Arsenal legend makes cheeky Martin Odegaard claim to stop Erling Haaland ahead of Man City vs Arsenal clash

Arsenal legend Tony Adams jokingly offered to help Martin Odegaard and Co stop Manchester City's Erling Haaland ahead of their clash on Wednesday, April 26.

The Gunners travel to the Etihad on Wednesday in a must-win game for them in the Premier League title race. Arsenal are five points above City in the table, having played two more games.

Manchester City have been in terrific form this season, with Haaland playing a big part in it. He has scored 32 goals in just 28 Premier League games in his debut season in the English top flight.

Ahead of Arsenal's clash against City, Tony Adams spoke to Gunners captain Odegaard about stopping the midfielder's compatriot Haaland. He said (via talkSPORT):

“Man City, Wednesday, and you’ve got your mate by the way [Haaland]. Call him when we beat them. Can I call him for you when you’ve got a hat-trick?"

Odegaard replied:

“He’s on fire. It will be a great game. I think everyone is looking forward to this game, two good teams."

Adams added:

“I’d love to give you a hand to be honest, that would be right up my street. I’d get your mate and give him a good kicking… fairly, of course.”

Odegaard replied:

“Yeah, you should come, we’ll sign you up for this game.”

Haaland also scored in the reverse fixture in February, helping City beat Arsenal 3-1.

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Mikel Arteta on Erling Haaland ahead of Arsenal's clash against Manchester City

In a pre-match press conference, manager Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Haaland's impact at Manchester City.

The Spaniard acknowledged the striker's threat and also explained how he allows City to 'play in different ways'.

Arteta said (via Arsenal's website):

"When you look at the numbers, there's no comparison with anybody else. He's able to produce that because the setup is done the right way for him, the players that he's got around him, the way he is coached, as well as obviously the qualities that he has."

He added:

"With him, they have the capacity to play in different ways. Because when they play really far from your goal, they have the capacity to exploit open spaces. And when they are attacking low blocks, now they have a different threat, because they are a very physical team right now. Obviously, preventing it at the source is probably the best recipe [to stop Haaland scoring]."

Manchester City signed Haaland from Borussia Dortmund last summer for an initial fee of £51 million. He has since scored 48 goals in 42 games across competitions, helping them be in the running for a treble this season.