Ian Wright suggests Arsenal have two players who are better than Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice

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Arsenal beat Tottenham 1-0 at the weekend, and to make the victory all the more impressive, the Gunners won this game without two of their best players.

Indeed, both Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice were absent from this match due to injury and suspension respectively.

Speaking on the Kelly and Wrighty Show, Ian Wright has been discussing the Gunners’ win in this derby, and he says that Arsenal did very well to win without Odegaard and Rice.

In fact, Wright noted that he thinks Odegaard and Rice are two of Arsenal’s best players, but he did say that he thinks both William Saliba and Bukayo Saka are slightly better.

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William Saliba and Bukayo Saka are Arsenal’s two best players

Wright shared his verdict on this game and Arsenal’s best players.

“The defence is so solid and they can put a team in. What Arsenal have done is that they have built so well in the defence that they can go somewhere and they are resolute enough to get the result,” Wright said.

“Without two players of that magnitude, arguably our two best, apart from Saka and Saliba, you’d think that might be something they worry about, but it didn’t look like it at all. A very efficient game for Arsenal.”

William Saliba and Bukayo Saka are so important

Arsenal managed to win without Rice and Odegaard at the weekend, but it’s hard to say whether they’d have done the same without Saliba and Saka.

Saka has barely missed a minute of football over the past few years, but when Arsenal did lose William Saliba for a period towards the end of the 2022/23 season, they crumbled.

Indeed, Saliba’s injury may well have cost Arsenal the title that season, and that’s a testament to how good the French defender truly is.

Rice and Odegaard are both fantastic players in their own rights, but Saliba and Saka may be the Gunners’ two most important players right now.