Ødegaard licking his lips in anticipation as Arsenal face City and the Norwegian faces off against his best friend Haaland.
Ødegaard relishing ‘heat’ of battle with Manchester City as teams fought out fiercely contested draw in September.
When Arsenal and Manchester City play on Sunday, Martin Ødegaard is ready to set aside his friendship with Erling Haaland and enjoy the “heat” of their rivalry.
When his Norway teammate Haaland addressed Mikel Arteta at the final whistle and encouraged the Arsenal manager to “remain humble,” Ødegaard was hurt during the bitter 2-2 draw at City in September. Although Haaland opened the scoring, City needed a late goal from John Stones to salvage a point against a team they haven’t lost to in their last four encounters. Ødegaard anticipates an advantage because Arsenal has finished second to City in the last two seasons.
“It is normal when you play these big games that there is a big rivalry,” he said. “You are competing and you want to be the best. So that’s how it should be and there should be a little bit of heat sometimes. But then I think a lot of the players know each other from the national team – England, Brazil, me with Erling – so on the pitch and off the pitch it is a bit different. When we are on the pitch, then it’s a good battle.”
Ødegaard, asked whether he had been surprised by Haaland’s outburst towards Arteta, said: “In football, games like this, the emotions are so high and the adrenaline is there and everything. So that’s something that can happen on the pitch and then when you walk off the pitch, then you are done with it. It is not something I think too much about. We are good friends. Him and a few of the other boys from the national team, we have a little group chat, so we stay in touch there and we speak every now and then. To be fair, not about football, just about random things. We haven’t spoken about the game, but he is a good friend.”
Ødegaard, who acknowledged that his return of just one Premier League goal this season “hasn’t been good enough,” will continue to bear creative responsibility. Due to a muscular ailment, David Raya will not play against City. The goalie missed the team’s victory over Girona, which guaranteed them a spot in the Champions League’s round of 16.
After Wednesday’s second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle, Arsenal will travel to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp. Ødegaard is hoping they can repeat their incredible play from the second half of last season, when they dropped just five points from their previous 18 games.
“We’re in a good position and we have to remember that,” he said. “But I feel like we have another gear to hit and it was the same last year. We really hit top form towards the end of the season. Hopefully we can do that again.”