I saw £30m Arsenal player prove he’s just as important as Declan Rice against Luton tonight

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Although it felt as if Arsenal won at a canter against Luton Town tonight, there were still one or two incredibly important performances.

Mikel Arteta rang the changes and perhaps had one or two Arsenal fans nervous when they saw the team sheet.

If it wasn’t enough seeing Bukayo Saka omitted from the squad, Arsenal fans must have then soon noticed that Declan Rice wasn’t in the starting XI either.

And with Thomas Partey and Emile Smith Rowe in midfield it almost felt like an Arsenal throwback XI, perhaps to the season before last.

That being said, Arteta kept a very strong back four, knowing that a clean sheet could be crucial – especially against a side who have scored in 18 league games in a row.

And although the game began fairly disjointedly, with a few players taking time to find their feet, one man set the tone from the off.

It feels slightly too strong to say that Martin Odegaard is still underrated, he’s recognised as one of the club’s best performers, but tonight he proved yet again how crucial he is.

Martin Odegaard proved he’s just as crucial as Declan Rice for Arsenal against Luton tonight

Between the Arsenal captain and Kai Havertz it felt as if Arsenal had some much needed familiarity and quality up top, which clearly paid dividends for the opening goal. 

Martin Odegaard played with so much authority early in the first half, and was speaking to and commanding his teammates more than ever.

If you ask an Arsenal fan who the club’s three most important players are, they’ll nine times out of ten tell you: Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and William Saliba.

And whilst that’s a more than fair answer, Odegaard definitely deserves to be in that bracket too.

Not just because he’s a leader, Arsenal have a few of those, but because he’s just so talismanic in the middle.

Arsene Wenger recently compared the Norwegian to Dennis Bergkamp, a player who could win games on his own, and tonight we saw why.

The £30m-midfielder didn’t quite decide the game single-handedly, but he gave so much confidence and help to those around him.

And if Arsenal do go on to win the league title, they’ll owe so much to their captain who has now contributed seven goals and six assists this season.

All that being said, Neil Warnock did provide his prediction on who will win the league title before games kicked off today.