Three things we learned from Arsenal win as Martin Odegaard sets unwanted record with latest injury | OneFootball

The Norwegian is set for yet another spell on the sidelines

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Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice scored as Arsenal beat West Ham 2-0 to make it four wins on the spin.

Rice found the net in the first half and Saka sealed the win after the break by slotting a penalty.

Arsenal dominated the Hammers, who did not have a shot on target, as they went top of the Premier League for the first time this season.

Odegaard’s injury woes continue

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard must be wondering quite what he has done to be on a run of luck like this bad.

For the third home Premier League game in a row, Odegaard was forced to come off before half-time due to injury.

In doing so, the Norwegian set an unwanted new record, becoming the first player in Premier League history to be substituted before half-time in three consecutive Premier League starts.

Earlier this season, it was a shoulder injury that had been troubling Odegaard after he awkwardly fell on it.

This time, it was a knee issue that struck him down after the midfielder innocuously banged it when tackling West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville.

Odegaard tried to carry on after receiving treatment, but it was clear that he was not running freely and Mikel Arteta was forced to take him off.

Unsurprisingly, you could see the frustration on Odegaard’s face as he headed down the tunnel for treatment.

Another blow: Martin Odegaard

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Rampaging Rice bosses the midfield

The added frustration of seeing Odegaard go off was that it denied us a proper look at an exciting midfield deployed by Arteta.

The Arsenal boss had boldly decided to play Eberechi Eze and Odegaard as two No8s, with Rice sitting behind them.

It looked bright in the little we saw of it, with Eze blazing a shot over the crossbar from just a few yards out.

When Odegaard went off, Arteta’s solution was to bring Martin Zubimendi on to play as a No6 and push Rice forward.

Restored to his usual No8 role, Rice was excellent and he helped the Gunners dominate the midfield.

The England star’s goal was also a result of him being pushed forward, with Rice arriving late in the box to smash home Eze’s saved effort.

After getting some stick off the West Ham fans earlier on, it was the perfect way for Rice to respond.

Saka hits impressive landmark

Such is Saka’s consistency that it sometimes flies under the radar how remarkable his rise has been.

Arteta brought up in his press conference before this game how he can still remember when a teenage Saka was breaking into the Arsenal team under him as a left-back.

Saka’s transformation since then has been so impressive and, against West Ham, he reached another landmark.

The winger slotted a penalty to hit 100 goal involvements in the Premier League, becoming the seventh-youngest player to reach that milestone.

Saka is also only the eighth Arsenal player to achieve that feat, doing so with 55 goals and 44 assists.

What makes it so impressive is the speed with which Saka has done it in. He has hit 100 goal involvements in 200 games, yet the start of his career was at left-back.Those days feel like a distant memory now.