Congratulations to Martin Odegard- Arsenal’s superb captain who is on course to become the club’s legend has just matched a key record in the history of Arsenal- Mikel Arteta has fired warning to rival clubs after his captain broke a club record

Tottenham beware as Martin Odegaard proves Mikel Arteta right over Mesut Ozil Arsenal decision

Martin Odegaard has matched a key record of Mesut Ozil’s to justify Mikel Arteta in the decision he made after moving the former club record signing on

I was confident in the early days of watching Martin Odegaard perform for Arsenal that Mikel Arteta had made the perfect choice of player to take Arsenal forward from his predecessor, Mesut Ozil. The German international garnered quite the cult following and at the time any suggestions a player like the now club captain could take on that mantle were swiftly put away.

And by swiftly put away I mean delivered to my then Twitter account with a barrage of abusive terms that were a shock to the system in the early time writing about my beloved club after an article I wrote at the time praised the decison to switch from Ozil to Odegaard. Sadly, a regular state of affairs amongst sections of the fan base, even to this day.

Yet, what that whole experience revealed was that I was right to have those early thoughts on Odegaard. The player when he arrived lacked the goal contributions that he has added to his game since, but the energy and press he delivered was the indication of why he would work under Arteta, where Ozil seemingly could not.

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Odegaard scored the equaliser against Manchester United at the weekend within moments of the side conceding the opening goal. It was also his deflected shot which led to the corner that resulted in Declan Rice’s dramatic winner.

That goal though was the midfielder’s sixth against ‘Big Six’ opposition in the Premier League since his arrival in January of 2021. This levelled the number of Premier League goals Ozil scored against ‘Big Six’ sides.

Ozil reached his sixth in his 150th Premier League appearance in an infamous 3-3 draw with Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. He’d play 34 more league games for Arsenal, including 12 more ties against the ‘Big Six’ but failed to score.

Odegaard’s sixth goal came in his 91st Premier League appearance, his 25th league game against ‘Big Six’ sides. Ironically this is the same number of games against ‘Big Six’ opposition that Ozil had at his sixth goal.

This means we’ve reached an interesting stage in the ‘Ozil vs Odegaard’ discussion, for those that are keeping score. Odegaard has 12 attempts to score to beat Ozil’s record from now – nine will come before the end of the season.

The Norwegian loves a goal at home against Tottenham, having scored in two of the last three at the Emirates. Arsenal face Spurs in their second league game after the international break

Without question as a creator, Ozil is clear, and the numbers support this – from his time under Arsene Wenger at least. Under Arteta, the Spaniard prefers his forwards to be focused on goalscoring and he’s transformed the 24-year-old into a player who now takes the games into his hands for the benefit of his side.

He shoots more and scores more. He presses like his life depends on it and takes his role as captain extremely seriously, often seen whipping up the crowd noise at every opportunity.

Arsenal needed to evolve from what Ozil brought as his career began to fade towards the end of his time with the club, and Odegaard is proving time and time again why he was the correct choice. Far more than just a man pressing defences these days.