Arsenal have been handed a key boost ahead of the North London Derby after the international break, as it seems Martin Odegaard has recovered from his most recent injury problems. He was ruled out of the Gunners’ last Premier League fixture against Brentford.
However, the Norwegian started the match for his country in the Nations League against Slovenia on Saturday evening. A clear sign that he has recovered from his injury issues.
While it gives Arteta a boost in terms of his team selection ahead of the major clash against Tottenham on Saturday October 1, it also could mean that Fabio Vieira loses his place in the side despite his impressive impact in recent weeks.
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Vieira marked his full Arsenal debut In the Premier League with a stunning strike against Brentford, which put his side 3-0 up in the second half of the match at the G-Tech Community Stadium. The midfielder had a disrupted start to life in North London following a knock suffered on Portugal duty at the start of the summer, but announced his presence in resounding fashion in West London on Sunday. His place in the starting lineup came as a result of an injury to Odegaard and the 22-year-old took his chance in convincing fashion.
However, Odegaard’s return from injury would likely see Vieira go back to the substitutes' bench, due to the fact that the Norwegian has been one of Arteta’s most important players in the past year, and having the club captain on the pitch for arguably the biggest match of the season seems a more viable option.
The fact that the Norwegian has already become the club captain at the age of 23 after only spending a year and a half in north London shows the faith that Arteta has in the midfielder. This is further backed up by the defensive responsibility Odegaard has off the ball, with the skipper successfully responding.
The Norwegian’s impact when not in possession of the ball is a major reason why Edu paid £35million to Real Madrid in 2021. Odegaard currently leads in Europe’s top five leagues for possessions won in the final third.
The Arsenal midfielder has won the ball back 11 times in the Premier League so far this campaign. Joe Aribo, Jack Harrison, Adrian Thomasson, and Jonathan Bamba all trail Odegaard by having won back possession of the ball on 10 occasions.
With Vieira still adapting to English football, Odegaard is certainly further ahead in his development. And with the club captain fit for the crucial match against Tottenham, it would seem likely that Odegaard comes back into the starting line-up at the expense of Vieira.
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