With Odegaard back from injury, could this put Arsenal back in the title fight or is it too late?
Arsenal’s star player has been injured for two months, but he has finally returned and has played the last three games, acquiring two assists and changing the dynamics of the team.
With his individual performances at a usual high, Odegaard has set the gunners back to winning ways, securing comfortable victories in their last two games.
With Odegaard returning, Arsenal look like a much better team, with them just coming off a 5-1 win against Sporting (who are unbeaten in their league this season.)
In that game they looked like the old Arsenal of the last couple of seasons in which they were incredible.
Odegaard was the star of the show, with him creating most of Arsenal’s chances and running the midfield.
Although he didn’t score, he improved the team massively.
With Odegaard in the team, Saka looked even better, with the two having the 3rd most passes between players in 1 match this season.
This shows Odegaard plays a big role in the team as Saka had a great game, getting one goal and one assist, showing how much Odegaard helps his team perform better.
This came after a tricky spell for Arsenal without their star midfielder, in which they won only one game out of five.
At that stage, the title fight was looking unlikely, with Manchester City and Liverpool moving clear at the top.
However in recent times things have been looking more hopeful for Arsenal as one of their title contenders, Man City, haven’t won for 6 games in a row putting Arsenal just one point behind them.
This week Man City are playing Liverpool, Arsenal’s other title rival, which could swing Arsenal back ahead of Man city.
With Man City in Arsenal’s sights and looking very catchable, that leaves Liverpool as their main threat.
The reds have been in fine form, only having lost one game all season.
This is where it will get challenging for Arsenal because although Arsenal have regained their form, Liverpool have a healthy lead at the top, with a gap of nine points to Arsenal.
Even with Arsenal looking back to good form, it is still Liverpool with the advantage and looking like the clear favourites, but anything can happen in football.
This weekend it will be advantage Arsenal, as Liverpool and Man City face off against each other and it could see Arsenal either overtake Man City or close the gap to Liverpool.
If Liverpool win, Arsenal will overtake Man City and go second in the league.
If Man City win, then Liverpool’s advantage will have decreased giving Man City and Arsenal the chance to catch back up and open the title fight wide open.
With Odegaard looking back to his best and Arsenal like a team in good form, do they have what it takes to challenge for the title or has the start to the season made it too late for a title charge?
