Mikel Arteta believes Martin Ødegaard is playing with renewed confidence after the Arsenal captain delivered the decisive goal in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
Ødegaard completed Arsenal’s comeback five minutes after half-time at the Emirates Stadium, bursting beyond Kai Havertz before finishing past Emi Martínez.
The performance followed an injury-disrupted period for the Norway international, but Arteta believes Arsenal are now seeing a different version of their captain.
Arteta says Ødegaard has a point to prove
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta stressed the importance of Ødegaard being fully fit again.
The Arsenal boss said the midfielder is currently “one of the highest I have seen him” in terms of confidence and believes he has “a point to prove” after missing so much football.
Arteta also suggested Ødegaard is benefiting from finally building consistency alongside those around him.
That was evident against Chelsea.
Ødegaard repeatedly found pockets behind the visitors’ midfield before producing the decisive moment shortly after the interval.
Christos Tzolis fired the ball towards Havertz, whose intelligent dummy opened the space for Ødegaard to attack and score Arsenal’s second.
Our Arsenal player ratings against Chelsea named the captain among the standout performers after he drove Arteta’s side to a third consecutive Premier League victory.
It was also exactly the type of attacking contribution anticipated in our analysis of how Ødegaard and Declan Rice could exploit Chelsea’s midfield.
Arteta was equally positive about Arsenal’s overall level, describing the display as an “exceptional performance” while insisting his side still have significant room to improve.
For Ødegaard specifically, however, the message was clear.
A fit and confident Arsenal captain appears determined to make up for lost time.
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