Arsenal ´can´t get too emotional´ ahead of final day, Odegaard insists

Martin Odegaard has urged Arsenal not to become “too emotional” ahead of their showdown with Everton on the final day of the Premier League season.

The title race is going right down to the wire with the second-place Gunners, who are two points behind leaders Manchester City but boast a superior goal difference, needing a victory, while hoping Pep Guardiola’s side fail to beat West Ham at the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal had hoped for a helping hand from rivals Tottenham when they welcomed City on Tuesday, but Erling Haaland’s brace put the Citizens on the brink of a record-breaking fourth straight Premier League crown.

Nevertheless, Mikel Arteta’s side are still in with a chance of claiming their first title in 20 years, and Odegaard insists he and his team-mates are focused on taking care of their own result at the Emirates.

“Obviously, you look at the results, and we were hoping,” he told TNT Sports when asked about Tottenham’s clash with City. “We spoke about it the day after, and we have to focus on ourselves, we can’t get too emotional about it.

“We have one more game, at home. It’s the last game of the season and our goal and our task is clear, we have to win that.

“We’ll see what happens. That’s our mindset now; win that last game, give the fans a good last game and we’ll see. It’s out of our control and, as I said, we just focus on our game.”

Emirates Stadium awaits. pic.twitter.com/4W9sSNPd8q

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It is the second season running that Arsenal are running City close; the Gunners eventually falling away having led the Premier League table for the majority of the campaign.

However, they have managed to stay with their title rivals this time around, and Odegaard is delighted by the strides the squad has made in the space of 12 months.

“I would say amazing,” the skipper said when assessing the Gunners’ season. “We’ve taken good steps and I feel like we’re a much better team compared to last season.

“We’ve had some really good games, some good results, and we are now there until the last day, to push for it.”