How many players could be out with ankle ligament damage for two months and reappear as if we blinked and missed it?

Arsenal defender William Saliba is under no illusions as to how important skipper Martin Odegaard is to the team. Call it a coincidence or call it luck, but the

Your team has hit a creative rut that coincided with the absence of your primary playmaker? Get him back and all your problems evaporate. So yes, the semi-frequent leaden-footed attacking, sterile possession and clumsy decision-making that reared its unfamiliar head at Arsenal over the last two months was nothing more than a team unable to cope without Martin Odegaard.

Gunners captain Odegaard was making his first appearance at the Emirates since late August. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Odegaard admitted he has found Virgil van Dijk to be his toughest-ever opponent. Odegaard was still sidelined for Liverpool’s trip to the Emirates earlier this season where the two sides shared the points.

A spell of injuries might have dimmed Arsenal's Premier League chances but the Gunners are alive and thriving in Europe

Arsenal needed to make a statement after a run of underwhelming form and thanks to the return of Martin Odegaard, they got it with an emphatic display at Sporting.

Sporting had looked bewildered but hit back early in the second half with a goal as the home crowd got behind their side, but Arsenal took back control through a penalty from Buka