Martin Ødegaard played a key role in Arsenal’s statement win over Aston Villa on Tuesday. With him in this kind of form, there may be no stopping his side in the title race.
A blip. A wobble. A mini-crisis. Call it what you want, Arsenal went into Tuesday night’s top-of-the-table battle with Aston Villa after a shaky few weeks.
With defensive injuries causing problems at the back, there were dropped points against Sunderland, Chelsea and Villa, before unconvincing wins over rock-bottom Wolves and Everton, and they needed a penalty shootout to beat Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup. Even against Brighton at the weekend, when they had been fully in control for much of the game, they ended up holding on at the end to see out a 2-1 win.
It meant that, coming into this week’s return game against Villa, the gap at the top had been cut to two points. Unai Emery’s in-form side were a further point back and knew they could level with Arsenal if they were to repeat their win at Villa Park earlier this month.
News on Tuesday afternoon that Declan Rice would be missing for the first time this season sent nerves jangling among the fanbase that their slightly off-colour team would struggle against top-quality opposition. Many at the club are worried that history will repeat itself this season and Arsenal will fall away in the title race.
So, a positive result was needed as much as a statement, but in the end, the players provided both. And captain Martin Ødegaard was integral.
There had been some doubts about his ongoing value to the team. With Eberechi Eze joining in the summer and shining, most notably in match-winning performances against rivals Tottenham and former club Palace, some fans were beginning to wonder whether Ødegaard deserved his starting spot any longer. A series of injuries disrupted his start to the season, and his very best form eluded him for months on end.
However, both against Brighton at the weekend and Villa in midweek, Ødegaard was the best player on the pitch, proving his worth to this team beyond any doubt.
There should be no questioning the significance of Gabriel Magalhães’ return at centre-back. In his first start since 8 November, the Brazilian opened the scoring from a corner and played a key role in shutting Villa out. It wasn’t until second-half stoppage time, long after he had been withdrawn, that Villa had their first shot on target of the game.
But in the absence of Arsenal’s best ball-winner in midfield in Rice, Ødegaard had even more responsibility than usual, and he thrived.
His contribution was perhaps best summed up by his sensational work in setting up Martín Zubimendi to double Arsenal’s lead, taking the game away from Villa minutes after Gabriel had broken the deadlock.
First, Ødegaard did what Rice normally does so well and snapped into a tackle on Jadon Sancho, winning the ball as Villa tried to build through midfield to regain a foothold in the game. He then charged forward in possession, drew Youri Tielemans in and slipped a perfectly weighted through ball into Zubimendi’s path. There was just enough on it to tempt Emiliano Martínez off his line, and the Spaniard poked the ball into the corner of the net. From there, there was no way back for Villa.
That assist was one of the seven line-breaking passes Ødegaard played over the course of the evening, which was more than any other teammate. For Villa, only right-back Lamare Bogarde played more, but seven of his eight broke Arsenal’s attacking line, while six of Ødegaard’s seven broke Villa’s midfield or defensive line. In other words, the Norwegian’s contributions – quite naturally – came in much more advanced and threatening areas of the pitch.
Indeed, no player on the pitch could top his six line-breaking passes in the attacking third, or his three into the opposition’s penalty area.
These numbers shouldn’t really have come as much of a surprise. Despite injury issues hampering his progress and restricting his game time this season – he has played just 718 of a possible 1,710 minutes in the Premier League (42.0%), with 13 teammates playing more – he has made more line-breaking passes into the penalty area than any other Arsenal player (16).
Clearly, Ødegaard does things no other player in the squad can. Eze is a wonderful talent and scores goals in volumes that Ødegaard doesn’t, but he isn’t, and shouldn’t be, considered a perfect direct replacement. In 916 minutes of action this season, Eze has played just two line-breaking passes into the opposition’s penalty area. It was telling on Tuesday that Eze remained an unused substitute as Arsenal romped to a statement win in the title race.
There are aspects of his game that Ødegaard still needs to improve. His opener against Brighton at the weekend was his first goal in any competition this season, while his assist for Zubimendi was only his third of the campaign, and first since early November. A player as technically able and creative as him should arguably be troubling the scoreboard more often than he does.
But now 27 years old, he is developing into a more rounded player, one who has taken on the responsibility of the armband impressively, particularly in how hard he works. He presses brilliantly, averaging more possession regains in the final third (1.1 per 90) than any other player in the Premier League to play at least 600 minutes, while his total of seven tackles, interceptions and fouls on Tuesday was topped by only one player on either side (Zubimendi, with eight).
Ødegaard wasn’t the main story. It was an Arsenal win that firmly reasserted their title credentials and conclusively left that blip, wobble, crisis, or whatever we’re calling it, well in the past.
But with Ødegaard showing he can put in captain’s performances like this one, there should be no doubting how significant he could be in Arsenal’s quest to finally, once again, become Premier League champions.
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