Arsenal Martin Odegaard Arsenal
Martin Odegaard to EPL side Arsenal
Arsenal will face PSG in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final and if the Gunners want to turn around the 1-0 deficit then Martin Odegaard will need to be at his best on Wednesday night.
Odegaard has been the creative spark for Arsenal in their previous three seasons and this campaign, the Norwegian international has made 15 goal contributions in 41 appearances for the club. He’s provided three assists in his previous four appearances but in the first leg, he went completely missing.
Everyone was expecting a repeat of his superb second-leg performance in the Round of 16 vs Real Madrid but instead, the 26-year-old was chasing shadows against PSG last week. Martin Odegaard had a passing accuracy of 88% in the first leg with an xG of just 0.08. During the 89th minutes he was on the pitch, the midfielder had only 45 touches of the ball, out of which just one came inside the PSG box.
He couldn’t complete his dribbles, couldn’t deliver crosses as PSG found the perfect way to neutralise him and most of the times, he would end up giving possession straight back to the away side.
Martin Odegaard stats vs PSG in the 1st leg:
Minutes played: 89
Chances Created: 1
Tackles won: 1/4
Ground duels won: 3/8
Passes into the final third: 1
PSG managed to keep Martin Odegaard quite even though Arsenal were playing at home so things are going to get a lot tougher at Parc des Princes. The French side have conceded only five goals at home in the Champions League this season and if Odegaard cannot find a way to dominate then Arsenal can very well be knocked out.
Arsenal’s defence will play a key role in shutting down PSG’s frontline but it’s Odegaard, Saka and co who need to be on the front foot. PSG are already one goal up so they do not need to take any unwanted risks.
Not counting the Community Shield, Arsenal have won just the one FA Cup under Mikel Arteta’s guidance during the 2019/20 season and if they cannot beat PSG, it will be another trophyless season for the Gunners. The overall atmosphere amongst the fans has been massively positive but a few groans and murmurs will start if Arsenal are knocked out of the Champions League this week.