Arsenal are preparing to lock horns with bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners host Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with so much at stake.
Both Arsenal and Tottenham have enjoyed bright starts to the season. As such, it should be an exciting high-quality encounter.
The Gunners and the Lilywhites have begun the campaign well, sitting in the top four on 13 points apiece.
Ahead of the game, Arsenal received a boost in the shape of Martin Odegaard penning a new long-term contract.
The Gunners captain – who cost the club an initial £30million – has committed his future to N5 until the summer of 2028.
It’ll be exciting to see how he fares against James Maddison, who has enjoyed a bright start to the season since joining Spurs in summer.
Paul Merson, speaking on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, believes Odegaard is ahead of Maddison “any day of the week”.
The Arsenal cult hero also feels the Gunners will tear Tottenham to shreds.
Arsenal have got better players than Tottenham, no question, all over the pitch,” he said.
“You talk about Maddison, good player but you would not take him over Odegaard any day of the week.”
Our view
It’s not surprising to hear Merson, an Arsenal icon, back the Gunners so highly.
At the same time, he does have good reason to do so. Arsenal have developed into a world-class side.
That said, you can’t discount Tottenham. They’ve had just as good a start to the season as the Gunners and will be a threat.
As for Odegaard and Maddison, both are top players, and it’ll be exciting to see how they fare in their midfield battle on Sunday.
