Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has expressed how important it is for the Gunners to win Group A of the Europa League. The Gunners go into Thursday night's clash with PSV Eindhoven on nine points, having won all three of their opening games.
Mikel Arteta's side strengthened their position in the group with a 1-0 victory over Bodo/Glimt in Norway last week, and three points over PSV will see them qualify for the next round of the competition. The goal is to qualify as group winners, which will mathematically require at least one more undefeated matchday with the Dutch outfit only two points behind in the table.
Finishing first in the group means that the Gunners will go straight into the Round of 16, whereas those in second place have to get past an additional round of the competition. Odegaard wrote about the importance of this in his latest Arsenal matchday column, as seen on Arsenal.com.
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"It's back to the Europa League tonight to play PSV, and when you look at the names in the group, you would say that they are probably our toughest opponents in the group," he said. "I think Bodo are strong at home, so it will be interesting to see what happens when PSV play there, but for sure, it will be a big test for us tonight.
"They have scored so many goals this season, especially in the last few weeks, and they have a lot of quality up front. It's a very dangerous team, and it will be a completely different type of game again that we need to prepare for.
"We are in a strong position in the group after three games, but we can't relax because our aim is to not just qualify but win the group too. If we can do that, we know that we will basically miss out on the play-off round and then play later in the new year. It was our main goal before we started, and it still is now, so tonight's game is very important to achieve that.
"We have to get qualification first and then think about the next round, but if you look at the sides that could come into the competition from the Champions League, then you know there will be a lot of quality in the Europa League. The challenge to win the tournament is great, but it's a good challenge for us, that's what we want to do – fight to win trophies. That's the goal, and that's why every match is so important for us."
Odegaard's words imply that Arteta is going to take PSV as seriously as everyone else. Whilst he's consistently rotated his starting teams in recent weeks, he's always named a strong squad in the Europa League, and it doesn't look as though that will change just yet.
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