Nelson Feels “very confident” Arsenal can fight for Carabao Cup Title

Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson feels “very confident” that the team can fight for the Carabao Cup title, following their Third Round victory at Brentford. 

Nelson struck an eighth minute winner from Eddie Nketiah’s pass to seal Arsenal’s passage to the Fourth Round at the expense of their London rivals, although the Gunners will again face local opposition in the next round as a trip to West Ham awaits them.

“It’s good man, it’s nice to be back out there on the pitch, nice to be starting with some familiar faces, Emile, Eddie,” commented Nelson on starting alongside Emile Smith Rowe and Nketiah which left him with a “very confident feeling to win, get a goal, and delighted to be in the next round.”

Nelson also praised Nketiah for his involvement in the winning goal as he explained: “I know Eddie likes to press, he’s aggressive upfront, baggy touch from their centre-back and Eddie pounced on it, kind of laid it off to me, but I thought the defender got there before me, I was a bit upset – but I carried on with my movement and I got it, slotted it into the bottom corner.”

Smith Rowe meanwhile made his 100th appearance for Arsenal in West London which left Nelson feeling “really pleased,” for a teammate who he hailed as “… a great player, great lad and one of the best players I’ve played with, been through the whole rankings with him”.

Nelson however was disappointed that Smith Rowe had failed to score after having “… done a nice bit of trickery in the box and should’ve scored a hundred percent,” as he singled out the 23 year-old for excellent gameplay inside the box.

Mohamed Elneny meanwhile made his long-awaited return from a knee injury which Nelson has welcomed, as he iterated that the Egypt international “… deserves every bit he gets, and today got a great reception from the fans, he nearly scored at the end as well so it was good.”

Arsenal will now head to Bournemouth on Saturday (30 September) in the Premier League off the back of a challenging London derby, which Nelson is pleased about, because it can be “hard” to come into the team as a fringe player but he believes that they “can take it all the way,” fighting for trophies.