‘Didn’t offer anything’: Darren Bent says 24-year-old Arsenal player was lucky to stay on the pitch on Sunday

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Darren Bent has criticised Eddie Nketiah and Martin Odegaard after Sunday’s North London derby, claiming that the Arsenal striker was lucky to stay on the pitch.

Bent was speaking on talkSPORT after Arsenal had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Tottenham at the Emirates.

Eddie Nketiah got the chance to lead the line with Arsenal dealing with injuries to both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

Unfortunately, it proved to be a disappointing day for all of Arsenal’s more attacking players – Bukayo Saka aside.

Bent criticises Nketiah and Odegaard after Arsenal draw

Gabriel Jesus missed a glorious chance. Meanwhile, Fabio Vieira was replaced at the break. And Darren Bent suggested that neither Nketiah or Martin Odegaard could be happy with their performances either.

“All Spurs’ main players all turned up yesterday. Maddison, Son was good. I thought Romero played well. They all turned up. Arsenal’s, Odegaard, nowhere to be seen. Gabriel Jesus wasn’t good,” he told talkSPORT.

“Eddie Nketiah I thought was poor, really poor. He didn’t offer anything, couldn’t hold the ball up, was lucky to stay on the pitch.”

Nketiah is back to having a bit of a point to prove. The 24-year-old has had doubters to silence throughout his time in the Arsenal first-team. And he has often stepped up.

However, expectations are now much higher at the Emirates. Arsenal want to be the team pushing Manchester City the hardest if they are not going to be able to keep up with Pep Guardiola’s side.

Odegaard meanwhile, has probably been a little quiet by his standards. He has scored a couple of goals in the Premier League this season. But he is one of the players who is yet to hit top gear.

Perhaps that is not a bad thing. Arsenal absolutely flew out of the blocks last season. And ultimately, they probably did not have enough to go again when Manchester City started to close the gap.

City have made a perfect start this time around. Arsenal meanwhile, are already a little bit adrift. So they are going to need to step up in the coming months if they are going to want to be in contention once again.

Odegaard obviously has the potential to inspire the Gunners. And Nketiah will probably relish the chance to silence all of those who are criticising him now.