Calafiori claims opponents “hate” Arsenal duo | OneFootball

Riccardo Calafiori has claimed you can see that Arsenal’s opponents despise Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, after the pair starred in Saturday’s victory over Nottingham Forest.

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Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard haven’t had many chances to play together so far this season, but they took full advantage of the opportunity that presented itself on Saturday.

With Odegaard now back from his ankle injury and Saka returning from a setback he suffered in Arsenal’s previous game against Chelsea, the pair looked like they’d never been apart this weekend.

It was Odegaard who set up Saka’s opening goal, and the two combined expertly on a number of occasions to open Nottingham Forest up.

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Speaking after the game, Calafiori admitted Arsenal’s opponents don’t like to see Saka and Odegaard playing like that.

“I said before, when they play like this, like this performance, you can see the opponents hate them,” Calafiori said. “And we love them as well!”

Mikel Arteta also highlighted the link-up play between the two players in his post-match press conference.

“That’s chemistry, sometimes you meet somebody and straight away you make eye contact, something close and with those two it happened,” Arteta said. “Off the field, it happens on the field, and with many others as well.

“Something that in football, it is difficult to say but when you put them together in the right spaces, close to each other, things flourish and things happen naturally and with others, you try to force it and it doesn’t work, with these two, we are very lucky to have them.”

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As for Calafiori himself, this was his first game back in action following a knee injury suffered against Shakhtar Donetsk last month.

The 22-year-old summer signing put in a solid performance and lasted 67 minutes before being substituted, and he admitted he need the energy from the fans and his teammates to get that far in the game.

“I felt a bit like… not tired, but for sure I missed some games and I felt it on the pitch,” Calafiori added. “But then the stadium gave me the energy. The fans, and also the teammates helped me a lot, so I felt really good at the end.

“I cannot wait to show them again what I can do on the pitch, and to show my teammates, to help them.