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Will Arsenal make it eight wins out of eight to conclude the Champions League league phase? The Gunners are guaranteed a top-two finish in the gigantic league table, given that they are the only side to boast a perfect record. Mikel Arteta's team maintained this winning streak at the San Siro against Inter Milan last Tuesday, also enjoying noteworthy wins over Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich to date.
Overall, under Arteta, the Gunners have won all ten Champions League group stage home matches, scoring 30 goals and conceding only one; Lennart Karl was the only man, or in his case, kid, to net against them. Given that the bottom of the table Kairat Almaty are the visitors on the final matchday, most expect that winning streak to continue.
However, both by choice and through necessity, Arteta will heavily rotate against the Kazakh champions. Declan Rice and Mikel Merino are both suspended, after being booked at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, while William Saliba and Jurriën Timber will miss out due to minor injuries.
So, there will certainly be a rare start for Christian Nørgaard. Since arriving from Brentford in the summer, the 31 year old is yet to be included in a Premier League lineup. He has though started against Port Vale, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Portsmouth in domestic cups, as well as Slavia Prague and Club Brugge in Europe, likely to add to this list on Wednesday.
What Christian Nørgaard had to say
As an indication of his inclusion against Kairat, Nørgaard was on pre-match media duties alongside Arteta on Tuesday. He spoke about plenty of topics, including teammate Martin Ødegaard, saying this when asked about the club captain:
"Martin is an unbelievable guy, fantastic guy around the changing room. He is well liked, well respected by everyone at the club... the armband could not sit on a better person than him. "Christian Nørgaard
This week marks five years since Ødegaard first joined Arsenal, initially on loan from Real Madrid before the move was made permanent for around £30 million. To date, the Norwegian has scored 42 goals and registered 43 assists for the club, undeniably one of the most pivotal and influential figures of the Arteta era.
However, having been hooked before the hour mark against both Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, the skipper's place in the team has come under some scrutiny from supporters.
Ødegaard has scored just one goal so far this season, while registering just five assists and creating five Opta-defined big chances. As a result, many are calling for the captain to be left on the bench at Leeds on Saturday, wanting to see Eberechi Eze given more of an opportunity.
Well, with Ethan Nwaneri having departed on loan, while Merino and Rice are suspended as mentioned, Ødegaard and Eze may start together alongside Nørgaard on Wednesday, Facing Champions League minnows Kairat, can he use this low-pressure fixture to rediscover some magic?