Ruben Amorim singles out 'special' Arsenal star as Mikel Arteta shares concerns - The Mirror

Manchester United travel to Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday and Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim believes one Gunners star in particular will cause his side problems

Ruben Amorim has singled out Martin Odegaard as Arsenal's dangerman ahead of Sunday's FA Cup third round clash.

Odegaard is set to captain the Gunners in the clash at the Emirates Stadium. The Norwegian has endured a frustrating season due to injury, scoring just once and notching only five assists in all competitions.

As well as his injury issues, Odegaard has also lost partner in crime Bukayo Saka to the treatment room. The 26-year-old played all 90 minutes when United visited the Emirates in the Premier League in December.

United were well beaten in that clash, with the Gunners utilising the visitors' weakness at set-pieces. And Amorim believes his troops need to be careful of Odegaard in particular.

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"I think he is really special because his influence on all the games of Arsenal is impressive. I played against them with Sporting and he didn’t play both games and you feel it in the team," he said.

"When he’s playing, Arsenal are a different team. When he’s playing, Arsenal is a different team. They can win and they can lose with Odegaard. I expect a strong team. If Odegaard is in the team, they will be stronger, for sure.

"We won some cups, we want to continue. We know that, at this stage, we already have a really strong match but we want to win and also we want to continue to improve the team and the performance."

Odegaard has struggled in recent weeks as he looks to rediscover his best form after recovering from an ankle ligament injury. And boss Arteta has conceded that his skipper has been struggling.

"There are moments sometimes and probably sustaining [his form over the past couple of seasons], and that’s again when you go to probability and when you go samples," Arteta said when asked about Odegaard’s recent output.

"Sustaining an attacking midfielder to score 15 goals maybe two years ago, it doesn’t happen. It hasn’t happened in 15 years, so we were very aware of that on the other side of the coin.

"So, he’s trying very hard; he had some big chances, we missed some opportunities. Just help him and make sure that he’s confident to take the shots when he needs to because he’s so good at it.

"[Martin] came back from an injury and in the first week or two, you have that extra energy and then you play every three days. He was ill as well for over a week and then plays a part, so there’s a lot of circumstances."

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