Arsenal’s number 24 was named by coach Mikel Arteta in the starting lineup in a squad with many changes when Gabriel Jesus, Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli were all absent.

Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka is completely absent due to injury.

Nelson was the beneficiary of Mikel Arteta’s team selection – and according to OptaJoe, he made his first appearance for the club in 1,358 days.

It means the winger has set a new record among continuously playing Arsenal players for the longest gap between starts, last appearing in the starting lineup in a match on July 2020.

Reiss Nelson made his first start for Arsenal in the Premier League since July 2020. However, he didn’t look like a player who wanted to prove something.

Many fans noticed Nelson’s lack of confidence and a huge amount of back passes so they had only one question.

julianbanks09: “Reiss Nelson why are you always going backwards?”

upthesteve: “Reiss Nelson is always quite eager to reverse the flow, why?”

DjangoKings: “Reiss Nelson shows no ambition on the ball bro. No willingness to take a risk and try something. Always looking for the safest ball possible.”

KingingBanting: “Reiss Nelson’s first action whenever he gets the ball is to turn back. C’mon Reiss, you’re better than that.”

ajbails: “I like Reiss Nelson but he’s got no end product. He hasn’t taken on anyone or made any penetrative runs. He either goes sideways or backwards and has a heavy touch.”

zorro95: “Wtf is Reiss doing always slowing down the momentum.”

WhoScored gave Nelson the lowest rating in the team 6.5. There was one incredible thing about Reiss Nelson’s passes though, he made 33 total passes and had a 100% success rate.

The backwards direction of his passes is a key for such a stat. It is almost impossible to have such a stat if you try to be creative and aggressive with your passing.

Although Nelson did not get the playing time he wanted, Arteta spoke at the signing of his importance to the Gunners team: “Reiss is a player I have admired since the first day I arrived This”.

“He has great ability and is an exciting attacking talent. Reiss knows how important he is to the team with his qualities.”

“It’s great that Reiss has committed his future to us – he knows this club very well, he grew up here and we look forward to enjoying many more great moments with Reiss.”