Popular Martin Odegaard has banked 24 Dream Team points in three outings since returning from injury

ARSENAL fans would have been very happy with how the weekend played out.

The Gunners were among the first sides to play in Gameweek 14 and they got the job done at home to Wolves in the form of a 2-1 win.

Mikel Arteta’s men then watched on as Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham, all rivals at the top end of the table, dropped points.

It was almost the perfect weekend for the red half of North London as Liverpool were 3-2 down in the 80th minute at home to Fulham on Sunday but the Reds pulled off a late comeback to extend their 100% home record in the league this season.

At the time of writing, Arsenal are two points clear of Jurgen Klopp’s side at the top of the table having earned 33 points from their first 14 league fixtures.

Things are looking rosy in Europe too as they are guaranteed to finish top of their Champions League group no matter what happens against PSV next week.

There’s plenty to admire about Arsenal of late from a Dream Team perspective but Martin Odegaard (£5m) arguably stole the show on Saturday.

The Norway international looked back to his best as he created six chances (three of them ‘big chances’) and scored a goal against Gary O’Neil’s side.

When all was said and done, Arsenal’s captain banked 11 points to continue his impressive form since returning from injury.

Odegaard sat our four games out of five between Gameweeks 10 and 12 but he’s produced 24 points in three outings since coming back into the fold.

It’s a small sample size but two goals in his last two games (against Lens and Wolves) have gone a long way to removing any doubts about the 24-year-old’s condition – he was clearly hampered a few weeks back.

The former Real Madrid midfielder has generally been a superb Dream Team asset when fully fit since he arrived on English shores.

In fact, he’s now seventh among players in his position having moved onto 111 points for the season – an excellent effort considering he recently skipped a few games.

Bukayo Saka (£6.6m) remains the headline act when discussing Arsenal midfielders – he’s top dog in his position with 160 points – but Odegaard should not be overlooked.

The Norwegian playmaker has scored seven goals in all competitions and he ranks fourth among midfielders for shots on target.

At £5m he doesn’t come cheap and for just £0.1m more gaffers could get Phil Foden (£5.1m), who is second only to Saka in the midfield rankings.

Arteta’s side will be heavy favourites against Luton this week but their fixtures turn as of Gameweek 15 – Aston Villa (a), PSV (a), Brighton (h) and Liverpool (a) represents a tricky spell leading up to Christmas.

Still, Odegaard’s returns are worth monitoring closely – he’s the fourth-most popular midfielder currently with an ownership of 22.1%.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk