Martin Ødegaard vs Fabio Vieira!

Long gone of the days of Alexandre Lacazette & Joe Willock being Arsenal’s attacking midfield options, Mikel Arteta has brought back our football heritage.

Attacking midfielders that are at home with the ball at their feet & creative lynchpins of the team. Martin Ødegaard & Fabio Vieira fit the criteria.

But with options a plenty it gives Arteta a massive selection dilemma, which out of the two starts?

In Martin Ødegaard you have the captain of the club. Always directing players where to be. He’s become Arteta’s manager on the pitch. But as well as that, he’s able create. In fact no player created more chances in the 2nd half of last season, in the entire Premier League.

But Fabio Vieira is different. 14 assists for Porto last season shows another creative maestro. But where he differs of Ødegaard is his ability to take risks. Vieira is more likely to unlock defence because he uses his final ball far more often. While Ødegaard by nature prefers to recycle possession.

Both are profiles that are useful & could potentially work in the same team. But as Arteta tries to find his own De Bruyne, Fabio Vieira is a closer match.

Both Vieira & Ødegaard should be fit for the North London Derby & with the latter being the club captain, one can imagine Arteta turns to him.

But whether he keeps his place in the long term with devastating ability of Fabio Vieira, I’m not so sure.