Martin Odegaard just played his first full match for Arsenal after injury. He was able to put on a superb performance and hence showed what exactly Mikel Arteta was missing. Gunners did dropped points but were far better than their recent games.
Arsenal were not the same with Odegaard in the middle. They lacked in final third and hence have dropped many points. Now that Odegaard is back, they will look to challenge again for the Premier League title.
The Norway international showed his high quality last night and picked one assist. Arsenal were looking very good in the final third but once again failed to capitalize on chances. Only if they had a more clinical striker, they would have claimed all the three important points.
Why is Martin Odegaard so important for Arsenal?
Odegaard was able to give the answer to above question with his performance against Chelsea last night. Along with the assist he dominated the middle of the park and was seen pulling the strings and controlling the tempo of the game.
Firstly, he completed 32 passes with 92% accuracy. He created the most chances (4) in the match. His two chances were big chances on which Arsenal failed to capitalize. Odegaard had one shot but it was blocked by Chelsea’s player.
Odegaard then had 52 touches with 4 passes in final third and 100% crossing accuracy. He also won 1 tackle and made 4 recoveries. Lastly, Arsenal captain won 3 ground duels and won one free kick for his side too. All stats are as per FOTMOB.
This is what Arsenal were lacking in the recent days, the creativity. No one was able to step in the boots of captain and hence Arsenal struggled. Now that Odegaard is back, Arsenal will feel like their title hopes are revived.
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