‘Keep him quiet’ – David James says Liverpool must nullify £240k-p/w Arsenal magician tonight

David James has urged Liverpool to ‘dominate’ one man in particular when they face Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

The two title contenders go head-to-head at Anfield later, with a win for either team sending out a massive statement of intent and ensuring they’ll be top on Christmas Day.

Speaking on The Football News Show on BBC Sport, the former Reds goalkeeper named the one Gunners player who must be kept ‘quiet’.

James advised Liverpool: “What do they need to do? Just dominate [Martin] Odegaard, I think, is the key. I think he is [Arsenal’s] out-and-out best player. I know the other players have got individual quality, the likes of [Bukayo] Saka [are] very impressive to watch, but Odegaard pulls the strings.

“He gets the opposition out of position in order for him to sort of control the game, and I have seen Manchester City do it on a number of occasions, keep him quiet, and all of a sudden Arsenal don’t know how to function.
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The £240,000-per-week Norwegian (Capology) was the on-field brains behind Arsenal’s unexpected Premier League title challenge last season, and he’s again been one of their best players this term.

Odegaard ranks third among Mikel Arteta’s squad according to WhoScored performance ratings, with only Saka and Eddie Nketiah scoring more than his four league goals in 2023/24, while he boasts the Gunners’ highest average of shots per game (2.4) and second-best match average for key passes (2.3).

It seemed no coincidence that the north Londoners lost at Newcastle in early November when their captain was ruled out with a hip problem (Transfermarkt), and his shoot-on-sight mindset should see Liverpool suffocating him at every opportunity once he so much as gets into our half of the pitch this evening.

More than anyone else for Arsenal, the 25-year-old has the ability to conduct the orchestra and dominate in midfield, which in turn helps the likes of Saka and Nketiah to flourish ahead of him.

It doesn’t take a genius to see why James has pinpointed him as the man whose influence the Reds must curb at Anfield. The Gunners have plenty of dangerous players elsewhere who need to be watched, for sure, but nullifying Odegaard could help to go a long way towards Jurgen Klopp overseeing a huge scalp in the title race.