Susu Graham writes: What has happened to Martin Ødegaard?

Photo credit: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images

Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard is having a tough season. The Norwegian midfielder has not performed at his usual level. He was once considered one of the best midfielders in the league. Ødegaard made two consecutive PFA Teams of the Season and won his club’s player of the season award.

In the last two Premier League seasons, Ødegaard averaged 20 goal contributions. He started 72 out of 76 games during that time. However, since suffering an ankle injury this season, he has struggled to regain form.

His goal contributions have dropped significantly. Last season, he scored 8 goals and provided 10 assists. This season, he has only 2 goals and 6 assists. His goals per 90 minutes have decreased from 0.23 to 0.09, a drop of over 50%. His assists per game also fell slightly from 0.29 to 0.26.

Some might argue that Ødegaard is still creating chances but his teammates are failing him. Others may say he isn’t getting quality chances to finish. However, his non-penalty expected goals (xG) per 90 remains similar, dropping only from 0.17 to 0.16.

His xG per shot increased slightly from 0.08 to 0.09 this season as well. This suggests that any decline in scoring is due to Ødegaard himself, not the quality of chances he receives.

He is shooting less this season too, with shots per game dropping from 2.18 to 1.81. Last year, Ødegaard overperformed his non-penalty xG by 0.2; this year he is underperforming it by a staggering 2.7.

Ødegaard's assist numbers also reflect a decline in performance this season. His expected assists (xAG) per game fell from 0.28 to 0.20, indicating lower-quality chances created this year.

His key passes per game decreased from 2.97 to 2.47 as well, showing reduced creativity compared to last season.

Interestingly, Ødegaard still makes around ten progressive passes each game and has slightly increased his penalty area entries and touches in the final third.

However, his shot-creating actions have dropped significantly from an average of 6.41 to just under five per game now.

This statistic measures how influential a player is in creating opportunities for teammates through passes or other actions like dribbles or winning set pieces.

The decline indicates that Ødegaard's attacking influence has waned this season—a concerning trend for Arsenal fans.

Defensively, Ødegaard's numbers have also declined sharply this year despite not being known for defensive skills.

His combined stats for tackles, interceptions, and blocks are lower than in previous seasons—especially noticeable compared to last year’s figures.

Tackles dropped from an average of 1.43 to just 0.84; interceptions fell from 0.44 to only about one-fifth of that at just .18; blocks went down from .67 to .18 as well.

These statistics suggest that Ødegaard is struggling across all aspects of his game right now.

There could be various reasons for these declines; however, I believe his earlier ankle injury still affects him significantly.

Even stats related to effort seem impacted by his current struggles on the field.

Hopefully, after some rest over summer break, he can return stronger next season.

After three consecutive failed title challenges for Arsenal observers are starting to question if they’ve reached their ceiling with their current squad.