Martin Odegaard has admitted he has a special motivation against Manchester City on Sunday, given his international connection to Erling Haaland.

Arsenal face Manchester City at 16:30 BST on Sunday, and Gunners captain Martin Odegaard spoke to the club programme ahead of the game.

Odegaard admitted the match is a huge one for the team, and in particular for him, as he’ll have to spend the international break with Erling Haaland!

“It’s a game we’re really looking forward to, being here at our home, and knowing that you – our supporters – will be on fire for it,” Odegaard said.

“It’s a huge game too when you look at the table. They lost last weekend, and it’s obviously nice when the teams around you drop points, but it’s much more important to focus on ourselves and what we can do.

“We don’t want to look too much at what other teams are doing, because that’s when you lose your focus.

“We go away on international break after today as well, and you always want to go with your country after getting a win for your club – especially as I will be with Erling for the next week or so!”

Odegaard has made a solid start to the new campaign, scoring three and assisting one in his seven Premier League games and scoring a fourth goal in the Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven.

But there have also been a couple of slip-ups, with the draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur and the defeat away to RC Lens.

The game against Manchester City is the perfect time to put those memories to rest, and to go into the international break on a high.

Arsenal could be close to full strength against City, with only Jurrien Timber confirmed to be absent after recent updates on Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

There can be no excuses not to put everything into Sunday’s game to try and secure a rare league win over the visitors.