Oliver Glasner explains why Crystal Palace don’t miss Eberechi Eze ahead of Arsenal clash | Football

Eberechi Eze is about to play against his former club for the primary time when Arsenal tackle Crystal Palace within the Premier League on Sunday.

But while Oliver Glasner was filled with praise for his former player, the Eagles manager claims he’s not missing the England international an excessive amount of after his mixed begin to life on the Emirates.

The attacking midfielder returned to his boyhood club in August, leaving south London in a transfer price as much as £67.5million, though he’s not hit the bottom running.

Eze has three assists in his first 12 Gunners appearances, including one within the 4-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid through the week, together with his only goal coming against Port Vale within the Carabao Cup.

While hardly playing badly, more was expected of the 27-year-old, while Palace haven’t been negatively impacted by his departure, losing just one in every of their eight league games

In reality, the Eagles look more creative than ever, boasting probably the most expected goals within the top-flight, a fact Glasner was keen to indicate when asked about Eze in his pre-match press conference.

‘Sometimes, especially after such an emotional game or such a disappointing defeat, it’s good to take a look at the facts,’ the Austrian said.

‘I all the time take a look at the stats and we’ve got the best xG within the Premier League. Crystal Palace, after selling Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze and bringing in Yeremy Pino and Ismaila Sarr, have the best xG in the entire Premier League in front of City, Arsenal, Liverpool and all these teams.

‘This can be a credit to the team, to not the individuals. The entire team. It just shows how much effort the team put in each game.

‘Yes, in fact, everybody who likes Crystal Palace would love to have Michael and Ebs still within the squad. But on the opposite side, it shows that we may create enough probabilities to attain goals.’

While Palace’s creativity is outstanding, their poor ending has grow to be an issue, most recently once they embarrassingly lost 1-0 to Cypriot club AEK Larnaca within the Conference League despite dominating the sport.

And that’s one aspect where it might be argued they’re missing Eze, who last season scored 14 goals including the winner within the FA Cup final.

‘In Eberechi, we lost a player who could determine games on his own with one situation,’ Glasner added.

‘We lost a improbable player and much more improbable person. Looking forward to seeing him, but no friendship through the game.’

Ahead of the London derby, Mikel Arteta also said the match could be a terrific occasion for Eze: ‘It’s an enormous game for us and last season we dropped some points.

The main focus is on that. For Ebs it’s going to be a really special match. But the main target is on the team.

‘There’s something in your tummy, obviously. There may be history, there are a number of emotions, there are very close relationships. For my part, when you step in there and also you go together with that mindset, you could have much more will to win.

‘Because, as well, you made that call here to achieve success and to attain something else in your profession. I’m sure Ebs are going to be ready for that.’

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