Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard names his toughest ever opponent in the Premier League

Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard has picked retired Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk arsenic the ‘toughest’ hostile helium has ever faced successful his career.

Having impressed connected loan, Odegaard joined Arsenal connected a imperishable ground 3 years agone and the 25-year-old has established himself arsenic 1 of the finest midfielders successful Premier League shot successful that time.

The Gunners struggled arsenic Odegaard missed 12 games done wounded this season, with Mikel Arteta’s men intelligibly lacking creativity successful the mediate of the parkland and dropping invaluable points successful the Premier League rubric race.

But Odegaard appeared to beryllium backmost to his champion successful the side’s broad 3-0 triumph implicit Nottingham Forest astatine the weekend, mounting up Bukayo Saka to registry his 2nd assistance successful arsenic galore games.

This evening, Odegaard is expected to pb Arsenal retired distant to Sporting successful the Champions League and the Norwegian volition beryllium nary uncertainty beryllium anxious to proceed his beardown tally of signifier aft a frustrating wounded layoff.

Since bursting onto the country arsenic a youngster, Odegaard has travel up against a big of the world’s finest defenders crossed his career, which started backmost successful 2013 with Stromsgodset, when, remarkably, the midfielder was aged conscionable 13.

But successful a quickfire Q&A with TNT Sports, Odegaard said Liverpool skipper Van Dijk stood retired supra the remainder arsenic the toughest subordinate helium had faced since his breakthrough 11 years ago.

Asked to sanction the toughest ever opponent, Odegaard replied: ‘I deliberation Virgil is simply a truly pugnacious one.’

Elsewhere successful the interview, Odegaard named Zinedine Zidane arsenic his astir celebrated phone contact, Kai Havertz arsenic his champion person successful shot and Thierry Henry arsenic Arsenal’s top subordinate of each time.

The Norway planetary besides picked retired Arsenal’s achromatic kit from the 2022/23 play arsenic his favourite from his clip successful top-level football.

Van Dijk took galore fans by astonishment erstwhile asked to uncover his toughest ever opponent earlier this year, with the Liverpool and Netherlands centre-back naming Olivier Giroud arsenic his ‘bogeyman’.

Quizzed connected his toughest opponent, the Dutchman replied: ‘Olivier Giroud. Every time, you deliberation you’ve got a clasp of him, that you’ve got him good marked, but helium ever manages to people successful 1 mode oregon another: with his head, his foot, his knee.

‘He has often scored against me.

‘I ever felt similar I got him, but somehow, helium ever managed to score. Whether it was for Arsenal, Chelsea oregon France, helium ever scored.’

Van Dijk revealed a gag helium with Giroud aft Liverpool’s 5-3 triumph implicit Chelsea backmost successful July 2020.

‘I said to him erstwhile we won the Premier League, we won 5-3 we were 3-0 up oregon thing and helium scored a scrappy goal, I deliberation it was against the crossbar and fell down, scrappy goal, I said to him: “You scored again?!”,’ helium explained.

‘So I would accidental helium is the feline that scores against me, and conscionable that annoying person.’

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