggled to make an impact.

Certainly, Gary Neville felt that Manchester City made sure that it was a very quiet afternoon for the 24-year-old.

Gary Neville says Eddie Nketiah was anonymous against Manchester City

“I think all of us just need reminding that City play with four narrow defenders. And they’re bloody difficult to play against,” he told The Gary Neville Podcast.

“And then they had Rico Lewis sat in there with Bernardo Silva, and they brought Alvarez and Foden in narrow as well. So the game was so compact. And there was no space. There was nothing there really for Arsenal.

“They were living off scraps. We didn’t see anything of the centre forwards, Nketiah and Haaland, the whole game. I mean they were basically anonymous in the game.”

A missed opportunity for Arsenal striker

According to Whoscored, Nketiah had just 19 touches during his 75 minutes on the pitch. Leandro Trossard was the only starter for Arsenal to have fewer. And of those who played more than 45 minutes, Oleksandr Zinchenko had the second-fewest with 44 touches.

In fairness to Nketiah, Haaland only had 23 touches. And he played the full 90 minutes.

As Neville suggests, playing against Manchester City is so challenging. They had only conceded five league goals before the weekend.

So it may not have mattered too much who Arsenal had up front. But Nketiah would have been hoping to come up with another of his important goals to send a message to Mikel Arteta.

Nketiah has not been particularly impressive so far this season. And with Arsenal clearly going for the title again, they need a striker who is going to win games on their own.

Gabriel Jesus arguably has that ability. But Nketiah is yet to really prove that he is on that level. And that may leave Mikel Arteta with plenty to think about ahead of the January transfer window.

It was always going to be a tough assignment. But those are potentially the games Nketiah needs to make his mark in to show that he is good enough to lead the line for a title contender.