Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard likely 'dreams' of Bukayo Saka and Ben White returning to full fitness amid his underwhelming form in recent weeks, Gunners expert Charles Watts believes.
The Norway international has only had a direct hand in five goals in 19 Premier League games this season - two of his own and three assists - and has failed to come up with a contribution in each of his last three top-flight appearances.
Odegaard created just one chance in Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest, where the Gunners made it back-to-back Premier League games without a goal for the first time since May 2023 after their disheartening 1-0 London derby loss to West Ham United at the weekend.
In that Emirates encounter, the ex-Real Madrid starlet also struggled to influence the game and was the target of fan frustrations after playing a second-half free kick short instead of sending a delivery into the box, and the ball ended up back at David Raya's feet a few seconds later.
Asked by Sports Mole if he could pinpoint one main factor in Odegaard's struggles, Watts replied: "I don't think there's one reason, there's been multiple reasons why it's not working.
"He looks like a player who is trying to be at his very best, but it clearly isn't there. The work ethic is still there, he's still charging around doing what we know Odegaard can do. But I think his head's a little bit muddled at the moment.
Watts: 'Odegaard's head is very clouded'
"That free kick's a great example of it. I just don't think he's playing with that sort of freedom. His head is very clouded at the moment, probably mixed with frustration, tiredness, fatigue, injury, and it's just impacting him.
"But we go back to [Mikel] Merino playing up front. You could have been a fantastic forward and struggled to make as much of an impact against West Ham, because Odegaard, Rice, everyone behind him and out wide were basically giving the forwards absolutely nothing.
"There was a real lack of creativity there. Odegaard's clearly Arsenal's creator-in-chief, he has been for a long, long time, and he's struggling right now. The right-hand side is key, I think. That has been decimated, and that's such a strength to Arsenal."
Mikel Arteta was also quizzed on Odegaard's decline prior to the draw with Forest, where he affirmed that his skipper was still hitting what was expected of him in terms of Expected Goals (xG) and other statistics, but he conceded that his "efficiency" may have dropped off slightly.
Odegaard directly contributed to 22 Premier League goals in the 2022-23 season - 15 of his own and seven assists - before scoring eight and setting up 10 more last term, but he is only on course to register 10 contributions in the 2024-25 top-flight campaign.
However, the 26-year-old has also been a victim of Arsenal's injury crisis, as Saka and Kai Havertz - two players whom he links expertly well with - are currently sidelined, while White has only just come back to fitness after a knee operation.
Odegaard, Saka, Havertz and White or Jurrien Timber often combine down the right-hand side as Arsenal build up attacks, and when the Saka-White-Odegaard band is back together, Watts expects to see the Gunners' skipper flourish again.
Watts: 'Odegaard probably dreaming of Saka, White returns'
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"There's been a real telepathic understanding between Odegaard, White and Saka," he added. "Arsenal's success over previous seasons has been built on that right-hand side. The fact they've not been able to play it has to have an impact on Odegaard, because you just don't quite have that same understanding with everyone else, and it's chopping and changing each week.
"We point to the reasons why Martinelli maybe has not been that great for the last 18 months is that left-hand side. But the right-hand side has been equally torn apart this season. I bet you Odegaard goes to bed at night dreaming of Saka and Ben White coming back to full fitness. White's back now, which is great. Saka hopefully is not too far away.
"I'm sure that when they come back, you'll see an Odegaard who's much more like the Odegaard we've come to expect. Everyone can have a bad season, and this is Arsenal's double player of the season.
"So I'm not going to sit here right now and write Martin Odegaard off by any means. He's just having a poor season where he hasn't been able to hit the heights that he has. But there's definitely been reasons for that."
Odegaard also spent 12 games on the sidelines with a serious ankle sprain earlier in the season, before also picking up an illness prior to the Gunners' 1-0 success at Wolverhampton Wanderers last month.
Odegaard and Arsenal's failure to penetrate the Forest backline on Wednesday means that the gap to first-placed Liverpool in the Premier League table is now a whopping 13 points, but the Gunners now have almost a week to recover before the first leg of their Champions League last-16 battle with PSV Eindhoven next Tuesday.
Ben Knapton
