Martin Odegaard did not want a lot time to consider the hardest opponent he has confronted in his profession.
The Arsenal captain has performed in opposition to this particular person 9 instances earlier than and has failed to attain in every of these video games – so it was a simple selection.
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Odegaard has performed top-flight soccer in Norway, Spain, England and the Netherlands in addition to within the Champions League.
He has additionally already gained 61 caps for his nation since making his debut for Norway aged 15 in 2014.
Nevertheless, it’s a Premier League star who Odegaard feels is the hardest he has needed to come up in opposition to.
Talking to TNT Sports activities, he revealed: “I feel Virgil (van Dijk) is a extremely robust one.”
Odegaard first got here up in opposition to Virgil van Dijk twice in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup earlier than his transfer to Arsenal.
He has since confronted the Liverpool defender seven instances for the Gunners.
It took the 25-year-old till his six conflict with the Dutchman to get the higher hand however he has since been unbeaten in 4 conferences.
Regardless of that, although, Odegaard is but to attain when dealing with Van Dijk.
In the meantime, he missed the latest conflict between Arsenal and Liverpool on the Emirates Stadium final month.
Van Dijk was on the scoresheet for the Reds in a 2-2 draw within the Premier League.
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The previous Actual Madrid midfielder was sidelined with an ankle sprain however has now returned to motion for Mikel Arteta’s facet.
Throughout his three appearances since getting back from harm, Odegaard has picked up assists in opposition to each Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.
In addition to selecting Van Dijk as his hardest opponent, Odegaard additionally named Zinedine Zidane as essentially the most well-known contact in his telephone.
The French World Cup winner gave him his Champions League debut having managed Odegaard for Actual Madrid’s reserves and first-team.
In the meantime, he picked Gunners team-mate Kai Havertz as his greatest buddy in soccer.
Odegaard and Havertz have made 49 appearances collectively for the reason that German’s transfer to North London final summer season.
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