Arsenal faced some challenges from Crystal Palace in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarterfinal.
A late header from Eddie Nketiah made for a nerve-wracking finish inside the Emirates Stadium, while a goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead after just three minutes when Jakub Kiwior made a mistake. In the end, Arsenal prevailed and advanced to the Carabao Cup semi-finals thanks to a brilliant hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus.
Even though they advanced to the round of four, it seems that Mikel Arteta was not entirely satisfied with the starting lineup he used, as he had to use Martin Odegaard, William Saliba, and Bukayo Saka to finally defeat Crystal Palace.
In order to strengthen the depth of his team, the Spaniard may want to make some additions during the January transfer window, and Mateta impressed us.
An excellent addition to Arsenal would be Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Arteta lacks a striker like the Frenchman, whose gangly 6′ 5″ stature makes him tower over most defenders.
Despite his stature, Mateta still has a surprising amount of speed and is incredibly effective in front of goal. On Wednesday, he only had one chance against the Gunners, but he easily scored it after holding off Kiwior.
too often, as seen during Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Everton in the Premier League, Arsenal create chances that are wasted. 13 shots were taken against the Toffees, with eight of those missing the target.
In contrast, Mateta, who Darren Bent prefers to Darwin Nunez, is ruthless, ending the 2023/24 campaign with the best conversion rate of any player in the Premier League – finishing off a whopping 63% of his chances, scoring 16 goals in 35 Premier League outings.
That tally would have seen the Crystal Palace No.14 finish as Arsenal’s top scorer alongside Saka – on a day where the likes of Kai Havertz and Jesus are struggling to find joy, a wildcard option like Mateta would provide Arteta with a brand new attacking dimension.
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