Mikel Arteta must take Martin Odegaard gamble with Chelsea capable of Arsenal knockout blow

Watching Chelsea stick eight past FC Noah in midweek, the thought occurred that Arsenal could probably do with an evening out against the fourth-best side in Armenia.

The goals came easily to Enzo Maresca’s side in their latest Conference League mismatch. Right now, for Mikel Arteta’s flat-footed equivalent, nothing is.

Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge, the Gunners are enduring their worst run of form in almost a year, since the dip last December that eventually proved so costly in the title race.

There is a creative chasm at the heart of a team that has not just struggled to replace Martin Odegaard, but has not even tried.

It is not just that Arsenal have failed to score in half of their matches since the last international break - and only through an own-goal in another - but that in several of them they have not come particularly close.

The lack of goals, or even chances, from open play, is the chartable product of a wider feeling that is harder to define; the sense that things are just not quite happening, the rhythm off, the luck out and those title chances already slimmed.

Chelsea, it must be said, are a team that tend to give you openings even when you aren’t creating your own. They have only kept clean sheets against Noah and Barrow in their last ten matches, and it is difficult to say which of those carries less weight.

Perhaps the return of Odegaard, who made his comeback as a late substitute in the midweek loss at Inter Milan, will prove the silver bullet. Maybe he really is as good as his absence has made it seem.

But after two months out with an ankle injury, it remains to be seen whether he is even fit to start on Sunday, let alone be the influential force of the last few years. It is one of several reasons why the upcoming international break feels helpfully timed, albeit there will be trepidation, given Odegaard and then Bukayo Saka have come back crocked from the last two.

Until then, Mikel Arteta’s team have the air of a boxer on the ropes, trying to limit the damage before the bell brings respite, a chance to reset and reinforce the habits of old.

Which, for Chelsea, makes this a glaring opportunity for the showpiece victory that is perhaps the one thing missing from a hugely encouraging first third-ish of the campaign.

The Blues are an odds-on chance to win a knockout competition in Europe before the group stage has even finished, such has been their obvious superiority in the Conference League, and they sit fourth in the Premier League, level on points with Arsenal. But they have lost to Manchester City and Liverpool and been held by Manchester United away from home.

Maresca, for his part, believes the displays in those matches say as much for his team’s progress as some of their wins.

“Liverpool away, the performance was very good and we didn’t deserve to lose,” he said. “Even City. The good thing is that we are there. You cannot see a big difference [between the teams] when we play these kinds of games.”

There was, indeed, a gargantuan one the last time these sides met, when a Cole Palmer-less Chelsea were hammered 5-0 at the Emirates under Mauricio Pochettino.

Maresca watched that match back after taking the Chelsea job during the summer, as he did with all of last season’s games, but has not done so again this week, preferring to focus on what this Arsenal are in the here and now.

Given the difference between Arteta’s team in this moment, and at last season’s mean and potent best, that seems a wise approach.