Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has sent a response to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag for name-checking the Gunners during the course of the season.
The Gunners have had a brilliant Premier League campaign and they are currently in a title race with Manchester City.
The north London giants will face United at Old Trafford in a must-win game on Sunday and ahead of the encounter, Odegaard was asked about Ten Hag’s comments on Arsenal.
The Gunners won the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium by a 3-1 scoreline, but Ten Hag was adamant after the game that United deserved to come on top with three points.
The Dutchman highlighted that Alejandro Garnacho was not offside despite VAR’s intervention and added that Rasmus Hojlund should have had a penalty after Gabriel’s challenge.
Ten Hag has since name-checked Arsenal on a couple of occasions. Back in February, he repeated that United ‘deserved that win’. In March, he once again spoke on the Hojlund incident.
Speaking to football.london, Odegaard was asked whether Arsenal have additional motivation for Sunday’s trip to which he responded:
“Honestly, no. I don’t think so. It’s like any other game we are playing for at the moment. I don’t think we need any extra motivation at the moment.”
“I think there is enough there. We know what we are playing for. We know the task. We have to win every game and that is what we are going to try to do.”
Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League with 80 points, but they are just one ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand against Tottenham Hotspur.
Pep Guardiola’s side face Fulham on the road on Saturday. A victory at Craven Cottage would see them reclaim first position before Arsenal’s Old Trafford trip.
Hence, the pressure will be on the Gunners to deliver a fifth-straight victory. As Odegaard said, the players don’t need extra motivation as they need to keep on winning.
Arsenal have a dreadful league record at Old Trafford with just one win in the last 17 years. They have the chance to do the first double over United since the 2006/07 season.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
