‘If it was me’: David Seaman says he’d start 24-year-old up-front for Arsenal vs Newcastle

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Arsenal face Newcastle this weekend in what is a massive game in terms of the race for the top four and the title.

The Gunners come into this one off the back of a 5-0 win against Sheffield United in the league, but a 3-1 loss to West Ham in the Carabao Cup in midweek has raised some questions about Mikel Arteta’s team selection.

Arteta has some key decisions to make in terms of who to pick to start this game, and one player who he has to make a big call on is Eddie Nketiah.

The striker scored a hat-trick last week, but he wasn’t at his best against West Ham and with Gabriel Jesus edging closer to full fitness, his place in the team may be at risk.

However, speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, David Seaman has made it clear that if it were up to him, Nketiah would be starting this weekend’s game against Newcastle.

Nketiah to start

Seaman gave his verdict on the striker.

“I would imagine he’ll go with Eddie, because of the confidence that he has got. His goals were brilliant. His hat-trick goal was a great finish, first time strike, top corner. So if it was me, I’d probably go with Eddie. Jesus can then be there, because Eddie can have a tendency to not be involved in the game too much,” Seaman said.

Has to start

It would be utterly bizarre if Nketiah didn’t start this game.

We can’t think of a single instance where a striker has been dropped after netting a hat-trick in a Premier League game, and that shouldn’t change here.

Yes, he’s not the best big-game performer, and he can be wasteful, but he’s in form and feeling good, dropping him now would set his confidence back massively.

Nketiah simply has to start here in our view.