Arsenal fans are jubilant right now, and they have every right to be.
Following a Saturday that saw Liverpool and Manchester City lose, the Gunners had a chance to extend their lead atop the Premier League table at home to Tottenham Hotspur, which is just what they did.
Mikel Arteta’s side were utterly sensational on Sunday evening, with summer signing and former Spurs target Eberechi Eze becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in the derby since Alan Sunderland in 1978.
What made the victory all the more impressive was that Arsenal had several key players missing, including club captain Martin Odegaard, though another of Arteta’s starmen might be becoming his new version of the Norwegian.
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The former Real Madrid ace was hoping to make amends for his poor form last year, but so far has spent most of the campaign on the sidelines.
In fact, he became the first player in the competition’s history to be forced off before halftime in three successive Premier League fixtures.
The third game was the 2-0 win over West Ham United on the fourth of October, when he was forced off in the 30th minute with a knee injury that has kept him out since.
There was hope he might’ve made it back into the squad on Sunday, but that game must’ve come too soon, as he was once again watching from the sidelines.
However, the Norwegian international could finally be part of proceedings again against Bayern Munich, as Arteta said in his pre-match press conference, “We are hopeful that tomorrow he can be in the squad.”
This is undoubtedly a boost for the Gunners, as even when he’s not necessarily on song, the Drammen-born maestro can add something to the side.
Although he might find it challenging to get back into the lineup following Eze’s sensational display in the derby.
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Moreover, another Arsenal star has been fulfilling some of Odegaard’s responsibilities in his absence.
Arsenal's new Odegaard
Now, when thinking about an Arsenal player who could be Arteta’s new Odegaard, most people will probably go for Eze.
After all, the Englishman has been playing in the same position over the last few weeks and is the most attacking midfielder in the lineup.
However, the former Crystal Palace star is quite different from the club captain in the sense that he is more of a moments player; he is someone who can float in and out of games and tends to take fewer touches when looking for attacking opportunities.
Instead, the player who has been performing most similarly to the Norwegian has been Leandro Trossard.
Now, there are, of course, differences between the two players, but in the 26-year-old’s absence, the former Brighton & Hove Albion star has been doing some of the things he tends to do.
For example, the Waterschei-born winger is dropping further back in games and helping to link the play more, which is something his heatmap against Spurs makes quite clear.
Moreover, despite playing out wide and being on the pitch for 16 fewer minutes, the “cult hero,” as dubbed by content creator Alex Moneypenny, took just eight fewer touches than the hat-trick hero.
Against Sunderland, he took 55 touches to the Englishman’s 41.
This combination of dropping a little deeper and spending more time on the ball has also seen him take more control over the tempo of games than he used to, showing a more creative side to his passing than fans have seen before.
When you add these things together, along with his mentality and experience, it becomes clear that his influence on the team has helped mitigate the loss of the captain.
Ultimately, Trossard and Odegaard have been quite different players during their time at Arsenal, and likely will be again when they’re both in the team.
However, for now anyway, the Belgian has slowly transformed into a version of the former wonderkid for Arteta.
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