On his own, Martin Odegaard is an exceptionally good footballer. The same is patently true of Bukayo Saka. Both players are undoubtedly among the very best in the Premier League.
For Arsenal, though, the real beauty of having these two stars is that they are even better when they are together. As a pair, Odegaard and Saka are greater than the considerable sum of their parts. Odegaard unlocks Saka’s enormous attacking threat like no other team-mate, while Saka provides a platform that allows Odegaard to thrive by attracting opposition defenders.
These are two players who truly operate on the same wavelength, as they proved in spectacular fashion in Saturday’s thrashing of Nottingham Forest. It was the first home game they had both started since August, and the two of them evidently revelled in each other’s presence.
After Odegaard’s lengthy absence with an ankle injury, the victory over Forest provided a reminder to the league that Mikel Arteta’s right-sided attackers — when fit and available — represent one of the most devastating offensive weapons in the division. So many of Arsenal’s moves flowed down that side, through the feet of Odegaard and Saka, and Forest could do nothing to stop them.
Across the 82 minutes they played together, Saka and Odegaard exchanged 36 passes. Two of those took place within a few seconds in the first half, as their delicate one-two resulted in Saka spanking the ball into the top corner of Forest’s net. Whenever Odegaard received the ball, it seemed that his first thought was to look for Saka.
“That’s chemistry,” said Arteta. “Sometimes you meet somebody and straight away you make eye contact and something flows. With those two, it happens off the field and on the field.”
It would be inaccurate to say that Saka struggled throughout Odegaard’s absence. In October, he scored in three consecutive games. But it is true that Arsenal were far more dominant against Forest, and far more threatening down Saka’s flank, than they have been in some time.
This season, Saka has played five Premier League games with Odegaard and six without him. On every major offensive metric, Saka has been better and more dangerous when he has had his captain alongside him. With Odegaard in the team, Saka scores more goals, creates more goals, takes more shots and has more touches in the opposition box.
“When you put them together in the right spaces, close to each other, things flourish,” said Arteta. “With others, you try to force it and it doesn’t work. With these two, we are very lucky to have them.”
In recent seasons Odegaard has had spells in matches when he has seemingly reached a higher plane of footballing existence. Moments when he seems to be playing a different game to everyone else, when all his tricks, flicks and passes work to glorious effect. In an interview with Telegraph Sport last year, he described this state as being “in the zone”.
Odegaard certainly reached this “zone” in certain stages on Saturday. He spun away from tackles, floated into dangerous positions and created all sorts of passing angles for his team-mates. The 25-year-old completed the most dribbles (three), created the most chances (six) and played the most passes in the final third (35) of any player on the pitch.
A consequence of Odegaard and Saka’s excellence is that Arsenal’s attacking play is often weighted towards their side of the pitch. Saka stays wide on that flank, while Odegaard is usually based next to him. Against Forest this weekend, 51 per cent of Arsenal’s attacks came down the right wing, compared to just 24 per cent on the left.
In their seven league matches without Odegaard this season, 33 per cent of Arsenal’s attacks went down their left flank, with 22 per cent down the middle of the pitch. In their six matches with Odegaard, the percentage of left-sided attacks dropped to 30 per cent and central attacks rose to 25 per cent. When Odegaard is there, the ball gravitates towards him.
Perhaps most encouragingly of all for Arteta, his two right-sided attackers succeeded against Forest despite the absence of Ben White. The usual right-back, White has been a key part of the “chemistry” on that flank, but is now unavailable due to a knee injury. Jurrien Timber is less accustomed to Odegaard and Saka’s movement but he is learning fast, and was impressive again at the Emirates.
For these next few weeks, a key part of Timber’s job will be simply getting the ball to the feet of Saka and Odegaard. From there, Arsenal can play and they can thrive. Their title hopes rest on these two players continuing to excel in each other’s company.
