Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is set to meet compatriot Erling Haaland in the coming days as the Gunners travel north to face Manchester City on Wednesday. The pair have been crucial to their teams and the push for the Premier League title this season, with perhaps the biggest deciding factor still to come.
Mikel Arteta has led his side to a five point lead at the top of the table, however a run of three consecutive draws has made some cause for concern. The latest was a 3-3 thriller against Southampton, which means that City could leapfrog them if they manage to win both games in hand.
That could soon change though, with the head-to-head between both sides handing yet another potential twist in the tale for this campaign. "I don’t see a lack of confidence," Arteta said when asked if he needs to build his team up again for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
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"When a team does that normally players start to hide. I played there and players start to hide in certain moments. I didn't see a single player do that. They were all willing to take risks and initiative. That’s why we got back from 3-1 to 3-3 and should have won the game. The confidence is there. It’s just those moments. At this level you cannot give the goals away that we did. Simple as that."
There will be plenty of narratives surrounding the clash, from the overarching title story to the two coaches meeting up once again. Another will be the battle between two Norwegian stars in Haaland and Odegaard, who could both have a big say on the result.
They have been teammates for a few years in the national team and that friendship spans back to previous call-ups, with the Arsenal captain even describing the City star as a "little b*****d" in reference to their Under-21s campaign in 2018. Speaking in the documentary "The Big Decision", Odegaard said: "You have changed a little, you were more like a little b*****d in the beginning.
"You were so childish. You have grown up more in the last couple of years. But you saw it in the first [international] camp, in the videos when you dance and sing. It looks like you are 12 years old and the biggest little b*****d. Honestly!"
It speaks volumes on the relationship between the pair and how close they really are, but also how they've matured into figures now seen as beacons of hope for each team. It remains to be seen whether they can thrive under that pressure and guide their teams to the end goal, but only one can lift the title.
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