19 hours ago
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Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has set an unwanted record after being substituted during Saturday's 2-0 win at home to West Ham United.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had restored the Norway midfielder to his starting line-up against the Hammers following some impressive substitute appearances. Shoulder troubles have hampered his campaign so far, and now a knee injury has led to his replacement by Martin Zubimendi.
Despite trying to shake off the issue, Odegaard could not carry on and was withdrawn in the first half. The 26-year-old is now the first player in Premier League history to be substituted before half-time in three consecutive Premier League starts, according to stats specialists Opta.
Odegaard's withdrawal had little impact on Saturday's result, however. Declan Rice opened the scoring before Bukayo Saka netted from the penalty spot.
Addressing journalists at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday, Arteta emphasised that his team were determined to make amends, having suffered defeats in their previous two home encounters with West Ham.
He said: "We want to continue to play and flow and dominate games in the manner that we are doing, and it's going to be a key fixture.
"Obviously, we learned in the last two seasons as well, because we had two defeats against them here, and it's something we need to put right, and tomorrow is another opportunity to do that."
The Spaniard added: "That's the difficulty of that, and the game that we're going to have to play tomorrow as well, with a new manager.
We know Nuno really well, the way he sets his team. "So we expect a really tough match, as we're going to demand again three days later, to come back and have the same performance to win the game.
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"On potentially going top of the Premier League table, Arteta said: "It's about generating momentum, and there are periods in the season that they are crucial and tomorrow's game is a really important one for us.
"That's why, from the beginning, we need to generate that, in the stadium as well, and go for it, because after we have two weeks' break with the international week."
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