Arsenal: How Martin Odegaard can lift Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino against Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Odegaard’s return to fitness could make the difference for Arsenal in more than one way

Given Martin Odegaard joined Real Madrid at the age of 16, he is no stranger to pressure.

An ankle problem sustained playing for Norway at the start of September forced the midfielder to miss 12 games and Arsenal have faltered without him.

Saka and Odegaard have a close relationship on and off the pitch

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

The Gunners are nine points off leaders Liverpool after 11 games and no team has gone on to win the title from this far back at this stage of the season.

Mikel Arteta is not expecting Odegaard to wave a magic wand and transform Arsenal’s season, but it is hard to escape the feeling that his return will fix a lot of their problems.

The fact he has spent the past 10 days at Arsenal’s training base - and not away with Norway - is an added bonus and the 25-year-old is ready to play a leading role during the busy festive period.

The biggest area where Arsenal will feel Odegaard’s return is in attack and, specifically, when it comes to creativity.

Despite his injury lay-off he has created 62 chances from open play in the Premier League since the turn of the year - more than any other player. Cole Palmer ranks second after creating 59 chances from open play.

Odegaard will hope to spark Arsenal’s attack into life and no one will be more thankful to see him back than Bukayo Saka.

The pair have a close relationship, on and off the pitch, and their understanding of each other’s games has been crucial to Arsenal’s success.

Indeed, in the Premier League last season they created 40 open-play chances for each other - more than any other pair of players.

It is not just in attack, though, that Arteta will expect to reap the rewards of Odegaard returning.

His defensive output can often be overlooked, but he is vital in the way that Arsenal set up.

Odegaard leads Arsenal’s press and coordinates when his team-mates should pounce on their opponents.

Before his injury, he had caused 180 turnovers since the start of last season - more than any other Premier League player at the time.

Arsenal’s defence has stuttered recently and they are on a run of seven Premier League games without a clean sheet.

Before that, they had kept three in their first four games and Odegaard was involved in two of those.

Odegaard will enable Arsenal to defend from the front better and the fact they will now be back in their preferred 4-3-3 formation should help, too.

In his absence, the Gunners shifted to a 4-4-2 system that was spearheaded by Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.

A return to a 4-3-3 will see players back in a shape that are used to and should also help get the best out of summer signing Mikel Merino, who has had a slow start to life at Arsenal.

Merino did not have a full pre-season after helping Spain win the Euros in the summer and his move to Arsenal dragging into the middle of August.

When the midfielder did join, he suffered a shoulder injury in his very first training session.

Merino has had a slow start to life at Arsenal

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

The 28-year-old is getting up to speed and his cameo off the bench against Chelsea was promising. For the first time, Merino played alongside Odegaard and there were glimpses of the partnership they struck up during their season together at Real Sociedad four years ago.

“It is always tough when you are missing players like Martin Odegaard,” Merino said afterwards. “He is the captain, he is one of the main players. It’s obvious that when we have him, we are a better team.”

For all the statistics that point to how much Arsenal have missed Odegaard, there are also the intangibles.

He has matured into a true leader since being given the armband two years ago and that has been missed for the Gunners during their recent tough run.

Odegaard may not be the loudest but he leads by example, as shown by the fact he got through 90 minutes at Chelsea on his first start in two months.

He has tried to stay close to the team while out, taking part in meetings and being in the dressing room after matches.

Now, though, he can finally make a difference on the pitch again.