Arsenal got their Europa League campaign off to the perfect start with a 2-1 win over FC Zurich last month, but their next assignment certainly has the scope to become a much sterner test.
Bodo/Glimt were not expected to pull up any trees during last year's Europa Conference League campaign, but they pulled off one of the biggest shocks in Europe last term by claiming the scalp of AS Roma - and Jose Mourinho.
The Norwegian outfit, who were crowned domestic champions back in 2021, thumped the Italian giants 6-1 in a shock result to condemn Mourinho to one of the most chastening defeats of his illustrious career.
But Mikel Arteta is determined not to fall into the same trap when the Gunners entertain Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night - and has revealed that in Martin Odegaard, Arsenal have their own secret weapon ahead of the tricky clash.
The new Gunners skipper also captains the Norwegian national team and is familiar with a host of the players who will be bidding to claim another major scalp at the Emirates. And he has shared that inside knowledge to give his own teammates some extra insight.
"We’ve done our homework," Arteta said on Wednesday. "Obviously, we have made the players aware of the team that we are facing tomorrow, the history and what they’ve done in the last few years. We have Martin in the squad who knows them really well and he’s done his homework in the dressing room to understand that tomorrow is going to be a tough game.
"There are a few really good players and it’s a really good coach as well, and they have a clear identity with how they play. You can see straight away what they are trying to do and again I’ve been impressed with them."
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Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen had earlier stoked the flames ahead of the match by insisting that his side had nothing to fear against the Gunners.
"When you get to see it over time, it’s not very complicated," Knutsen said of Arsenal's tactical approach via Sport Witness. "They [ Arsenal ] have a number of rotations with the left-back and central midfielder, who has a lot of freedom, but it’s a lot less on their right side. But the way we defend, it doesn’t matter too much [which opposition] players run where because we are very zone-orientated in the way we defend.
"If we played a man-to-man system we would have a huge challenge to face, but we are at the other end of the scale [in terms of approach] so that’s probably the least of my worries. They attack with a lot of people, they’re patient and then suddenly they have that burst in the final third.
"But they also leave space in behind them which we will have to exploit. We need to be aggressive in the low block, high intensity in the high press, and we will have to control the ball. Tottenham only defended, Zurich only defended – if you do that you won’t stand a chance against them."
