Burnley vs Arsenal: Odegaard needs to bring silk to the soil

The transfer saga involving Martin Odegaard effectively went on from January to late August. A player of his calibre joining on loan was considered a real coup and after months of patience, Arsenal finally got their man.

Why did they push so hard for him? Was it to add centrality, more balance to the attack, leadership qualities, technical craft or vision? The answer is a bit of all.

On Saturday Arsenal take on Burnley in the Premier League and one of the certainties in the starting lineup will be the Norwegian. In a side who’ve struggled to create chances let alone score them, a lot of the onus will be on him to unpick a tight lock.

Rightly so.

Martin Odegaard has the chance to prove his worth to Arsenal with a commanding performance in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Burnley

30 million Great British pounds were parted with for Odegaard with the intention of making Arsenal a greater attacking force. When a side boasts a natural goalscorer in its ranks but is still struggling to score goals, there is evidently a creative issue more often than not.

Lively in the win over Norwich as he pressed like a maniac off the ball, it will be the midfielder’s qualities in possession that take centre stage at Turf Moor. With Aubameyang in front of him and Emile Smith Rowe and Saka either side, he has to be the facilitator in that troupe that maintains flow and pressure.

Stubborn home defences require collective brute force, or nous, to break down. But Arsenal are not yet at that free-flowing stage under Mikel Arteta this season and the delicate touches of someone like Odegaard have an even greater say in proceedings.

When he’s in flow he’s silk on the turf. He can glide and turn majestically and his choice of pass is met with an excellent weight. That’s what we need to see.

Finding spaces in between the Burnley lines and feeding the runs of Aubameyang will be his job role in Lancashire, and while he still has many years of improvement ahead of him, bringing a level of performance to Saturday has to be expected of the man who arguably arrived the marquee addition. Sorry, Ben White.

Taking command of the pace and dictating the movements of those around him, Burnley need to be forced into a physical game purely out of sheer frustration.

It’s matches like these where players of his calibre and profile should be taking centre stage and leaving with the home support wishing he’d swap shirts for a week. Arsenal signed Odegaard to make a difference and improve those around him.

Saturday’s Premier League outing is an inviting platform to do so. He’s still got a fair few supporters to win over.