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Arsenal icon Martin Keown has waxed lyrical about Martin Odegaard, appreciating the Norwegian for proving a lot of people wrong despite their 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa. The two teams locked horns in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday, December 6.
Martin Odegaard's amazing performance against Aston Villa
Matty Cash broke the deadlock in the 36th minute of the game to hand Villa the lead. However, Leandro Trossard leveled the scores in the 52nd minute to set up a tense finale. Emiliano Buendia became the hero in the fifth minute of stoppage time, scoring the winner to end the Gunners' 18-game unbeaten streak.
Despite their defeat, Keown picked Odegaard as his Player of the Match. The latter played all 90 minutes, completing 57 passes from an attempted 64. The 26-year-old also created three chances and landed all three shots on target, per FotMob.
Keown told TNT Sports:
"I’m going for Martin Odegaard. He was out for ages but came in and controlled things in midfield today. He also had two or three really good efforts where he could’ve scored. A lot of people were saying he shouldn’t get back in the Arsenal team with Eze’s form but he’s proved them wrong."
Martin Odegaard has struggled with injuries this season, missing 12 games because of a knee and shoulder injury. He has produced two assists in 11 games across all competitions to date.
David James makes Premier League title prediction following Arsenal lose to Aston Villa
Former Liverpool goalkeeper David James stays the favorite to win the Premier League title this season, despite looking weak during their frustrating 2-1 loss against Aston Villa.
While the Gunners have been the best team in England this season, they have dropped points three times in their last five league games. They remain at the top of the table with 33 points from 15 games, two points above Manchester City.
After Manchester City's 3-0 win against Sunderland yesterday, James told Stadium Astro:
"The interesting thing with Man City is they’re capable of losing games themselves at the minute. I don’t think they’re the finished article by any stretch. Erling Haaland is the talisman for them but if you can keep him quiet you’ve got a good chance of stopping Man City. What’s encouraging for the other clubs is when Arsenal do concede, they do look a little bit vulnerable."
He added:
"Villa showed strength, ability and determination and if the other teams can do that they could reduce the gap on Arsenal. But that’s not to say Arsenal aren’t still the favourites."
The Gunners will lock horns with Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League (December 10) before taking on Wolves in the league on December 13.
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